MotoGP Brazil reactions: Riders and team managers reflect on Goiânia GP

Round Two – Brazil

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Marco Bezzecchi – P1

“It was a fantastic race and a great day. I am truly extremely pleased because, given our start on Friday, I honestly never would have thought I could win. Saturday evening we worked hard, and I felt good straight away this morning. I’d like to dedicate this win to Roberto Lunadei, who passed away last week, and to his entire family.”

Jorge Martin – P2

“I’m not surprised by the result because there was a lot of hard work behind it. I knew that, once I was back to full fitness, I would have the speed. The thing that surprises me the most is how quickly I’m adapting to the RS-GP26. Bezzecchi has taken four wins in a row, and that is certainly admirable. With him, we are a team — in the briefings, we compare notes, and together we are developing the bike by trying to help each other, which is essential to move the project forward.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P3

“I’m happy with my race in Brazil, because battling with experienced riders is demanding and very rewarding. At first, my goal today was to win, but my rivals got off to a strong start and the track was very slippery: in these conditions, we lose a lot of front grip, we struggle a lot, and we can’t make the most of our strengths, braking and entry corner. Also, after my crash this morning in the Warm Up, I hurt my shoulder a bit and felt pain in the opening laps of the race. It was tough, but then I found my rhythm and things improved. In these conditions, the final goal was to secure a podium. We had a lot of fun, we came very close, and we achieved a great third place. I’d like to thank the team for their outstanding work, and I also want to thank the Brazilian fans: it was fantastic racing in such a festive atmosphere!”

Marc Márquez – P4

“Right from the start I knew that the feeling wouldn’t be the same as yesterday. I struggled a bit more, but I tried to stay calm and not push too hard in order to avoid wearing the tyres out too much. When I found myself behind Jorge (Martín) and Fabio (Di Giannantonio), I was never able to get close enough for a comfortable pass, but this is mainly due to the track’s characteristics. We’re not far from the leaders and there are a couple of areas we need to work on. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the pace to stay at the front today, but overall it was a positive weekend.”

Alex Marquez – P6

“The initial situation was a bit confusing and maybe we deserved a delayed start to have more time. The race wasn’t entirely negative, but in turns 10 and 11 the asphalt was literally lifting and at times it felt more like a motocross race. It was important to bring home some points; it’s a shame about the top five, but we definitely had a good Sunday. Looking at the weekend as a whole, we are still missing something in qualifying for the moment.”

Pedro Acosta – P7

“The first 8-9 laps were quite good but we were not so fast on the straight today. I was missing some points to fight for the podium. We made the maximum with what we have in our hands. Austin will also be a tough one with these two long straights but now we must work on it.”

Fermin Aldeguer – P8

“We’re back, but I’m not completely happy. The potential was there to be further ahead, but physically I need more time. I’m sure tomorrow I’ll wake up with quite a lot of pain all over my body and I’ll appreciate today’s result even more. Yesterday we got the start wrong; today I started more calmly, but I lost ground. Maybe I thought too much at the beginning and I should have attacked more.”

Johann Zarco – P9

“I’m happy; today’s result is positive. I tried to manage everything as the temperatures were tough. I battled a bit and focused on keeping my pace. I was able to stay with the group and maximise our potential. Overall, it’s been a positive weekend, and we leave Brazil with high motivation for the next race in seven days, in Texas.”

Luca Marini – P11

“When we look at the whole weekend, especially the difficulties on Friday and Saturday morning that we had, 11th place after starting 19th is a more positive result than maybe it seems. I made a good start today, but the others started better than yesterday so we could not gain these early positions to put us higher. Reducing the race distance did not change so much for us. My pace was similar to that of sixth place, and I had an enjoyable race battling with other riders. We still need to keep working, we are faster but still need more to improve over the course of a weekend and stay with the other riders.”

