The FIM only gave ‘final’ approval for Brazilian Grand Prix circuit 24 hours before MotoGP practice

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It has been revealed that the FIM only approved the Goiania circuit the day before the Brazilian Grand Prix.

MotoGP’s return to Brazil was a hotly anticipated occasion as the series had not raced in the country since the 2004 Rio Grand Prix, and after a 22 year wait the Brazilian Grand Prix was not as smooth as expected.

Ahead of the race weekend, heavy rain flooded the circuit, which set the tone for the weekend before practice began on Friday morning. The circuit continued to suffer with wet circuit conditions due to water weeping up through the circuit during practice.

Conditions continued to get worse on Saturday after the MotoGP qualifying session, as a sinkhole appeared on the start and finish straight at the Goiania circuit, which caused heavy delays.

Further track issues appeared during the MotoGP Grand Prix, as the asphalt began to deteriorate during the Moto2 race, which saw the MotoGP race shortened by eight laps minutes before the lights were set to go out.

However, it has now been revealed that poor preparation for the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna (Goiânia) was largely to blame for the disaster of a weekend.

Final homologation at Goiania only took place on Thursday

After the Brazilian Grand Prix finished, The Race were able to reveal that the final homologation for the Goiania circuit had been completed on Thursday, the day before the race weekend began.

However, it is believed that the homologation at the Brazilian circuit was rushed and only approved due to the fact that the Grand Prix weekend was set to begin the next day and the entire paddock had already arrived.

The Race reports – “However, with final homologation for the circuit only approved, according to The Race’s sources, last Thursday, by which point there was obviously considerable incentive to making sure that the race goes ahead, given that the entire MotoGP paddock was by then in situ and set up ready to go.”

Brazil did not want to host MotoGP until 2027

After the Brazilian Grand Prix, and reviewing the weekend as a whole, David Emmett revealed that Goiania did not want to host MotoGP until 2027, and instead wanted to host World Superbikes in 2026.

Emmett said, “It’s my understanding that, actually the circuit didn’t want MotoGP this year, they wanted MotoGP next year. They wanted to have World Superbikes this year to actually have a dry run.”

Fellow journalist, Neil Morrison admitted that not only was the circuit itself not ready to host MotoGP, but the paddock and its infrastructure itself was not ready either.

Morrison added, “I think there was a very common consensus that the facilities were nowhere near acceptable for an international racing series. I mean, no running water in the toilets one day, I think raw sewage kind of floating around the paddock in certain parts.”