GP Argentina · History

The Argentine Republic motorcycle Grand Prix is a round of the FIM Grand Prix World Championship that was held at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo, in Santiago del Estero province, from 2014. That edition brought world championship racing back to Argentina after a fifteen-year absence. All three classes, MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3, raced at Termas, and Honda, Yamaha, Aprilia and Ducati all won in the premier class there.

The Buenos Aires years

Argentina had hosted the championship long before the Santiago del Estero track existed. The Grand Prix was first held in 1961 at the Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez in Buenos Aires and returned there intermittently over the following decades. The last race in the capital took place in 1999. After that, the country disappeared from the motorcycle racing calendar for fifteen seasons.

The Termas de Río Hondo circuit

The Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo opened on 10 May 2008 with a 4.351-kilometre, ten-corner layout. In 2012 it was completely rebuilt to a design by Italian Jarno Zaffelli, and the Grand Prix circuit became roughly 4.8 kilometres long with 14 corners. Between 2013 and 2017 it hosted the World Touring Car Championship’s Race of Argentina, alongside national series such as TC2000, Top Race V6 and Turismo Carretera. The motorcycle Grand Prix had been planned for 2013 but was postponed by a year: after the Argentine government nationalised Repsol’s local subsidiary, concerns were raised over the safety of the Repsol-backed Honda team.

The 2014 return

The first race at Termas was held on 27 April 2014 as the third round of the season. Marc Márquez took pole with a 1:37.683 and won on his Honda, ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Esteve Rabat won the Moto2 race on a Kalex and Romano Fenati took Moto3 on a KTM. For almost everyone on the grid it was a first visit to the circuit.

From Rossi to Crutchlow: 2015-2019

Valentino Rossi won for Yamaha in 2015. In 2016 the race on 3 April was cut from 25 to 20 laps over tyre safety concerns, and riders were required to change bikes mid-race; Márquez won ahead of Rossi and Pedrosa. Johann Zarco won the Moto2 race in both of those years. In 2017 Maverick Viñales won for Yamaha, while Joan Mir took the Moto3 victory on a Honda.

The 8 April 2018 race had a chaotic start. The track was wet on the sighting lap, nearly every rider pitted to switch to slicks, and race direction delayed the start and reset the grid. Jack Miller, who had taken his first MotoGP pole, started alone on the front row. Márquez collected several penalties during the race and, after a clash with Rossi, was handed a 30-second penalty that left him out of the points. The winner was Cal Crutchlow on a Honda, who became the first British rider to lead the championship since Barry Sheene in 1979. The same day, Marco Bezzecchi took his first Grand Prix win in Moto3. Márquez won again in 2019.

Cancellations and first-time winners: 2020-2023

The 2020 and 2021 editions were not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On 6 February 2021 a fire destroyed the circuit’s pit building, which was rebuilt along with the grandstand and media centre before the championship returned in 2022. That weekend started late: one of the cargo planes chartered from Lombok, host of the Indonesian Grand Prix, broke down in Kenya, and Friday’s track action was cancelled. Aleix Espargaró took pole and won on his 200th premier-class start; it was his first Grand Prix victory and Aprilia’s first in the MotoGP era.

On 2 April 2023, in a rain-soaked race, Marco Bezzecchi won his first MotoGP race on a VR46 team Ducati, five years after his Moto3 win at the same track. Tony Arbolino won in Moto2 and Tatsuki Suzuki in Moto3.

The final years at Termas

The 2024 edition was cancelled. The championship came back on 16 March 2025, as the second round of a 22-race season. Marc Márquez took pole with a 1:36.917 and won ahead of his brother Álex and Franco Morbidelli, completing an all-Ducati podium. It was his fourth win at the Grand Prix, after 2014, 2016 and 2019. Jake Dixon won the Moto2 race on a Boscoscuro and Ángel Piqueras took Moto3 on a KTM. In July 2025 it was announced that the Argentine round would move to the renovated Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez in Buenos Aires from 2027, so the 2026 calendar did not include an Argentine Grand Prix.