Brazilian Grand Prix SINKHOLE comes after F1 track caused chaos with three-hour delay

The Brazilian Grand Prix track is shown with a stock image of a sinkhold — Photo: © IMAGO

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Brazilian Grand Prix SINKHOLE comes after F1 track caused chaos with three-hour delay

A sinkhole on the start straight brought postponements

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Sunday 22 March 2026 21:52

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The Brazilian Grand Prix weekend was hit by chaos on Saturday after a sinkhole opened up on the start straight, prompting chaos to organisers.

The Goiania track was hosting its first MotoGP event since 1989 but heavy rainfall in the build-up to the event appeared to be the cause for a huge crater to open up following MotoGP's qualifying session.

The crater was nearly two meters by one meters wide and photos showed it was waist deep when officials were seen standing in it.

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Moto3 and Moto2 qualifying was initially postponed while the crater was filled in, while there was a one hour and 20 minute delay to the MotoGP sprint race which was eventually won by Ducati's Marc Marquez.

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MotoGP hit with postponements

A MotoGP statement said: "Due to the heavy rain recently suffered in the region, an issue in the track surface has arisen on the Main Straight at the Autodromo Internacional de Goiania – Ayrton Senna."

Tome Alfonso, FIM MotoGP Safety Officer added: "Due to the heavy rains in the past days, there has been a depression in the track surface caused by soil movement."

"It is off the racing line, and we’re already repairing the problem. If everything goes well, we should be able to have the MotoGP Sprint today."

The Interlagos sinkhole

The bizarre incident comes just four years after the Interlagos circuit in Brazil that hosts the Sao Paulo Grand Prix also saw a sinkhole appear on its track surface.

However this didn't occur during an F1 grand prix weekend, although it did disrupt racing at the track.

While slightly smaller than the hole that developed over the MotoGP weekend, the crater at the Laranjinha curve (turn six) at around the halfway point of the lap opened up to the outside of track and off the racing line in the early hours of February 19th and caused a three-hour disruption to the day's running of the Sao Paulo Automobile Championship.

Racing was allowed to continue as preparations were made to fill in the hole, with barriers put in place on the circuit to steer drivers away from the area.

Truck racing was also due to take place on the weekend but the 4.5 tons of the vehicles proved a considerable risk to the area around the sinkhole, with a makeshift track made for them instead.

Authorities predicted repairing the track would take some time beyond the race weekend but it was complete well before the F1 circus arrived at the track nine months later.

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F1 Brazilian Grand Prix MotoGP Interlagos