Take a new MotoGP track and add a fully-fit and firing Marc Marquez, and history typically points to only one outcome.
But this weekend, as MotoGP touches down in Brazil for the first time in 22 years? Maybe not so fast.
Every MotoGP qualifying, practice and race LIVE and ad-break free from lights out to the chequered flag. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
The most recent race in the South American nation – 2004 – was held in Rio de Janeiro, but the world championship has raced in Goiania briefly before from 1987-89, the year before the oldest rider on the 2025 grid, Honda’s Johann Zarco, was born. The Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna is new for everyone on the grid this weekend, but not entirely a first-time venue.
MORE MOTOGP NEWS
CALENDAR SHUFFLE Middle East war prompts Qatar postponement, later season end
MASTER AND THE APPRENTICE MotoGP royalty backs young Aussie’s second shot
As for Marquez? The reigning MotoGP world champion was mostly firing while nowhere near fully fit in the 2026 season-opener in Thailand three weeks ago, where a controversial penultimate-lap penalty saw him lose victory to Spanish compatriot Pedro Acosta in the sprint, which preceded a late-race puncture where a podium looked a genuine possibility in the Grand Prix proper.
Given Marquez was still underdone as he chases fitness after last year’s right shoulder surgery that saw him miss the final four rounds of the season – and given he spent much of pre-season testing in Buriram under the weather with illness – and it’s little wonder questions remain as to Marquez’s potency this weekend in Brazil, particularly with Aprilia and Marco Bezzecchi arriving in Goiania on a run of three straight wins dating back to last year, uncharted territory for both manufacturer and rider.
One paddock insider, though, is mindful of Marquez’s ability to learn fast and stay fastest when MotoGP throws a curveball by going somewhere unfamiliar.
And for good reason.
MotoGP world feed TV commentator Louis Suddaby, speaking to Fox Sports’ ‘Pit Talk’ podcast, feels Goiania will be a weekend where adapting rapidly will quickly set the tone, and knows that of the riders on this year’s grid, the Spaniard has won at new circuits four times (Circuit of the Americas in 2013, Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina in 2014, Buriram in Thailand in 2018 and Balaton Park in Hungary last year), making him hard to overlook.
PIT TALK PODCAST: Renita and Matt are joined by MotoGP TV world feed commentator Louis Suddaby to preview the return of the Brazilian Grand Prix after a 22-year absence, assess the recent power shift away from Ducati and towards Aprilia and look at Jack Miller’s contribution at Yamaha ahead of his 200th premier-class start. Listen to Pit Talk below.
“The default position with a new circuit … I tend to go for Marc Marquez, and I think he’s going to be a bit stung with what happened to him and to Ducati in Buriram,” Suddaby said, after Ducati failed to finish on a Grand Prix podium for the first time since the 2021 British Grand Prix, 88 races previously.
“Marquez is as good at the mental game as he is at the game on track, and I think he’ll want to go out there and prove a point, to send a message to everyone else that ‘the world champion is still here’. He’s going to be super, super strong.
“We spoke in Thailand about Marc and how he was physically struggling with the right-handers because of his shoulder. He’s had three weeks to get himself closer to 100 per cent fitness, but if he still has any sort of issues with his shoulder this weekend, that might show up because you go right a lot around this Goiania circuit. The entire first sector and a bit is right-handers. That might be something to keep an eye on.
“It’s going to be 31 laps on Sunday, the most laps we’ve had in a Grand Prix since we were last racing at Laguna Seca (2013, 32 laps), and it’ll be the shortest lap of the year in terms of time … you’re probably looking at 1 minute 15, 1 minute 16 seconds for a lap. Well under 80 seconds, so it’s going to be pretty busy.
“It’s going to put a lot of onus on those riders who learn quickest as any new track would, but being so short and only 12 corners, it’s going to keep the field pretty close.”
It’s a delicious recipe for what’s sure to be a weekend of twists and turns in front of a passionate Brazilian fan base starved of MotoGP action for a generation, one who’ll throw their support behind reigning Moto2 champion and 2026 rookie Diogo Moreira, the home hero on a Honda, and Italian Franco Morbidelli, the Ducati veteran who has Brazilian parentage.
