Argentine motorsports fans started the week off on a high note on Monday, with a major announcement from CABA mayor Jorge Macri. MotoGP is set to return to Buenos Aires in 2027, replacing the annual Termas de Rio Hondo event, currently held in May. While the announcement is groundbreaking, it’s a part of a larger plan for the City to lure back other major motorsport events, including Formula 1. Here is what the decision means for the sport and the “Paris of Latin America.”
The Autódromo de Buenos Aires Oscar y Juan Gálvez will host MotoGP racing in 2027 for the first time since 1999. American Kenny Roberts Jr. took the checkered flag on that occasion, and Valentino Rossi was still cutting his teeth in the 250 CC class, finishing third. The track is conveniently located 15 minutes from Ezeiza international airport and 30 minutes southeast of downtown Buenos Aires.
Autodromo de Buenos Aires has a decorated history that spans over 73 years. The track was inaugurated in 1952, after Juan Manuel Fangio and José Froilán González requested that the then-president Juan Domingo Perón construct a race track in the country. It was originally called 17 de Octubre then changed to Autódromo General San Martín and eventually took the name of the Galvez brothers. Oscar Alfredo Galvez is one of the nation’s most successful Tour Car drivers, winning five championships.
Track Improvements
Upgrades will begin on the circuit from September 2025 and are expected to take up to six months. These include the installation of new defenses, updating chicanes, and increasing the quantity of escape routes. Drainage is a major issue in and around Buenos Aires, and the powers that be are focusing their efforts on being able to combat any late summer downpours. After the upgrades, the circuit is hoping to receive an FIA Grade 2 accreditation, allowing it to host all international categories except for Formula 1.
MotoGP Argentina 2027 Date
No concrete date has been set for MotoGP Buenos Aires, but it will likely take place around the same time as the existing Termas de Rio Hondo weekend in late March or early April. This means that 2026 will be the last time teams, riders, and fans make the arduous trek to the Chaco plains in the north of Argentina.
Construction Costs
There is no mention of the proposed cost of the project, which the City of Buenos Aires government will finance. However, the organizers expect to generate more than $150 million per Grand Prix weekend, welcoming 150,000 visitors across all three days.
Expansion Plans
The arrival of MotoGP in Buenos Aires is only the first part of the city’s elaborate plan to bring Formula 1 back to the capital. Michael Schumacher won the last Argentine Grand Prix at this circuit, ahead of Mika Häkkinen in 1998. F1 visited the circuit 21 times intermittently between 1953 and 1998, but the arrival of Franco Colapinto into the world’s premier motorsport has given local fans hope that they will one day see the single seaters race down the asphalt of Autódromo de Buenos Aires Oscar y Juan Gálvez.
“The new M1 doesn’t have a single strong point,” Fabio Quartararo said on the eve of the Brazilian Grand Prix, summing up Yamaha’s early-season struggles after switching to a V4 layout. Riders have repeatedly reported a lack of engine power and poor front-end feel, and Quartararo said the change has hurt one-lap performance compared with last year, when he still took four poles. Yamaha accepted an early-season performance drop after the layout change, and both Toprak Razgatlıoğlu—who attended the Jerez test on Michelin rubber—and Jack Miller have framed the package as a development project rather than a race-ready solution.
Yamaha’s between-races private test at Jerez and early Pirelli tyre work, partly focused on 2027 tyre development, produced no meaningful progress, riders say. On-track evidence underlined the problem: after the Thailand season-opener at Buriram Yamaha remained well adrift of rivals, with Quartararo the top Yamaha finisher in P14, and he and Alex Rins only scoring points largely because several front-runners retired. With Goiânia’s long corners and heavy braking points, riders warned that setup work would be especially important; Toprak said, “the M1 isn’t ready to compete, but I know things will be different in 2027,” and described ongoing adaptation via setup and gearbox changes.
For now the team plans to start weekends from the same baseline setup and use practice to make incremental adjustments rather than expecting a single track to deliver a quick fix. Yamaha hopes form will improve later in the season, possibly after the summer break, but anticipates more “suffering” in the short term. Off the track, Quartararo said he still enjoyed being in Brazil despite the technical frustrations.
