Dorna Sports Director Carlos Ezpeleta has visited Buenos Aires, where the last race was held in 1999 – The circuit wants to get back on the calendar
MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports is trying to expand the presence of the premier class in South America. After a one-year break, the racing series will return to Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina in mid-March. Last season, the Grand Prix had to be canceled due to President Javier Milei’s austerity measures.
It has also been confirmed that MotoGP will return to Brazil from 2026. The venue will be a racetrack in Goiania, where races were held from 1987 to 1989. The last time the World Motorcycle Championship visited Brazil was in Rio de Janeiro in 2004.
Discussions are also currently being held with another race track in Argentina. The Autodromo Oscar y Juan Galvez in Buenos Aires is aiming to return to the international motorsport calendar. It is one of the most famous tracks in Argentina.
Formula One raced there from 1953 to 1958, in 1960, from 1972 to 1981 (except for 1976) and from 1995 to 1998. The motorcycle world championship also has a long tradition in Buenos Aires.
The first world championship race for motorcycles took place there in 1961. More recently, races were held in Buenos Aires in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999. In 1998, it was the season finale and went down in history due to several events.
On the one hand, Mick Doohan won his last Grand Prix in the 500cc class. On the other hand, there was a controversial World Championship final in the 250cc class between Aprilia teammates Tetsuya Harada and Loris Capirossi.
On the last lap, Harada took the lead ahead of Capirossi in second place. In the last corner, the Italian pulled a stunt. “Capirex” rammed Harada off the track. Valentino Rossi won the race. Capirossi became world champion by finishing second.
Dorna’s sports director Carlos Ezpeleta visited Buenos Aires this week and inspected the modernization work at the race track. During this visit, the work carried out under the direction of the Italian design office Dromo by Jarno Zafelli was presented.
The plans are clear. The circuit is said to be bringing the entire facility up to the current standards of the FIA and FIM in order to once again host the top racing series Formula 1 and MotoGP.
In Argentina, the OSD Group is taking care of the project. It was already responsible for the construction of Termas de Rio Hondo and Villicum, where the Superbike World Championship has been held several times.
The OSD group is headed by former Dakar Rally driver Orlando Terranova. “This project is another significant step in our commitment to the development of motorsport in Argentina,” emphasizes Terranova.
A schedule for concrete negotiations with MotoGP is currently unclear. It is also unclear whether there could be two races in Argentina in the future or whether Buenos Aires will be the only Grand Prix, as in the past.