Franco Morbidelli – P12

“Unfortunately, the fact that the race was shortened didn’t help us: usually, we are slow at the beginning of the race, but the we can catch our rhythm and we are very quick in the final stages. Today we had eight laps less to make the difference. I’m sure that if we had had all the laps, we could have recovered more positions than the ones I could do in this race. But anyway, it was a great weekend, I could catch up with the Brazilian fans and all my family, it was amazing. The track is fantastic, the tarmac was tricky this weekend, but I’m sure that all the Brazilian fans had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be in the front, but Diggia was on the podium today. It’s the first one in this season and it’s a great result for the team, so it’s positive.”

Diogo Moreira – P13

“We enjoyed the weekend; it was super busy, but everything went well! Today, the start was difficult as I lost many positions, that was the main challenge, and I had to make a bit of a comeback, which was tough. We had a good pace, and that’s important. The key thing is that we scored points and learned a lot. Thanks to everyone supporting me!”

Alex Rins – P14

“The update on the shortened race length came when we were on the grid. I think nobody was expecting this, but it’s great that Race Direction made this decision because it was for the safety of the riders. I felt really low grip today, I think because of the Moto2 race rubber. The race overall was nice. We did what we could and achieved two points. It was not the best, but there were some good overtakes and a bit of fighting with other riders after I made a great start.”

Enea Bastianini – P15

“During the warm-up lap, I got hit by many stones because the asphalt here is new, and I was thinking, ‘wow, to race like this will be hard’. I honestly wasn’t expecting to finish, because it was so painful at the start. Also, sectors two and three of the lap are a bit slow, but with a lot of acceleration, which is where we are currently suffering. It’s clear that we’re missing something – I need every time to reset and I don’t have the confidence to push. Today, my pace was quite close to Pedro [Acosta], but starting from behind is very difficult and means you can’t fight for good positions.”

Fabio Quartararo – P16

“The start was not as good as yesterday, and then we struggled a bit more. We also had an issue with the rear grip. We were informed on the reduction of the race length just a few minutes before the start, so it was quite last minute, but I had planned to go with the soft rear anyway. Today something wasn’t right, so I’m going to leave this GP behind me and enter the next round with an open mind. That said, all in all I really liked this circuit.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P17

“The race was a little bit better than yesterday, but rear grip is still a clear issue for us. At the moment I‘m focusing mainly on the Yamaha riders, because they are my reference, and it‘s clear that compared to others we are still missing some grip, especially on acceleration. Today my biggest difficulty was when opening the throttle. I had a lot of spin and the bike was not accelerating as it should. When I was following Fabio, I could see that in some areas — especially on the brakes and in the corners — I was able to stay with him or even close the gap, but as soon as we started accelerating, he had a clear advantage. I also made a mistake in the first corner and went wide, and after that I lost my reference and was riding on my own. Of course I‘m not happy with the result, as we are still at the back, but we did learn something, especially on the engine brake side, where I now feel more comfortable on the brakes. Now we look ahead to Texas. It will be a new track for me, but I‘m looking forward to it and I want to keep working and improving step by step.”

Maverick Viñales – P18

“I think some areas of the weekend were quite positive, since they helped us to understand certain things, but there is still a lot of work to do – not only on the bike, but also on myself, because I must improve as well. The main issue for me is that especially with the softer tyre compound, the rear is pushing the front, which complicates corner turn-in. Even if I try to brake late, I go a little bit wide, so then I push too much on the gas and it’s all a consequence. Each time we put on a soft compound, I suffer a lot – I’m fighting with the bike every metre of the track – so we need to keep focusing on ourselves to make sure we overcome that.”

Francesco Bagnaia – DNF

“I didn’t have the right feeling in the race and couldn’t push, so much so that in the end I crashed at turn one after constantly feeling at the limit. I didn’t have a good start and, until the crash, I simply tried to do what I could. It’s a shame, because the potential of the bike is higher, and it was clear also in this morning’s warm up. We’re working hard to recover the speed, but it’s neither an easy nor an immediate path. I made a mistake in qualifying and paid the price for it, but I don’t think I would have been able to do much better in the race anyway.”