Here’s your Friday form guide to the second round of the 2026 MotoGP season, with the 31-lap Brazilian Grand Prix set for 5am (AEDT) on Monday after the 15-lap sprint race at 5am Sunday (AEDT).
MARQUEZ IN BETTER SHAPE AFTER ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ LEAD-IN TO THAILAND
Marquez arrives in Goiania more confident in his physical condition than he was three weeks ago in Thailand, the seven-time world champion able to ramp up his training for the first time since his accident last October between the season’s first and second Grands Prix.
The 33-year-old, who scored just eight points in Thailand to sit in an uncharacteristically-low eighth in the standings, used motocross sessions to test the strength of his improving right shoulder before heading to Brazil.
MORE MOTOGP NEWS
‘FOUR SLAPS IN THE FACE’ Why Italian rising force has MotoGP’s kingpins worried
THE NAME FOR FAME How future Aussie MotoGP star became a fan favourite in Brazil
“The shoulder keeps improving … it’s the first time that I was able to do two days in a row of motocross, with just one day between,” he said on Thursday.
“Before Thailand that was impossible because the pain was too much (so) now it looks like we are improving. I’m happy about the evolution, I’m looking forward to riding the bike, and I’m sure that I will feel better.”
Marquez described his pace in Thailand – where he was still comfortably the most competitive Ducati rider despite being compromised, as “solid”, missing out on a potential Grand Prix podium when his rear tyre came off the wheel rim after he ran wide at Buriram’s turn four and jumped the kerb on the corner’s exit.
“Thailand was a normal weekend … I would say I was doing a solid weekend because I was not riding in the best way possible,” he said.
“Even like this, I was able to fight for the podium … in the end, it’s never happened to jump a kerb and get a flat tyre. But it’s done, so now I’m looking forward to here in Brazil to have a better feeling.”
Ducati’s six-rider stable will be complete this weekend with the return of Marquez’s compatriot Fermin Aldeguer, the 2025 Indonesian Grand Prix winner who missed the opening round after breaking his left femur in a pre-season training accident.
The 20-year-old will make his 2026 season debut despite, by his own admission, being far less than fully fit.
“It’s difficult to know – I have to try on a MotoGP bike – but I’m maybe 70% (fit), more or less,” he said, attending his media duties on Thursday while walking with a crutch.
“I tried a (road) bike last week, two times … on the bike, I feel better than when I walk. We’ve worked on all the mobility and strength, and we arrive in a good situation.”
‘What on earth happened to Marquez!?’ | 01:14
NEW TRACK, NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR YAMAHA AS MILLER HITS MILESTONE
Australian Jack Miller feels a brand-new circuit for the entire field will assist Yamaha in its efforts to improve on a disastrous opening round in Thailand, where the Japanese manufacturer’s brand-new V4 engine project was left behind by the rest of the pack.
Fabio Quartararo (14th, 30.8 seconds from victory) was the best-finishing Yamaha in Thailand, with tyre wear troubles seeing Miller fall to 18th by the chequered flag of the 26-lap race, Yamaha taking the highly-unusual step of preventing its four riders from completing their post-race media duties, which were left to the company’s managing director Paolo Pavesio.
On Thursday in Brazil, Miller felt the clean slate of a new track could assist in bridging the gap, while the 14-turn layout – with only one long straight of note at 994 metres – shouldn’t punish the Yamaha’s comparative lack of straight-line grunt.
“The track looks fun and it’s good to see positive-camber corners on a race track,” he said.
“Getting up to speed, and having to deal with different circumstances every corner, especially in the beginning phases, I believe that can help us, and also maybe help with where we’re at with our bike situation.
“I feel like here we’ve got a decent chance (to be more competitive). We’ve got a long straight here, but the rest of the track you’ll be nursing the bike, I believe.
“We’re in the baby stage … it’s so early on in the project. Try to approach it with the right mindset … every weekend, everything is possible. You have to approach it with that attitude, and it will get better every time we ride the bike.”
