The next round of the MotoGP World Championship will take place at Goiânia, Brazil, a new track for everyone. In fact, it’s a return, as races were held there for three years, from 1987 to 1989. However, none of the riders has ever seen it in person, with a few exceptions. Last year, in fact, Franco Morbidelli, Luca Marini, and Diogo Moreira (along with Granado) did a few demo laps on the track.
It will therefore be a GP totally in the dark, where no tests have ever been conducted (not even for tyres) and for which no one has any data. The track is 3.8 kilometers long and has a total of 13 turns, 9 of which are right-handers and 4 left-handers.
Blind Grand Prix races, however, are Marc Marquez’s specialty. In his career, the Spanish champion has, in fact, won four times on new tracks, just introduced to the calendar.
The first time was in Austin, at the Circuit of the Americas, where in 2013 he triumphed on a track where he would become unbeatable (or nearly so). In 2014, he claimed victory at Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina, while in 2018 it was Buriram’s turn in Thailand. Finally, last year he won in Hungary at Balaton Park.
Basically, Marc has won on all the new tracks: in 2020, when Oliveira won at Portimao, he was sidelined due to an arm injury; in 2022, he was injured in Indonesia, a GP won once again by Oliveira.
The only other rider still in MotoGP who can boast a victory on a newly introduced circuit is Marco Bezzecchi; he achieved it in India during the first and only GP held at the Buddh International Circuit.
Given how the season has started, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Marquez and Bezzecchi go head-to-head in Brazil as well.