The Ricardo Tormo Circuit was scheduled to host the last test of the year, but was devastated by floods that damaged the roads surrounding the venue.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will host the final from November 15 to 17.

For a few days, the Losail Circuit in Qatar looked the most likely replacement venue until overnight there was a change of tune. Jerez was also among the favorites.

So far, Dorna Sports has not formally announced the replacement venue, but is expected to do so.

The sports director of Dorna Sports, Carlos Ezpeleta, revealed this Sunday at the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix that Barcelona was reaffirming itself to host the final.

“We thought it was important to notify the drivers before they went out on track yesterday, especially those competing for positions, to confirm that there would be another test on the calendar,” said Carlos Ezpeleta of Dorna Sports.

“It has been a very challenging couple of days, much more so for the Valencia community, of course, but we believe that given the situation in which the championship finds itself, on a sporting level, but also for fans around the world, we think that was important. to celebrate a final event of the season. “We owe it to the paddock and our fans.”

Ezpeleta said Barcelona’s proximity to Valencia made it a logical choice.

“We have been looking at all the possibilities we had, it is a great challenge to organize an event in two weeks, but during the last 48 hours we have looked at all the possible alternatives and we think that Barcelona is the best possible place given the proximity to Valencia, given that “Many people were already traveling through Barcelona to Valencia to reach the final, and especially for the fans, we believe it is the best possible place for them,” he explained.

“We think we will be able to help Valencia from that place as well. That is why we have asked the Generalitat of Catalonia to be able to hold the event there. They want to communicate and align with both the Spanish and Valencia governments before confirming the event, and we expect confirmation to come in the next 48 hours.

“But the urgency now is Valencia, not confirming our GP. It’s something we can look forward to and once it’s confirmed we’ll start working as hard as possible, because it’s definitely a challenge. We believe there is a lot of good we can do and we feel we owe it to our fans. We want to thank the MotoGP community, the riders, the teams, for their proactivity, help and support during these times.”