Valencia MotoGP cancelled due to floods

Valencia will not host the final MotoGP of the season organisers announced yesterday owing to the devastating flooding in the east of Spain.The race was due to be held on November 17 and a new venue will be "confirmed as soon as possible” said organisers in a statement.Many of the top MotoGP riders had called for the race to be moved away from Valencia after the devastating floods which have killed at least 205 people.Floods devastated towns, piling up cars collapsing bridges and filling streets with mud in Spain’s biggest such disaster for decades."We have been in constant contact with the local authorities and the circuit to best assess how we can help and how we should proceed,” said MotoGP."After carefully weighing up the potential positive impact of MotoGP racing in Valencia on delayed dates versus ensuring no single resource is diverted from the recovery efforts by the presence of MotoGP, the championship and local authorities have been obliged to cancel the 2024 Valencia GP."In lieu of racing in Valencia, MotoGP will instead race for Valencia... the championship will put our collective efforts behind backing the relief funds already in place.”The penultimate race takes place in Malaysia this weekend with Spaniard Jorge Martin top of the standings, ahead of Italy’s Francesco Bagnaia, who won the 2023 championship in Valencia.Both riders backed a move away from Valencia."At the end of the day, I think the best solution will be to race elsewhere,” said Primac Ducati rider Martin on Thursday. "Knowing the situation as it is, it’s not correct...this could be wrong to race there,” said Bagnaia.Spanish reports said the Ricardo Tormo racetrack was not affected by the flooding but infrastructure around it was.Other sporting events in the region, including La Liga champions Real Madrid’s visit to face Valencia due to take place today, have been postponed.Bagnaia pips title rival Martin in Malaysian MotoGP practiceFrancesco Bagnaia went fastest in the practice yesterday for the potentially decisive Malaysian MotoGP, with title rival Jorge Martin pipped into second as he crashed out. Spain’s Martin is 17 points ahead of Italian defending champion Bagnaia in the title fight, with just one race weekend left after Malaysia.Pramac Ducati’s Martin can mathematically clinch his first world crown this weekend, with a sprint race today and a Grand Prix tomorrow. But in hot and humid conditions at Sepang, the day belonged to Bagnaia as he fired a warning shot ahead of a critical weekend. The Ducati ace was easily fastest in morning practice and trumped his rival in the afternoon too, topping the timesheets with a blistering 1min 57.679sec.That was just 0.050sec ahead of Martin, who went down with just under three minutes left in the session, skidding off his bike to end his afternoon a little prematurely. He was unhurt.Third-fastest was Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini, with Maverick Vinales fourth and Alex Marquez fifth. Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez was 10th. Andrea Iannone, on his return after a four-year doping ban, was 21st for the Valentino Rossi-owned Ducati-VR46 team.