The first trip to Brazil since 2004 and the first race at the Goiania circuit since 1989 was always going to be a joyous affair, given the Brazilians’ love of motorsport and, this year, with one of their own in the form of Diogo Moreira, to cheer on. But, despite this fever-pitched enthusiasm, the race very nearly didn’t go ahead for several reasons across the weekend.
Both the circuit owners and the FIM had obviously put in a huge amount of effort to bring the track up to international racing spec, including a lot of new building work and, not least, re-surfacing of the track. But, as so often happens, there wasn’t quite enough time for the new asphalt to cure, no doubt not helped by torrential rain that left huge puddles of water stubbornly refusing to drain away.
This is not the first time this has happened; remember Silverstone a few years ago, when the race was abandoned as the same issue with standing water was exacerbated by a new track surface that had just been laid? The Indonesian race at the newly resurfaced Mandalika track in 2022 was also shortened due to the track surface breaking up. It is still slightly baffling that it can happen in this day and age, with who-knows-how many years of experience.
Then, at Gioania, a sinkhole started to appear in the pit straight, although this was dealt with and, as it was nowhere near the racing line, didn’t affect proceedings.
The final indignity came with mere minutes to go before the start of the MotoGP Main race, when it was summarily announced that the race distance was to be cut by eight laps, due to the track surface breaking up at turns 11 and 12.
This naturally raised a few eyebrows, but it was all handled rather badly; the teams were informed from the front row backwards, meaning those at the tail of the field had no time to change their tyre strategy, while those at the front did. Most of the field had chosen hard front/medium rear, but could the soft rear have lasted eight more laps than the sprint race distance? Maybe, maybe not.
But why couldn’t the start have been delayed by thirty minutes, to allow a proper assessment of the conditions, with two or three riders taken out to look at the offending piece of track? Cancelling the race would have been very hard luck on the thousands of spectators who were desperate for their first look at MotoGP bikes for over twenty years, but surely the safety of the riders comes first?
The more you think about it, the more questions are raised. Race weekend was held towards the end of Brazil’s rainy season (for rainy, read tropically wet!), so why wasn’t the new track surface configured to handle that much water? True, drainage was impressive, but water was still pooling after a downpour, causing Friday practice to be delayed by an hour. Then there was another delay after MotoGP qualifying on Saturday for the sinkhole issue to be sorted out. It all smacks of a bit of a rush job.
Spare a thought for poor Michelin as well; the tyre company insists it was not consulted about the track conditions and subsequent reduction in laps, but there was plenty of speculation that the reduction was due to the tyres not being able to handle the heat, both ambient (30 degrees plus) and track (50 degrees plus). That’s never a good position to be in through no fault of your own.
Thankfully, the track degradation didn’t appear to affect the race, although many riders complained of stones being thrown up by bikes in front, and Marc Marquez suggested that his mistake at turn 11, which let DiGiannantonio through to third, was due to the broken track surface.
So, while the politics threatened to overshadow the on-track action, thankfully, that was not the case. It is becoming increasingly ironic that Sprint races are much more exciting than Main races, but still don’t count towards official race win statistics.
Marco Bezzecchi had had a torrid time of it in Free Practice and suffered the ignominy of taking part in Qualifying 1, but he soon banished this by making it through to Q2 and eventually taking P2 on the grid. Fabio DiGiannantonio took a sensational pole position, with Marc Marquez in third.
For the first half of the race, Diggia looked imperious, stretching out his lead to over a second. But if that looked secure, then it was to ignore the force that is Marc Marquez, who closed the gap and then forced a mistake from Diggia that gifted Marquez the Sprint win, the first time this year he has taken the chequered flag in first place. Even more significantly, Jorge Martin broke his Aprilia podium duck with a fine third, Bezzecchi and Ai Ogura making it three Aprilias in the top five.
In the Main race, it was yet another incredible performance from Marco Bezzecchi, who, for the fourth race in a row, led every lap from lights to flag. Not only that, but Jorge Martin made it an Aprilia one-two, while Ogura yet again sparkled to his second fifth place of the weekend. Ducati was certainly not looking down and out, but the consistency that took Marquez to his seventh MotoGP title in 2025, not to mention Alex Marquez’s second place in that title race, looks to have deserted the Bologna manufacturer for the time being.
Any hopes that Bagnaia’s fortunes had turned were slightly premature, as he finished a distant eighth in the Sprint and crashed out of the Main race. If 2026 continues to be as mentally bruising as 2025 was, then it will need a lot of hard work over the winter break to rebuild his love of racing, a (potential) new team notwithstanding. He was one of the riders who opted for the soft rear tyre after the distance reduction, and it simply didn’t work for him.
Slightly more upbeat was Fabio Quartararo, who dared to run as high as second for a few moments in the Sprint race before succumbing to the inevitable drop through the chasing pack. But that overtaking on Marc Marquez, after qualifying an incredible fourth, not to mention a losing deficit to the winner of half what it was in Thailand (seven seconds against 15 seconds), has to be encouraging, although we all know how MotoGP will pick you up one race and spit you out the next. Quartararo is one of the best riders on the grid, and it would be fantastic to see him fighting at the front in every race, not just here and there. Whether a “rumoured” move to Honda for 2027, complete with a new set of rules for everyone, will give him that boost is only a question that can be answered with time.
After Pedro Acosta’s heroics in Thailand, it was a return to average for KTM in Brazil, even though Acosta was able to fight up front at the beginning after also opting for the soft rear. Still, he managed to finish seventh, while his teammate Binder crashed out, and the Tech3 KTMs of Bastiannini and Viñales finished 15th and 18th respectively.
Home hero Diogo Moreira narrowly missed out on a point in the Sprint race, finishing 10th (ninth is the last point-paying position), but scored three points for 13th in the Main race. Alongside Toprak Razgatlioglu, 2026 is going to be a learning year for the rookies.
Only a week’s wait until the next race at COTA in Austin, Texas. For many years, this has been Marc Marquez’s playground, and the prospect of an in-form Bezzecchi versus Marquez battle will be something to savour. If Diggia and Martin can also come to the party, then let the fireworks commence.
