MotoGP is returning to Brazil after an absence of 22 years, and to Goiânia, some 80km from the capital Brasília, 37 years after grand prix motorcycle racing last raced there. So much has changed since then that we go into the weekend knowing almost nothing. It really is a leap into the unknown.
What we do know is that the layout is pretty much unchanged since the last running of the race in 1989, the only changes made to runoff and safety. It is the second shortest track on the calendar – at 3,835 meters, it is just 164 meters longer than the Sachsenring, the remainder of the tracks all being at least 4km or longer. But it is also much faster than the Sachsenring. We know this because the FIM have decided that the race will be run over 31 laps, 1 more than the 30 of the Sachsenring, and the most laps for a race at any circuit.
