Valencia

Like Albacete, Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo is more suited to bikes although it proved a popular testing venue for Grand Prix teams when it first opened.

Like Albacete, Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo is more suited to bikes although it proved a popular testing venue for Grand Prix teams when it first opened. Olivier Panis set an unofficial testing record of 1m13.530 for McLaren-Mercedes here in 1999. Although some car races have been held, the 500cc motorcycle Grand Prix has been Valencia’s biggest event – now established as MotoGP’s season finale. It is another tight and flat complex that, unusually for Europe, runs anticlockwise. Much of the circuit can be seen from the ample grandstands and facilities are state-of-the-art. The venue is named after Ricardo Tormo Blaya, the first local to win a bike World Championship, who died from cancer in 1998.