Brazil track ‘maybe fastest average speed’, but ‘lots of things need to improve’

The Ayrton Senna circuit in Goiania, Brazil, hosted its first MotoGP event on Monday ahead of the series racing there from next year.

In December, MotoGP announced it had agreed a five-year deal with the Ayrton Senna track to bring MotoGP back to Brazil for the first time since 2004.

MotoGP previously raced at the circuit between 1987 and 1989, with Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson and Kevin Schwantz sharing the victories across those three years.

The Brazilian GP didn’t return to the calendar until 1992, when Wayne Rainey won at Interlagos.

The series returned to the country in 1995 for the Rio GP at the Nelson Piquet circuit, which ran until 2004. A return to Brazil was announced back in 2018, but never materialised.

On Monday, MotoGP staged an event at the Ayrton Senna circuit featuring MotoGP stars Franco Morbidelli and Luca Marini, as well as Brazilian riders Eric Granado and Diogo Moreira.

The quartet took road bikes around the circuit, as well as taking part in fan engagement activities.

Dorna’s chief sporting officer Carlos Ezpeleta says the track is “made for MotoGP”, but admits it needs to do more to bring it up to standard ahead of next year’s race.

“We’re super happy, we think it’s been a great event,” he said.

“We’re thankful to the government of Goias.

“The layout is a layout made for MotoGP. Of course, there’s a lot of things the circuit has to do in the next 12 months but we’re really happy.

“The fans have been amazing and we’re really happy about the hospitality and reception MotoGP has had here in Brazil.”

Dorna CCO Dan Rossomondo added: “It’s great to see the support and it’s great to see that there is an audience here, we just have to build on that.

“I’ve said a lot, sports is one of the last bastions of communal activity that brings people together.

“And seeing the passion these fans have for our sport and seeing our riders react to that makes us excited to come back here in a year.”

VR46 rider Morbidelli, who is half Brazilian, says the event on Monday proved that the “people are here for MotoGP coming next year”.

Honda’s Luca Marini also believes the circuit will be one of the fastest on the calendar.

“I think it’s a super-fast track,” he said.

“Maybe the average speed is the fastest in the MotoGP calendar.

“In a track like this where you can see many corners from the grandstands, it will also be amazing for the fans and we will try to bring them the best show possible.”