Marc Marquez Explains Brazil GP Sprint Concerns – Racing Line Controversy

According to Marc Marquez, MotoGP was lucky that the hole that formed at the Goiania track did not expand into the racing line, enabling the Brazilian Grand Prix race to go following repairs.

After qualifying, riders discovered a hole on the start/finish straight, which threatened Saturday’s half-distance for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

In order to allow track movement to resume, a number of workmen had to cut open a portion of the asphalt before doing repairs.

The Moto2 qualifying was rescheduled until Sunday morning, and the sprint began 80 minutes behind schedule after many delays.

Despite some reservations, the sprint was finished without any problems, and during the 15 laps of dry weather racing, riders had little trouble avoiding the repaired surface.

According to factory Ducati rider Marquez, MotoGP acknowledged that if the damage had emerged on the racing line, the situation may have been more dire.

“We prayed to maintain the current state of affairs. After defeating Fabio di Giannantonio of VR46, he told TNT Sport, “We were able to race because that hole is out of the line.”

“We prayed that the hole didn’t go on the racing line because it would be impossible [to race], but it’s true that they did an incredible job.”

“These are things that happen at new circuits,” he continued, addressing the media following the sprint. They completed this circuit in a year, or more accurately, ten months, and they did a great job.

The sprint’s start time was postponed three times, starting with a 20-minute delay and continuing with more delays until the action eventually started at 4:20 p.m. local time.

Marquez acknowledged that the frequent delays interfered with his sprint preparations and, at one point, irritated him.

“It’s true that there was a moment when I got a little irritated with the decisions they were making, because it’s not easy for a rider to get ready, relax, get ready again, get pumped up, relax again—doing that three times over,” he remarked.

“One of the things we need to work on moving forward is our customs and unique methods of warming up.

“It is true, though, that the circumstances we encountered were extraordinary, and we were able to salvage the championship round in the best way possible.”

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Pedro Acosta of KTM expressed amazement that the race could go at all under the current conditions.

To be honest, even though the sprint race was delayed by over an hour, it’s still quite a feat. He remarked, “I’ve never seen a hole appear at a circuit before, and even less in MotoGP. It’s already a lot that we raced.” I think it’s a little excessive.

However, after earning his first podium since winning the 2024 championship, Aprilia’s Jorge Martin minimized the problem, claiming that it was simple for MotoGP riders to avoid riding over the crater on the start/finish straight.

It’s difficult to maintain focus after more than 1.5 hours. I was simply going through my routine once more.

“They figured it out. I failed to notice it at all. It was, I believe, off the track [racing line]. Since it isn’t on the racing line, we MotoGP riders may race with a hole.

According to Jack Miller of Pramac, it seemed extremely unlikely that a rider would run over the hole because it was so far off the racing line.

“You’re doing something seriously wrong if you wind up over there. We got on after they tried their best to get us racing once more, he said. “Obviously, there was no foundation underneath the asphalt.”