Carmelo Ezpeleta, general director of Dorna - the promoter of MotoGP – has said that the agreement “is signed” and confirmed that the Portuguese Grand Prix “will take place in Portimão”, but during the spring, “in the month of April”.
The official spoke via video call at the presentation of this year's MotoGP championship, which takes place on the Algarve circuit between 5 and 7 November and stated that he was “sure” that the Portuguese MotoGP “this year and in years to come” will be a “great success”.
The administrator of the AIA was however more cautious in his comments, assuming that "everything is underway" and "practically closed for 2022", but highlighted that "some rough edges" still need to be ironed out.
Despite Dorna's enthusiasm, Paulo Pinheiro stressed that "some small details are still missing" and assumed that the goal for now is to make the 2021 event a "historic event at all levels, on the positive side for the spectators, for the teams and for the organisation".
The Algarve racetrack had “until now” a replacement circuit contract with the possibility of being able to move to the calendar “permanently” if they managed to meet the “necessary” conditions.
The objective is to try to have a contract of "three or five years" so that they can continue and make "long-term investments", which implies the improvement of "some conditions" on the track.
“Our objective is, if we manage to meet all the conditions, we will have a longer term contract, now at this moment it is not guaranteed”, said Paulo Pinheiro.
The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve will once again host a stage of the MotoGP World Championship, on 7 November, after the cancellation of the Australian stage.