Joan Mir – DNF

“I made a strong start and was already able to make up three or four positions, putting myself in the top ten and settling into seventh place quite early. Our pace was good and the group ahead was not escaping, saving my tyres behind Alex Marquez. At this track the front is quite critical and after ten laps, we were struggling with the right side. I lost the front without any warning, very strange and unexcepted this feeling. We were being conservative, not really pushing, but racing can be like this and now we put a hard weekend in Brazil behind us. The good point is that we showed our speed and my physical condition is improving already for Austin.”

Brad Binder – DNF

“Just a really short race. I started fast and passed a few guys at the beginning but then went into Turn 1, locked the front wheel and that was about it. I would definitely have enjoyed a few more laps. Onto America from here and we will see how we line-up.

Jack Miller – DNF

“Obviously it wasn‘t the weekend we were hoping for. We had an electronic issue at the start — as soon as I released the clutch, the RPM dropped and I almost stalled, so I had to recover it and that left me last going into the first corner. From there I knew I needed to try and recover positions, so I started pushing and looking for overtakes. When Frankie and Enea ran wide, I tried to stay with them, but going into Turn 2 I made the same move as yesterday and the bike locked, which led to the crash. It‘s unfortunate because, despite everything, the feeling with the bike was actually a bit better and we were closer to the others. I‘m very disappointed, and I know that both myself and the team need to do a better job.”

Team Managers

Massimo Rivola – Aprilia Racing

“A fantastic job by Marco who, along with his team, managed to transform a complicated Friday so much that he barely missed pole position and, with a perfect start, took the lead straight away for an undisputed win. It was a perfect Sunday with Jorge once again on the podium. It’s an emotional experience to see him up there two days in a row after such a long time. It’s also wonderful to see so many Aprilias at the front, with Trackhouse MotoGP Team even in second place on the team standings. These are all positive and strong signs. It’s obviously easy to have illusions after two such positive races, but I think that the next two, Austin and Jerez, will give us a more complete picture of the playing field. We have two extremely strong riders and, once again, the hard work done in Noale has been rewarded, which deserves the sacrifices we are all making together.”

Pablo Nieto – VR46 Team Manager

“I’m very happy – Brazil is always great, and we had an almost perfect weekend: an excellent result for Diggia, who took pole position, finished second in yesterday’s Sprint, and third in today’s race. He was very strong throughout the entire weekend, he’s working really well, and he feels comfortable with the team and everyone around him. It’s a pity for Franco, with whom we struggled a bit more in his second home race. But we’re already working on how to improve, because I’m convinced he has the potential to fight for the podium. Now it’s time to think about the next race: Austin awaits us, a track that Diggia has always particularly liked. We’re in a good moment.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“Today’s Brazilian GP was a difficult one for us. The race was shortened to 23 laps due to track degradation, but we only heard about this on the grid. We felt quite confident at the time as we were one of the only teams using the soft rear, which should work for the shorter race distance. But then Fabio didn‘t manage to have a good start like yesterday, and he suffered from a big lack of rear grip. That compromised his race results, and now we have to analyse the data to find out what caused this. Álex, on the other hand, had a good start and was able to be in a good position midway through the race. However, he couldn‘t keep up the pace once he got riders in front of him, and it relegated him down the order. Today’s results are not where we want to be, which is especially disappointing after a solid Saturday. Still, ups and downs are part of the learning process, especially as we are only in our second race weekend with the new bike. The team worked hard all weekend, and we gathered valuable data that we will take forward. Our focus now shifts to Austin.”

