In just a few days, the MotoGP riders will get their first look at the new Goiânia circuit, which isn’t actually all that new since it was already on the calendar back in the late 1980s. In recent months, however, the Brazilian track has undergone extensive modernization, including a complete resurfacing and modifications to certain sections to bring it up to FIM safety standards.
The circuit named after Ayrton Senna is not the shortest on the calendar, because that distinction belongs to the Sachsenring, which measures 3.671 km, while Goiânia measures 3.835. However, its short length is the only thing it has in common with the German track, because the Brazilian circuit is practically its nemesis. While the Sachsenring has 10 left-hand turns and only 3 right-hand turns, Goiânia has 9 right-hand turns and 5 left-handers. Furthermore, it has faster corners than the Saxony circuit and a main straight that stretches nearly a kilometer. In the video above, you can get a sense of it thanks to drone footage.
These characteristics do not seem to play to Marc Marquez’s strengths. The Spanish champion, in fact, is the undisputed king of the Sachsenring, as he has always managed to make the difference in the left-hand turns. Right-hand turns, on the other hand, have never been his forte (keeping in mind exactly which rider we’re talking about), and the situation certainly hasn’t improved since his right arm injury. On paper, the Brazilian track is unfavorable for Marc, but perhaps that is precisely why he will have extra motivation to become the first winner of the GP.
To find out if he’ll succeed, we’ll have to wait a few more days. For most riders, Goiânia is a question mark. Only a handful of them completed a few laps on the circuit (before the construction work) on street bikes during an event organized last year.
One of them was Franco Morbidelli, who will have his Brazilian relatives cheering him on for the first time:“The layout is very nice and interesting; it almost looks like a stadium. It looks like a very fast track; we’ll have to see how it goes with MotoGP,” explained the VR46 rider. Luca Marini has also been to Goiânia:“I had the chance to ride the circuit on a CBR: it was a pretty twisty track, and I can’t wait to see how things went and how the track has changed since then.”