Valencia Grand Prix

The Grand Prix of the Valencian Community (also known as the Valencia GP) joined Spain’s numerous MotoGP rounds in 1999 and is now the traditional season finale.

World championship races in Spain had already been a regular sight since 1951 thanks to the Spanish Grand Prix. The 500cc class grew its status with the Grand Prix of Catalunya in 1996 and Valencia Grand Prix in 1999, while MotoGP first staged the Grand Prix of Aragon in 2010.

Jarama and Barcelona also staged the European Grand Prix from 1991-1995, which MotoGP revived as a one-off in 2020 with a second round at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo alongside the Valencia GP. MotoGP staged two races in Valencia in 2020 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

History of the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Valencian Community

The 500cc world championship agreed to run a third race in Spain in 1999, with the Valencia GP joining the Grand Prix of Spain and the Grand Prix of Catalunya, as the build of the Circuit Ricardo Tormo was set to be completed just a year after the project broke ground in Cheste.

Spain had already held three rounds in a 500cc season before 1999, with the Jarama staging the 1998 Madrid Grand Prix as plans to run the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril fell through. The Portuguese GP also took place in Spain in 1987 and also 1988 due to issues with Estoril.

But unlike the Madrid GP or the Portuguese GPs held in Spain, the Valencia GP proved to be a fixture of the calendar. The Circuit Ricardo Tormo registered an uninterrupted presence on the schedule until vast flooding in the region forced the 2024 running to move to Barcelona.

The Valencia GP has crowned many MotoGP riders’ champions including Nicky Hayden

Becoming the traditional MotoGP season-finale in 2002 amidst the championship’s rebrand from the 500cc era has also meant many title fights and careers have reached a conclusion at the Valencia GP. Nicky Hayden was the first rider to win a title at the Valencia GP in 2006.

Hayden’s P3 finish in the 2006 Valencia GP was enough for the Honda hero to beat Valentino Rossi to the MotoGP riders’ title by five points, with the Yamaha icon only able to claim 13th place at the flag. Rossi arrived eight points clear of Hayden and scored pole, but fell early on.

While Rossi remounted, he could not recover enough places and his bid to win a sixth title in as many years was shot. In contrast, the Valencia GP saw Marc Marquez win his first riders’ title as a rookie in 2013, with P3 enough to thwart race-winner Jorge Lorenzo by four points.

Marquez also experienced winning a MotoGP rider’s title at the Valencia GP again in 2017 as Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati crashed knowing he had to win. The 2020 Valencia GP also saw Spaniard Joan Mir become the first Suzuki rider to win a title since Kenny Roberts Jr in 2000.

The 2020 race marked a rare occurrence where the Valencia GP was the penultimate rather than the final round in the MotoGP era. But the Circuit Ricardo Tormo was the final round in 2022 and 2023, and saw Francesco Bagnaia win his first and second riders’ titles both times.

Marc Marquez enraged Valentino Rossi after losing the 2015 riders’ title to Jorge Lorenzo in Valencia

Lorenzo learned what it felt for the shoe to be on the other foot in 2015, though, as he won the Valencia GP to deny Yamaha teammate Rossi the title by five points after the Italian’s P4 finish. The 2015 Valencia GP also helped to further fuel Rossi and Marquez’s growing rivalry.

Rossi produced what would have been a remarkable result on any other day after starting in P26, having received a back-of-the-grid penalty for kicking Marquez off his bike in the Grand Prix of Malaysia the race before. He stormed through but finished 19.135s from the top three.

Marquez had irked Rossi at the Australian Grand Prix in round 16 of 18 as the Italian felt the Spaniard could have dominated at Phillip Island, yet chose to fight amongst the pack to hurt his championship bid against fellow Spaniard Lorenzo with the Honda ace out of contention.

Then came the infamous kick at Sepang which made Rossi’s seven-point championship lead before the Valencia GP nearly irrelevant. And despite his best efforts, Rossi felt Marquez was again in Lorenzo’s corner and accused the Spaniard of refusing to pass the champion-elect.

Lorenzo won the 2015 Valencia GP to lift the title by just 0.263 seconds to Marquez, with his Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa a further 0.391s back in an all-Spanish podium. The trio also all finished the 2015 Valencia GP in the same positions they started it after qualifying P1-2-3.

Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo forged the path for Spanish success at the Valencia GP

Spanish riders have also been among the most successful across the history of the Valencia Grand Prix. Pedrosa and Lorenzo also forged the path for home riders to be successful at the traditional season-finale for MotoGP with four premier class wins in Valencia to their names.

Pedrosa even took race wins across all three world championship categories at the Valencia GP during the Sabadell native’s Grand Prix career. He won the 125cc race in 2002, the 250cc race in 2004 plus 2005 and the MotoGP race – all for Honda – in 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2017.

Lorenzo only won MotoGP races at the Valencia GP with wins aboard the Palma de Mallorca native’s Yamaha in 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Sete Gibernau became the first Spanish pilot to win a Valencia GP in 2001 for Suzuki. Marquez and Alex Rins have since joined the group.

It was a Frenchman who won the maiden running of the Valencia Grand Prix in 1999 as Regis Laconi secured his only premier class win in 100 starts at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo with Red Bull WCM. Garry McCoy also secured Red Bull WCM their second Valencia GP win in 2000.

Troy Bayliss even won the 2006 running of the Valencia Grand Prix to hand Ducati the team’s first win at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. What made the Australian’s win more remarkable was that it was also Bayliss’ only entry that season having joined to replace the injured Gibernau.

Ducati drafted Bayliss in to replace Gibernau for the 2006 finale at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo on the back of winning that year’s World Superbikes title for his second of three crowns. The 2006 Valencia GP proved to be the last of Bayliss’ 44 MotoGP starts and yielded his one win.

What is the Circuit Ricardo Tormo like?

Despite the Valencia Grand Prix being the traditional season-finale in the MotoGP era since 2002, the Circuit Ricardo Tormo is not a well-loved venue with all riders or fans – partly due to the race often being staged in October or November when temperatures can be too cold.

Granollers, Spain native Aleix Espargaro even called it a ‘big mistake’ for MotoGP to start the 2023 Valencia GP at 15:00 on November 26. The Aprilia rider was one of several to crash out of the race due to the very low temperatures alongside Jack Miller, Rins and Enea Bastianini.

“[It was a] big mistake to put the race at 3pm, big mistake,” Espargaro vented after the 2023 Valencia Grand Prix. “I talked with Jack before talking to you, I felt very bad for him and said ‘Jack, you lost temperature in the front when you were in P1 alone?’ and he said yes.”

When riders are able to keep heat in their tyres, the Circuit Ricardo Tormo can produce very exciting Valencia Grands Prix and overtaking chances. Turns 1 and 2 are the main overtaking points coming off straights yet passes are also possible into Turns 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12 and 14.

Winners of the MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix

Below, MotoGP News has listed every premier class rider to win the Valencia Grand Prix…