Gino Borsoi – Prima Pramac Yamaha Team Director

“It was a very complex weekend overall. The performance we showed on Friday in wet conditions was certainly positive, especially for Toprak, who achieved an outstanding result for a newcomer — finishing third and going directly into Q2 after only his second MotoGP race weekend. He showed that he can control the bike in difficult conditions, and once again confirmed the level of his talent. Unfortunately, talent alone is not enough. It needs to be supported by the right technical package, and at the moment we are not yet able to give him everything he needs. That said, we made some changes for today‘s race, and we already saw some small improvements in the warm-up, which is a step in the right direction even if the final result does not reflect it. It‘s clear that this is not something that can be solved from one day to the next, but we believe we have started to better understand certain areas, and that gives us a base to build on moving forward. As for Jack, I feel sorry for him because he is putting in a lot of effort, and the results do not reflect the level of his commitment. It has been a difficult weekend for him and for the whole team. I am convinced that, when we are able to put him in the right conditions, he still has the potential to achieve strong results with Yamaha and with this team. nLooking at the bigger picture, the performance shown by the other Yamaha riders confirms that there is potential in this project. We know this is a long journey, but we are starting to see some signs that we are moving in the right direction.”

Aki Ajo – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“Of course, this weekend has not gone as expected, especially after a good Grand Prix in Buriram, but on the other hand, it has been a really challenging couple of days for all of us with the weather conditions. Yesterday, our expectations were a bit higher for Quali, and in this category, now if you don’t have the right start positions, then it is so difficult. Also, we saw some technical points this weekend where we need to make some improvements but this is a never-ending part of the business! Anyway, looking forward to COTA which is a really different track and different conditions as well. I believe that we are ready to bring something home in Austin, and something better than what we experienced here.”

Nicolas Goyon – Tech3 KTM Team Manager

“It’s been a difficult weekend. It seems like this circuit layout doesn’t really suit our bike – it highlights a weak point we know we need to focus on to improve the package. Nevertheless, both riders fought with what they had. Unfortunately, Maverick had wheelspin at the start, which left him last into the first corner. He tried to recover a few positions, but then he made a mistake and that was that. Enea got increasingly competitive throughout the race, but starting so far back meant he came away with just one point. Now, we move on to Austin, where the bike should perform a bit better and we look forward to fighting nearer the front.”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“This weekend in Goiânia was a real challenge for us, as we were discovering a completely new circuit without any prior testing opportunities. The first day, marked by very unstable weather conditions, did not allow us to collect all the data we had hoped for. Nevertheless, initial rider feedback was positive, particularly regarding the behaviour of the rain tyres and the robustness of the slicks, even in far-from-ideal conditions.

“From Saturday onwards, with a dry track, we were able to validate the choices made based on our simulations. Performance met our expectations, with lap times in line with our forecasts and a good understanding of the behaviour of the different specifications. The Hard front tyre proved to be a very reliable race solution, while at the rear, the Soft and Medium options offered interesting strategic possibilities for teams.

“The race confirmed the consistency and performance of our tyres, despite a very demanding track and high temperatures. Even with the shortened race distance due to track degradation, we observed consistent lap times from start to finish, which is very positive. This weekend allowed us to gather valuable data on this circuit, which will be essential for the future. We are now looking forward to continuing the season in Austin.”

MotoGP now heads straight to COTA next weekend, which means another round of early mornings for Australian fans. On the evidence of Brazil, they may also be getting an early-season title fight with a very different shape to the one we may have expected.