Miller, who familiarised himself with the track layout by riding “25-30 laps on a bicycle” before walking the circuit with his engineers on Thursday, becomes just the 10th rider – and second active rider behind Marquez – to reach 200 500cc/MotoGP race starts this Sunday.
Most MotoGP/500cc race starts (top 10)
372: Valentino Rossi
260: Aleix Espargaro
248: Andrea Dovizioso
245: Alex Barros
221: Dani Pedrosa
217: Nicky Hayden
215: Loris Capirossi
208*: Marc Marquez
203: Jorge Lorenzo
199*: Jack Miller
“The track itself in full wet conditions will have a lot of grip, just looking at the asphalt,” he said.
“But it’ll be tricky when you get that half-wet, half-dry … when it’s not quite enough water to keep the dirt wet, you almost get a kind of slime on the track from where the dirt turns to mud.
“I’m all for a wet race, but 31 laps in the wet around here will be a long time …”.
FLOODED TRACK ‘READY’ AFTER STORMS BATTER BRAZILIAN CITY
MotoGP’s safety officer – and a rider who was on the grid the last time the sport raced in Brazil 22 years ago, Loris Capirossi – is confident the return to Goiania can proceed as planned after the circuit was severely flooded by storms that hit the region earlier this week.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, the Civil Defence of Goiania issued an emergency alert due to the risk of sudden heavy flooding in the city, while photos from media members on the ground in Brazil illustrated the extent of the flooding, with the circuit’s access tunnel beneath the track rendered unusable by 25cm of accumulated water, and parts of the track completely submerged.
Tanker trucks have been brought in to remove water and piles of mud over the past two days, and while local forecasts predict a strong chance of rain over all three days of on-track action, the intensity is predicted to be less.
Speaking to GPone.com, Capirossi said the situation was now “under control”.
“We’ve been on the track since 6am (Wednesday) cleaning up, and everything is going as well as possible,” he said.
“Yesterday’s rain was truly unexpected – 70mm of rain fell in one hour, it was incredible. There are six teams working at various points along the track, and we’re in good shape. The positive aspect is that the asphalt dries very quickly … we’ll try to assess the conditions as best we can, but we’re ready.”
Rain lashed the circuit again during Thursday’s media day, while thunderstorms remain a threat for Friday’s practice day, with the two MotoGP sessions each extended for 15 minutes for riders to familiarise themselves with the layout and lay more rubber down to give the slick surface extra grip.
“I think it’ll be very difficult to think about the grip on the track at first,” Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia said on Thursday.
“The asphalt is definitely like a billiard table, it’s perfect. It’s a little dirty, but I think the grip will be quite good. The important thing will be to be able to do a lot of laps to understand what to do on the bike.”
CRYSTAL BALL: FOUR FEARLESS PREDICTIONS FOR THE BRAZILIAN GP
Winner: Pedro Acosta (KTM). The championship leader was as close to perfect as you could get in Thailand – winner of the sprint, second in the Grand Prix – and that long-awaited first long-form success looks a matter of time for a bike that has clearly improved over the off-season. Acosta will, as is custom, get to grips with a new track faster than most, and that could prove to be the decisive advantage he needs to convert.
Closest challenger: Marc Marquez (Ducati). The pace was there in Thailand even if it wasn’t as sustainable as normal for the reigning world champion, but another fortnight since Buriram to work off the rust from last year’s late-season surgery and his record on new tracks makes it hard to imagine he won’t be in the mix.
Podium smoky: Jorge Martin (Aprilia). The 2024 world champion hasn’t come close to providing Aprilia with return on its considerable investment in him yet, with injuries and contract distractions rendering 2025 a lost season. The bike is good, and he looked back to near his best in Buriram. A first podium in black can’t be far away. Why not here?
Miller prospects: Better here than they’ll be at most other tracks, at least in the early part of the season as Yamaha beds in its new V4 engine. The largely unused circuit will be like a skating rink for a good deal of Friday practice, the type of low-grip conditions that the Australian usually thrives in. It wouldn’t be beyond the realms for Miller to sneak into Q2 on Friday, and from there, points should be a minimum expectation.
Leave a Reply