FIM stewards disqualified Adrian Fernandez from multiple Moto3 GPs after finding security seals had been breached on Leopard Racing Honda engines, costing him the points from the affected rounds and dropping him down the championship standings. Different outlets reported varying effects on his placing — he was recorded as falling from third to as low as 11th, 19th or 20th, with reported season point totals varying between 13 and 41 depending on which results were struck.
The irregularities were identified after a routine engine seizure and post‑race inspection at the French GP. Honda’s checks found anomalies on engine units #810 and #811. The stewards concluded that wire seals and sealing stickers did not conform to the approved system and that at least one engine had been opened without authorization, citing breaches of Articles 2.6.3.3 and 3.3.2.2 of the FIM regulations.
The stewards treated the tampered engines as rebuilt under Article 2.6.3.3.13(c), meaning each counted as two units against Fernandez’s six‑engine allocation. Unit #811 was also withdrawn as unfit for competition on safety grounds.
Sources differed on the full scope of results annulled. Several notices and rulings disqualified Fernandez from the Thai, Brazilian, United States and Spanish GPs in relation to one engine and from the French and Catalan GPs in relation to the other (opening six races), while one report focused on four rounds tied to engine #810. Because outlets reported different sets of excluded rounds, the published impacts on Fernandez’s points and standings vary.
Leopard Racing’s appeals against the disqualification were rejected by the FIM stewards after a hearing; the team has five days to escalate the case to the International Court of Appeal. The stewards’ report did not specify whether further team sanctions will follow, and Leopard had not issued a public comment in the immediate aftermath.
Johann Zarco’s knee injury recovery took a positive turn after a medical reassessment in Lyon on July 1, with doctors saying surgery no longer appeared necessary after his crash at the Catalan Grand Prix. The medial collateral ligament was healing well, the posterior cruciate ligament was improving, and the more serious injury first feared was not confirmed. The anterior cruciate ligament remained torn, but his medical team recommended rehabilitation because his overall progress was satisfactory.
Zarco had delayed any operation while a separate burn injury healed, and training during that period helped make non-surgical rehabilitation viable. He will continue rehab and is aiming to return to racing in September, although no exact comeback date has been confirmed. A September return would likely keep him out of the German Grand Prix, Silverstone and Aragon.
LCR confirmed that Cal Crutchlow will replace Zarco at next week’s German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring from July 10-12. The 40-year-old Briton will make his fifth start as Zarco’s substitute on the Honda RC213V, after previous appearances in Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Zarco’s return remains on hold because surgery cannot be done while there is still a risk of infection, and the update was a boost for Castrol Honda LCR.
Victoria’s Allan Labor Government formally rejected a request from MotoGP Sports Entertainment (formerly Dorna Sports, also referred to as MotoGP Sports Entertainment SL) to move the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix from Phillip Island to Melbourne’s Albert Park, and tied extra state funding to keeping the race at Phillip Island beyond 2026. The government said the event was “synonymous with Phillip Island,” and framed the Grand Prix as vital for tourism, local businesses and jobs. It conditioned any additional cash to upgrade facilities on MotoGP committing to keep the event at Phillip Island, a move that has effectively closed off an immediate relocation to Albert Park.
The decision came as the existing contract between Dorna and the state is due to expire at the end of 2026. Dorna had argued Phillip Island did not meet current World Championship infrastructure standards, and reports in late 2025 showed the promoter was keen to relocate. Attendance weakened in 2025, with the Australian round among five grands prix that had weekend crowds under 100,000, and supporters launched a petition in late 2025 to keep the race at Phillip Island. The government’s backing included references to a proposed cash injection — the pledged amount and whether it was accepted were not confirmed in reports — and Phillip Island has hosted the Australian MotoGP 29 times.
Local politicians and officials welcomed the decision. Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos called Phillip Island the “home of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix,” Bass Coast Mayor Rochelle Halstead said she hoped any investment would be directed toward facility upgrades to meet standards, and Bass MP Jordan Crugnale said Labor would defend the Bass Coast’s interests. The announcement kept the current contract timeline intact while signaling Victoria’s willingness to upgrade and financially back the race so long as it remains at Phillip Island, even as other jurisdictions such as South Australia and the Bend motorsport complex have been reported as interested in hosting the event in the future.
