MotoGP, Valencia out: Sepang encore, Qatar, Barcelona or Portimao the alternatives

These are frantic hours in the offices of Dorna, which is trying to find a solution for the final MotoGP round. Storm Dana has brought the city of Valencia and surrounding areas to its knees, the number of victims so far stands at 95, but that looks set to rise. It is difficult to think of concluding the MotoGP championship on the circuit dedicated to Ricardo Tormo. The structure was not damaged, but the same cannot be said of the access roads and parking lots, which were completely torn up. Valencia, right now, has bigger problems to think about than a motorcycle race.

Already this morning, Carmelo Ezpeleta met in Malaysia with his staff to think about a solution. For the time being, no decision has been made, but time is running out. If a decision is made to change the circuit for the season finale, it will need to be known quickly because the Sepang paddock will be dismantled on Sunday to send all the equipment back to Europe.

In theory, because one option is to hold a second race in Malaysia. The advantage is that all the equipment would already be in place, but there is another problem: tyres. Neither Michelin nor Pirelli have tyres for a second Grand Prix, and it would take at least a week, ten days, to make them and ship them to Sepang. In this case, teams and professionals would go home and then return in two weeks.

Qatar is also a possibility. The track is available, but the GP would probably have to be delayed until late November, if not early December.

If, on the other hand, it were decided to end the World Championship in Europe, the Jerez circuit would not be available: the Lamborghini Trofeo is scheduled for the weekend of November 17, and the following weekend there is the Andalucia round of the car championship. Instead, Barcelona is a possibility, also considering that it is Dorna's 'home' track, as is Portimao.

The circuit where to host the event is not the only topic of discussion. Rumors in the paddock claim that consideration is also being given to running only MotoGP. With the Moto2 and Moto3 titles already awarded, it would be a solution to not increase costs with a new trip for the financially weaker teams in the championship.

For the moment, all these are just options and nothing is decided yet.