Double MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia has said he will boycott the season finale if it goes ahead in flood-hit Valencia as planned.
The factory Ducati rider, who is currently trying to reel in Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin as he chases a third straight title, is one of several to have voiced ethical concerns about sticking to the planned Valencia venue given the current flooding and loss of life in the region.
Despite the concerns of these riders and others in the paddock at this weekend’s penultimate event in Malaysia, Autosport understands that staging the race in Valencia remains the priority for MotoGP organisers – even if this means postponing the date from the originally planned November 15-17 weekend.
Having already outlined his moral issue with a Valencia race in the pre-Malaysian Grand Prix press conference on Thursday, Bagnaia dropped the bombshell on the first day of track action at Sepang.
Circuit Ricardo Tormo after flooding
Photo by: Paco Alcobendas
“Even at the cost of losing the ultimate goal for me, which is to win the title, I am not willing to race in Valencia,” said the Italian, who trails Martin by 17 points ahead of the Malaysian GP.
“I very much hope that they will take into consideration the fact that on an ethical level and with what is happening it is not the right thing to do.”
Bagnaia got his weekend in Malaysia off to a perfect start on Friday by going fastest in FP1 and then ensuring his passage into Q2 by topping the times in Practice.