The Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling road racing event that is part of the

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

World Championship.

History

The first official Brazilian Grand Prix was held in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

at the Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna in

Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...

. Two more races were hosted in the following years until the race was removed from the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

calendar due to organisational problems. The event was supposed to return in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

in the month of September, but was scrapped in August because of safety concerns of the circuit. In

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, the Brazilian GP returned after a two-year absence. Due to

Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British business magnate, motorsport executive and former racing driver. Widely known in journalism as the "F1 Supremo", Ecclestone founded the Formula One Group in 1987, controlling the c ...

's increased involvement of grand prix motorcycle racing at this time, the selected venue to host the race was the

Autódromo José Carlos Pace The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Autódromo de Interlagos or simply Interlagos, is a motorsport race track, circuit located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It was inaugurated on 12 May 1940, by the federal intervener of the S ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

instead of the previously used circuit in Goiânia. The Interlagos circuit proved unpopular with riders and there were even talks of cancelling the event before due to the bumpy surface and unsafe conditions of the circuit itself. The race went on nonetheless and was won by

Wayne Rainey Wayne Wesley Rainey (born October 23, 1960) is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships in 1984 and from 1988 to 1993. He won the 500cc World Championship th ...

. Other problems also troubled riders all weekend: Thursday practice was cancelled because of fuel supply problems, Friday practice was plagued by

smog Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and ''fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odour. The word was then inte ...

and Saturday practice also proved difficult thanks to rainfall. Reportedly, many racefans, team members and riders were either

pickpocket Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for Misdirection (magic ...

ed or robbed and the attendance at the circuit was low - only 8000 people showed up on raceday. After a one-off appearance at Interlagos, racing at the country returned in 1995. However, this race was known as the Rio Grand Prix and ran until 2004. On 19 August 2013, an announcement was made that the Brazilian Grand Prix would officially return at the

Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet The Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet (Nelson Piquet International Racetrack), also known as Jacarepaguá after Jacarepaguá, the neighbourhood in which it was located, and also as the Autódromo Riocentro, was a motorsport circuit in Rio d ...

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

from the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

season onwards, with the inaugural event scheduled for 28 September. In preparation for the return of MotoGP, major upgrades were planned for the circuit's facilities and the circuit itself was to receive a substantial reconfiguration in order to improve safety and make it suitable for hosting international events. The event organizers were however unable to secure funding to the complete the needed changes in time and the event was removed from the final calendar on 24 February 2014. On 10 October 2019 it was announced that Brazil will officially going to host the Brazilian round from

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

onwards, the organizers signing a five-year contract with MotoGP. This race is set to be held at the new Rio Motorpark. However, the Grand Prix is yet to be held as of 2023 and is not in the provisional calendar for 2024. On 12 December 2024, it was announced that MotoGP will return to Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna in 2026 with signing 5-year contract.

Official names and sponsors

*1987–1989, 1992: GP Brasil (no official sponsor)

Formerly used circuits

File:Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna (Goiânia) track map (Brazil)--Mixed circuit.svg, Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna, used from 1987 to 1989, will be used again in 2026. File:Autódromo José Carlos Pace moto.svg, Interlagos Circuit, used in 1992

Winners of the Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix

Multiple winners (riders)

Multiple winners (manufacturers)

By year

References

External links

History of the Grand Prix of Brazil
on Racing Memory {{MotoGP races Recurring sporting events established in 1987 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1992 1987 establishments in Brazil 1992 disestablishments in Brazil