Brazil MotoGP Race Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	M. Bezzecchi	Apr	30m19.760
2	J. Martin	Apr	+3.231
3	F. Di Giannantonio	Duc	+3.780
4	M. Marquez	Duc	+4.089
5	A. Ogura	Apr	+8.403
6	A. Marquez	Duc	+8.918
7	P. Acosta	KTM	+10.687
8	F. Aldeguer	Duc	+11.359
9	J. Zarco	Hon	+12.907
10	R. Fernandez	Apr	+16.370
11	L. Marini	Hon	+18.529
12	F. Morbidelli	Duc	+19.980
13	D. Moreira	Hon	+21.322
14	A. Rins	Yam	+22.699
15	E. Bastianini	KTM	+23.840
16	F. Quartararo	Yam	+26.403
17	T. Razgatlioglu	Yam	+30.287
18	M. Viñales	KTM	+36.397
Not Classified
DNF	J. Mir	Hon	DNF
DNF	F. Bagnaia	Duc	DNF
DNF	B. Binder	KTM	DNF
DNF	J. Miller	Yam	DNF

Brazil MotoGP Top Speeds

Pos	Rider	Bike	Average	Top
1	M. Marquez	Duc	344.6	346.1
2	F. Bagnaia	Duc	340.4	343.9
3	A. Marquez	Duc	343.1	343.9
4	A. Ogura	Apr	341.3	343.9
5	J. Mir	Hon	342.1	342.8
6	F. Di Giannantonio	Duc	341.9	342.8
7	L. Marini	Hon	340.2	341.7
8	E. Bastianini	KTM	340.3	341.7
9	R. Fernandez	Apr	340.8	341.7
10	P. Acosta	KTM	341.7	341.7
11	A. Rins	Yam	339.4	341.7
12	M. Bezzecchi	Apr	340.7	341.7
13	J. Martin	Apr	341.1	341.7
14	J. Zarco	Hon	339.9	340.6
15	F. Morbidelli	Duc	340.0	340.6
16	F. Aldeguer	Duc	340.6	340.6
17	D. Moreira	Hon	337.7	339.6
18	F. Quartararo	Yam	338.3	339.6
19	M. Viñales	KTM	336.0	338.5
20	T. Razgatlioglu	Yam	334.9	336.4
21	B. Binder	KTM	–	330.2
22	J. Miller	Yam	–	285.7

2026 MotoGP Championship Standings

Pos	Rider	Bike	Points
1	M. Bezzecchi	Apr	56
2	J. Martin	Apr	45
3	P. Acosta	KTM	42
4	F. Di Giannantonio	Duc	37
5	M. Marquez	Duc	34
6	A. Ogura	Apr	33
7	R. Fernandez	Apr	29
8	A. Marquez	Duc	13
9	B. Binder	KTM	13
10	F. Morbidelli	Duc	12
11	J. Zarco	Hon	12
12	L. Marini	Hon	11
13	F. Bagnaia	Duc	10
14	F. Aldeguer	Duc	8
15	D. Moreira	Hon	6
16	F. Quartararo	Yam	6
17	E. Bastianini	KTM	5
18	A. Rins	Yam	3
19	J. Mir	Hon	3
20	M. Viñales	KTM
21	T. Razgatlioglu	Yam
22	J. Miller	Yam
23	M. Pirro	–

2026 MotoGP Calendar

Rnd	Date	Event	Circuit
1	01 Mar	Thai	Chang International Circuit
2	22 Mar	Brazil*	Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
3	29 Mar	US	Circuit of the Americas
4	26 Apr	Spain**	Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
5	10 May	France	Le Mans
6	17 May	Catalonia	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
7	31 May	Italy	Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
8	07 Jun	Hungary	Balaton Park Circuit
9	21 Jun	Czech	Automotodrom Brno
10	28 Jun	Netherlands	TT Circuit Assen
11	12 Jul	Germany	Sachsenring
12	09 Aug	GB	Silverstone Circuit
13	30 Aug	Aragon	MotorLand Aragon
14	13 Sep	San Marino	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
15	20 Sep	Austria	Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
16	04 Oct	Japan	Mobility Resort Motegi
17	11 Oct	Indonesia	Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
18	25 Oct	Australia	Phillip Island
19	01 Nov	Malaysia	Petronas Sepang International Circuit
20	08 Nov	Qatar	Lusail International Circuit
21	22 Nov	Portugal	Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
22	29 Nov	Valencia	Circuit Ricardo Tormo