MotoGP had not raced in Brazil since 2004. Twenty two years of waiting, a passionate crowd, a newly renovated circuit, and the biggest motorcycle racing championship on the planet returning to South American soil. The occasion demanded a statement weekend. What Goiania delivered instead was a sinkhole, flying debris, injured riders, a race cut by a third with no warning, and serious questions about whether anyone at the top of the sport had done their homework before arriving.
The racing itself was spectacular. Everything surrounding it was a mess.
Start with the track. The build up to race weekend was dominated by torrential rain, with Goiania residents warned about flash floods. A paddock access tunnel flooded, and the first and last corners were submerged. Then, just after MotoGP qualifying finished on Saturday, a large hole appeared on the main straight. Initially small, it quickly grew in size and began sinking into the asphalt. Riders spotted the issue and alerted their teams, who immediately raised the alarm.
Workers ended up waist deep in a pit right in the middle of the track’s main straight. MotoGP team bosses attended a crisis meeting with organisers while emergency repairs began. Disc cutters removed a large rectangle of asphalt roughly two metres by one metre before heavy machinery brought in gravel to fill the void. The Sprint race start was pushed back by one hour and 20 minutes, with revised start times of 15:20, then 15:35, and finally 16:20 local time.
The temporary fix prompted an uncomfortable question. If the soil beneath the circuit had been washed away by rainfall in one place, what was happening to the rest of it? Sunday provided the answer.
A surprise slashing of the race distance from 31 laps to 23 was announced minutes before the start, with riders already on the grid and locked into their tyre choices. MotoGP subsequently communicated track degradation as the cause. It was an unprecedented last-minute decision, and two days of painstaking set-up work went out of the window just like that.
Michelin confirmed that asphalt was breaking down and degrading at Turn 11 following the Moto2 and Moto3 races. Alex Rins was struck by a piece of broken asphalt on the opening lap, injuring his finger. Alex Marquez was also hit by flying debris and described the conditions as unacceptable, comparing sections of the track to motocross. Enea Bastianini took a hit to the shoulder. Joan Mir was struck on the knee. The Moto3 race saw a massive double highside bring out the red flag.
Trackhouse boss Davide Brivio was very disappointed by the level of preparation, suggesting it damaged the image of the sport. TNT Sports pundit Neil Hodgson pointed out that toilets were still being built when teams arrived.
Motor Sport Magazine put it bluntly. The potential for ground subsidence should have been highlighted in the geotechnical report required for all racetrack constructions, and the asphalt mix should have been good enough to last one weekend. MotoGP failed on both counts. These may have been local issues, but it is the responsibility of the MotoGP Sports and Entertainment Group to ensure standards are kept wherever the racing happens.
The contrast with Phillip Island makes the optics even worse. Two months ago, MotoGP announced that Phillip Island would lose the Australian Grand Prix largely because the much-loved venue’s infrastructure was not up to the high standards now required by the Liberty-owned championship. A circuit that hosted faultless racing for decades lost its race for infrastructure reasons. A brand new venue then produced sinkholes, flying asphalt and an on-grid race distance reduction on its debut weekend.
Now for the racing. Because once the bikes went out, Goiania delivered.
Marco Bezzecchi and Aprilia Racing
Bezzecchi’s start to finish victory was his fourth consecutive Grand Prix win, having led every single lap across those four races at Portimao, Valencia, Buriram and now Goiania. What made it even more impressive was the recovery required. He finished 20th in a wet Friday practice and had to come through Q1 just to make the front row in qualifying. He knew the Sprint was not right. He worked through it, learned from it, and then destroyed the field on Sunday. Aprilia secured the first one-two finish in their premier class history.
If the 1-3-4-5 finish at Buriram brought a smile to Aprilia boss Massimo Rivola’s face, Brazil would have tasted even sweeter. Not only was Bezzecchi at his very best, but Jorge Martin delivered his most impressive performance since winning the 2024 title. Martin’s double move on Marc Marquez and Di Giannantonio was a reminder of the speed and racecraft that made him world champion. Once he is fully fit, he and Bezzecchi could form a lethal combination.
Fabio Di Giannantonio
Di Giannantonio came through Q1 to put his Ducati on pole position in a chaotic qualifying session, even after a late crash at Turn 4. He held his own against Marquez for much of the Sprint, and it was only a small error that allowed the world champion through. Sunday was his revenge. Marquez appeared to have made his inevitable late race pass on Di Giannantonio, forcefully pushing the VR46 Ducati wide, but then made a mistake and nearly crashed, surrendering third back to Diggia. The Italian held on. His weekend, on balance, was exceptional.
Fermin Aldeguer
Aldeguer returned from a broken femur suffered in January, having missed all pre season testing and the Thai opener, to qualify seventh and finish eighth on his 2026 race debut. He was still on crutches in the paddock on Friday. By Sunday afternoon he was racing a MotoGP bike and finishing ahead of his factory Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia. It was one of the stories of the weekend.
Marc Marquez
Marquez won the Sprint but admitted he was still far from the feeling he had last year. The track layout with its numerous long right handers did not suit his style, similar to how he struggles at Barcelona. The late race defeat to Di Giannantonio on Sunday came after Marquez made a major moment at Turn 12 and surrendered third place. The points are there. The dominance is not yet.
LOSER: Francesco Bagnaia
Two crashes. Zero race points. Beaten by a man on crutches. Covered in full elsewhere on Racing60.com, but the numbers tell the story. Bagnaia crashed at Turn 1 on lap 11 while running 11th, trying to catch and overtake Zarco. Forty six points off the championship lead after two rounds.
KTM
All evidence points to the KTM RC16 having been flat-out bad at Goiania by the manufacturer’s recent standards. It may have been closer in competitiveness to Yamaha than to Ducati and Aprilia, and looked dreadful on the straights, confirming the Buriram impression that a long-time strength of the RC16 is now a major weakness. Pedro Acosta kept things respectable but seventh place was a long way below what KTM needed.
LOSER: MotoGP as an organisation
The racing pulled the weekend back from the edge. But the sport cannot keep relying on the riders to rescue its reputation. A sinkhole on the main straight, asphalt disintegrating mid race, debris striking riders at racing speed, and a race distance cut announced to riders already sitting on the grid. Liberty Media now owns MotoGP and has positioned it as a mainstream global sport. Chase Carey needs to ask what kind of return that investment is getting when a showcase event at a brand new venue produces chaos that would embarrass a regional championship.
Brazil wants MotoGP back. The fans were magnificent. The atmosphere was everything the sport needed from a new market. The bumps were getting noticeably worse as the weekend went on, and riders made clear that the asphalt situation needs urgent attention before 2027.
Get it right next year. The crowd deserves better. The riders deserve better. The sport demands it.
