A hole in the asphalt caused a long interruption in Goiania – Marquez, Quartararo and Acosta talk about the bizarre chaos on Saturday
The program at the Brazilian Grand Prix was disrupted by an unusual problem. After MotoGP qualifying, a hole suddenly appeared in the asphalt on the start-finish straight. Due to the heavy rainfall in recent weeks, the ground had caved in at this point.
The affected area was repaired with a special concrete that dries faster than normal asphalt. The rest of the track was also checked and no further problems were found.
It still took a while before it was possible to race again. The sprint had to be postponed to 16:20 local time. Moto3 qualifying only took place afterwards. Moto2 qualifying had to be postponed until Sunday morning.
“The hole caused by the excessive water pressure in a ruptured drainage pipe over the past few days has been repaired,” said FIM President Jorge Viegas on Sky Italy before the sprint.
“The area washed out by the water under the track surface has been completely filled in and resurfaced. The safety officers have carried out an inspection along the entire track to rule out the risk of further subsidence.“
”To be honest, I have never experienced anything like this before, but the most important thing is that no accident happened,” commented Viegas on the unusual incident. During the inspection lap, the MotoGP riders also gave the green light for the race.
Nevertheless, it was lucky that the hole and the subsequently patched area were not on the racing line. After his sprint victory, Marc Marquez confirmed to TNT Sport: “The hole is off the racing line and that’s why we were able to ride.”
“It’s true that they did a fantastic job, but we prayed that the hole would not cross over onto the racing line, otherwise it would have been impossible to ride.” Despite the problems, the reigning world champion was satisfied with the work done.
He says: “These are things that happen on new tracks. This track was built in a year, actually in ten months, and they did a really good job.” The situation with the hole ultimately ended well on Saturday.
If the racing line had been affected, the race weekend might have had to be ended prematurely. “The most important thing,” emphasized Fabio Quartararo, “is that something like this doesn’t happen on the racing line.”
“Especially for Moto3, because they race everywhere. For us, it’s clearer where we ride, but I hope that the track holds in many places.” After a long interruption, the sprint could finally be ridden.
Constantly new start times: Riders criticize race preparation
When the repair work began, many in the paddock thought that Saturday was over. But when the race organizers announced new schedules, preparations for the sprint had to be resumed.
This was not an easy situation. “There was a moment when I was a bit annoyed about the decisions,” says Marquez, “because it’s not easy for a rider: get ready, relax, get ready again, warm up, relax again.”
“We have our rituals, we have our specific ways of warming up. That’s one of the things we need to improve for the future. However, it is true that the situation we faced was exceptional.”
KTM rider Pedro Acosta said after the sprint that he was surprised that the race still took place at all: “To be honest, it’s a lot that we were still able to ride the sprint, even if it was postponed by more than an hour.”
“I’ve never seen a hole on a race track before, and certainly not in MotoGP.” Although Acosta only finished ninth, he defended his championship lead. With his victory, Marquez drew level with record holder Jorge Martin. Both have won 16 sprints.
For Marquez and Martin, who finished third, it was their 31st podium finish in a sprint. This also makes them the most successful riders in this statistic of Saturday’s race. Francesco Bagnaia has conquered 30 podiums in sprints.
For Martin, it was his first podium since winning the world title at the end of 2024. “It’s not easy,” said the Spaniard about the long interruption, “to maintain concentration more than an hour and a half later.”
“I just went through my routine again, just like before. They solved it. I didn’t even see it. I think it was off the racing line. We can ride with a hole because it’s not on the racing line, it’s manageable for us MotoGP riders.”
