Brazil MotoGP track flooded days before race weekend

The Brazilian MotoGP race is facing disruption before the weekend has even begun after images emerged showing of parts of the track submerged beneath water after heavy rain on Monday and Tuesday this week in Goiania.

MotoGP is set to return to Brazil for the first time since the 2004 Rio Grand Prix this weekend (20–22 March) for the second round of the 2026 season.

However, the track has been hit twice by heavy rain this week, first on Monday and then again on Tuesday, by which time the ground had already been saturated. An emergency alert warning of sudden flooding was issued by Goiania’s Civil Defence on Tuesday evening.

Motorsport.com reports that the Autodromo Internacional de Goiania’s access tunnel was flooded on Tuesday morning, and despite cleaning efforts the return of the rain saw the access tunnel submerged in up to 25cm of water on Tuesday afternoon. Parts of the track itself were also hit by flooding.

Track drying operations had already been carried out at the circuit on Tuesday, following Monday’s rain, but these must now be completed again after Tuesday afternoon, now with two days before Moto3 practice is due to start on Friday at 09:00 local time. MotoGP FP1 is due to start at 11:05 local time.

The disruption in Brazil came just as riders were landing in Goiania for the second round of the season. Marc Marquez was one rider who landed a day early in order to attend a sponsor event, where he commented on the other recent disruption to the 2026 MotoGP season, namely the rescheduling of the calendar after Qatar was moved to November as a result of the current conflict in the Middle East.

At present, there are no signs that the race itself is at risk, although rainfall is due to continue in Goiania on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.