MotoGP couldn’t race in Valencia, but it did race for Valencia. Three weeks after shelving the 2024 World Cup with the coronation of Jorge Martín at the Barcelona Solidarity GP, the event announced this Monday afternoon the total amount raised for the benefit of those affected by dana in the Valencian Community: 1.6 million euros. This aid will be channeled to the area of the tragedy through the Red Cross and will focus on the towns of Cheste and Chiva, adjacent to the Ricardo Tormo circuit, the usual home of the final party of the world motorcycle championship.
The different official initiatives organized before, during and after the last competition weekend of the year to help the area affected by the strong floods, which left 222 victims in the region, ended this past weekend with the closing of the solidarity auction on the internet full of objects donated by drivers, former drivers and various teams on the grid. Together with the two in-person bids in Montmeló, 300,000 euros were raised for the cause thanks to the contributions of fans. The equipment association (IRTA) also contributed to the mission with 100,000 euros and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, which added 50,000.
Dorna, the Spanish promoter that exploits the commercial rights of MotoGP, initially announced that it was going to donate all the profits from the last event of the course to the solidarity initiative. Finally, he decided to round up the figure contributed to the aid fund up to one million euros. Together with donations from fans, the total raised amounts to 1.6 million euros, a figure that does not include other initiatives such as that of the Aspar team, based in Valencia. The group led by the former 125cc champion and history of Spanish motorcycling Jorge Martínez Aspar It already exceeds 250,000 euros in its own collection to collaborate with those affected by the damage, while many pilots have made other donations in a personal capacity that have not been disclosed to the public and are close to the total amount donated by the paddock to two million euros.
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna, visited Chiva and Cheste this Monday to meet with the different competent authorities and learn first-hand about the reconstruction and aid work planned in both towns, the main recipients of the economic impact of a GP of the Valencian Community which has served as the closing of the World Cup from 2004 onwards, with the only exception of the pandemic in 2020 and the tragedy of this 2024. As EL already announced COUNTRY a month ago, Dorna plans to also send all the surplus clothing from the merchandising in a parallel initiative that has yet to be finalized.