MotoGP Set for Buenos Aires Return in 2027
Argentine motorsports fans started the week off on a high note on Monday, with a major announcement from CABA mayor Jorge Macri. MotoGP is set to return to Buenos Aires in 2027, replacing the annual Termas de Rio Hondo event, currently held in May. While the announcement is groundbreaking, it’s a part of a larger plan for the City to lure back other major motorsport events, including Formula 1. Here is what the decision means for the sport and the “Paris of Latin America.”
The Venue
The Autódromo de Buenos Aires Oscar y Juan Gálvez will host MotoGP racing in 2027 for the first time since 1999. American Kenny Roberts Jr. took the checkered flag on that occasion, and Valentino Rossi was still cutting his teeth in the 250 CC class, finishing third. The track is conveniently located 15 minutes from Ezeiza international airport and 30 minutes southeast of downtown Buenos Aires.
Autodromo de Buenos Aires has a decorated history that spans over 73 years. The track was inaugurated in 1952, after Juan Manuel Fangio and José Froilán González requested that the then-president Juan Domingo Perón construct a race track in the country. It was originally called 17 de Octubre then changed to Autódromo General San Martín and eventually took the name of the Galvez brothers. Oscar Alfredo Galvez is one of the nation’s most successful Tour Car drivers, winning five championships.
Track Improvements
Upgrades will begin on the circuit from September 2025 and are expected to take up to six months. These include the installation of new defenses, updating chicanes, and increasing the quantity of escape routes. Drainage is a major issue in and around Buenos Aires, and the powers that be are focusing their efforts on being able to combat any late summer downpours. After the upgrades, the circuit is hoping to receive an FIA Grade 2 accreditation, allowing it to host all international categories except for Formula 1.
MotoGP Argentina 2027 Date
No concrete date has been set for MotoGP Buenos Aires, but it will likely take place around the same time as the existing Termas de Rio Hondo weekend in late March or early April. This means that 2026 will be the last time teams, riders, and fans make the arduous trek to the Chaco plains in the north of Argentina.
Construction Costs
There is no mention of the proposed cost of the project, which the City of Buenos Aires government will finance. However, the organizers expect to generate more than $150 million per Grand Prix weekend, welcoming 150,000 visitors across all three days.
Expansion Plans
The arrival of MotoGP in Buenos Aires is only the first part of the city’s elaborate plan to bring Formula 1 back to the capital. Michael Schumacher won the last Argentine Grand Prix at this circuit, ahead of Mika Häkkinen in 1998. F1 visited the circuit 21 times intermittently between 1953 and 1998, but the arrival of Franco Colapinto into the world’s premier motorsport has given local fans hope that they will one day see the single seaters race down the asphalt of Autódromo de Buenos Aires Oscar y Juan Gálvez.
How To Get Started With MotoGP Betting Online
Related Posts
Yamaha to use baseline setups, expects suffering
“The new M1 doesn’t have a single strong point,” Fabio Quartararo said on the eve of the Brazilian Grand Prix, summing up Yamaha’s early-season struggles after switching to a V4 layout. Riders have repeatedly reported a lack of engine power and poor front-end feel, and Quartararo said the change has hurt one-lap performance compared with last year, when he still took four poles. Yamaha accepted an early-season performance drop after the layout change, and both Toprak Razgatlıoğlu—who attended the Jerez test on Michelin rubber—and Jack Miller have framed the package as a development project rather than a race-ready solution.
Yamaha’s between-races private test at Jerez and early Pirelli tyre work, partly focused on 2027 tyre development, produced no meaningful progress, riders say. On-track evidence underlined the problem: after the Thailand season-opener at Buriram Yamaha remained well adrift of rivals, with Quartararo the top Yamaha finisher in P14, and he and Alex Rins only scoring points largely because several front-runners retired. With Goiânia’s long corners and heavy braking points, riders warned that setup work would be especially important; Toprak said, “the M1 isn’t ready to compete, but I know things will be different in 2027,” and described ongoing adaptation via setup and gearbox changes.
For now the team plans to start weekends from the same baseline setup and use practice to make incremental adjustments rather than expecting a single track to deliver a quick fix. Yamaha hopes form will improve later in the season, possibly after the summer break, but anticipates more “suffering” in the short term. Off the track, Quartararo said he still enjoyed being in Brazil despite the technical frustrations.
