Portimao confirmed as MotoGP season finale

As expected, the Portimao circuit has been officially confirmed as new 2020 MotoGP season finale.

Plans for an unnamed new European event on November 20-22 were announced alongside confirmation that, due to the coronavirus, MotoGP will not hold any flyaway rounds this season.

As the reserve track for MotoGP since 2017, Portimao was the obvious choice and the return of the Portuguese Grand Prix for the first time since Estoril in 2012is now official.

"It is a great achievement for our team to finally have MotoGP at our racetrack! MotoGP is the pinnacle of two-wheeled motorsport, and we are so excited to have it," said cirucit CEO Paulo Pinheiro.

“It has been a long process with Dorna, we had an agreement in place since 2017, and finally all the hard work paid off.

"On top of this to have Miguel Oliveira on the MotoGP grid, being able to fight for the podium will be an amazing add on for this race, and hopefully the Championship will be decided here."

While the three MotoGP rounds so far this season have all been held behind closed doors, Pinheiro revealed that he hopes spectators can attend.

"We are working to have the fans in our race, and we will start with a capacity of 30,000 fans for the race weekend and then we will decide with Dorna and the sanitary authorities the following stages," Pinheiro said.

“We can’t express how happy we are to have this race."

Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta added: "It’s big news for us, we signed an agreement in 2017 with Portimao to be the reserve circuit for any kinds of cancellations, and we’ve been in contact with them all this time.

"We’ve been to Portimão with Superbike and we think it’s an amazing possibility for us, and also in the agreement is that the track will be resurfaced after the Superbike round. When we explained this to the riders they were excited because they’ve seen the track on TV, but we’ve never been there.

"Portugal has a long history in our sport and there have been some historic battles in Estoril. It’s something very good for us to have the possibility to go back to Portugal, especially with Miguel Oliveira participating as it’s great to have a Portuguese rider able to compete in his own country. We are extremely happy to be racing in Portimão at the end of the year."

It is not yet known if the Portimao event is a one-off, or will remain on the MotoGP calendar in 2021.