FIM disqualifies Adrian Fernandez over tampered Leopard Honda engines
FIM stewards disqualified Adrian Fernandez from multiple Moto3 GPs after finding security seals had been breached on Leopard Racing Honda engines, costing him the points from the affected rounds and dropping him down the championship standings. Different outlets reported varying effects on his placing — he was recorded as falling from third to as low as 11th, 19th or 20th, with reported season point totals varying between 13 and 41 depending on which results were struck.
The irregularities were identified after a routine engine seizure and post‑race inspection at the French GP. Honda’s checks found anomalies on engine units #810 and #811. The stewards concluded that wire seals and sealing stickers did not conform to the approved system and that at least one engine had been opened without authorization, citing breaches of Articles 2.6.3.3 and 3.3.2.2 of the FIM regulations.
The stewards treated the tampered engines as rebuilt under Article 2.6.3.3.13(c), meaning each counted as two units against Fernandez’s six‑engine allocation. Unit #811 was also withdrawn as unfit for competition on safety grounds.
Sources differed on the full scope of results annulled. Several notices and rulings disqualified Fernandez from the Thai, Brazilian, United States and Spanish GPs in relation to one engine and from the French and Catalan GPs in relation to the other (opening six races), while one report focused on four rounds tied to engine #810. Because outlets reported different sets of excluded rounds, the published impacts on Fernandez’s points and standings vary.
Leopard Racing’s appeals against the disqualification were rejected by the FIM stewards after a hearing; the team has five days to escalate the case to the International Court of Appeal. The stewards’ report did not specify whether further team sanctions will follow, and Leopard had not issued a public comment in the immediate aftermath.
Zarco’s knee heals well, surgery no longer expected
Johann Zarco’s knee injury recovery took a positive turn after a medical reassessment in Lyon on July 1, with doctors saying surgery no longer appeared necessary after his crash at the Catalan Grand Prix. The medial collateral ligament was healing well, the posterior cruciate ligament was improving, and the more serious injury first feared was not confirmed. The anterior cruciate ligament remained torn, but his medical team recommended rehabilitation because his overall progress was satisfactory.
Zarco had delayed any operation while a separate burn injury healed, and training during that period helped make non-surgical rehabilitation viable. He will continue rehab and is aiming to return to racing in September, although no exact comeback date has been confirmed. A September return would likely keep him out of the German Grand Prix, Silverstone and Aragon.
LCR confirmed that Cal Crutchlow will replace Zarco at next week’s German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring from July 10-12. The 40-year-old Briton will make his fifth start as Zarco’s substitute on the Honda RC213V, after previous appearances in Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Zarco’s return remains on hold because surgery cannot be done while there is still a risk of infection, and the update was a boost for Castrol Honda LCR.
Labor Links Venue Funding to MotoGP at Phillip Island
Victoria’s Allan Labor Government formally rejected a request from MotoGP Sports Entertainment (formerly Dorna Sports, also referred to as MotoGP Sports Entertainment SL) to move the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix from Phillip Island to Melbourne’s Albert Park, and tied extra state funding to keeping the race at Phillip Island beyond 2026. The government said the event was “synonymous with Phillip Island,” and framed the Grand Prix as vital for tourism, local businesses and jobs. It conditioned any additional cash to upgrade facilities on MotoGP committing to keep the event at Phillip Island, a move that has effectively closed off an immediate relocation to Albert Park.
The decision came as the existing contract between Dorna and the state is due to expire at the end of 2026. Dorna had argued Phillip Island did not meet current World Championship infrastructure standards, and reports in late 2025 showed the promoter was keen to relocate. Attendance weakened in 2025, with the Australian round among five grands prix that had weekend crowds under 100,000, and supporters launched a petition in late 2025 to keep the race at Phillip Island. The government’s backing included references to a proposed cash injection — the pledged amount and whether it was accepted were not confirmed in reports — and Phillip Island has hosted the Australian MotoGP 29 times.
Local politicians and officials welcomed the decision. Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos called Phillip Island the “home of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix,” Bass Coast Mayor Rochelle Halstead said she hoped any investment would be directed toward facility upgrades to meet standards, and Bass MP Jordan Crugnale said Labor would defend the Bass Coast’s interests. The announcement kept the current contract timeline intact while signaling Victoria’s willingness to upgrade and financially back the race so long as it remains at Phillip Island, even as other jurisdictions such as South Australia and the Bend motorsport complex have been reported as interested in hosting the event in the future.