The thrill of new MotoGP flyaway races, from Buenos Aires to Buddh

In 1987 MotoGP was back in South America again, this time at a track outside Goiania in Brazil’s hinterland. There’s never been a grand prix like Goiania. The carnival went all weekend, with factory riders struggling through morning practice sessions with nasty hangovers, after falling into their beds in the early hours.

My first season as a grand prix correspondent was 1988, working for British weekly Motor Cycle News, so I was very much looking forward to Goiania. Until Eddie Lawson unexpectedly wrapped up the title at the previous race. MCN’s editor told me he wouldn’t be sending me to Brazil.

So I went on holiday instead, because Goiania sounded too good to miss. And it was. No guns this time, but beautiful girls, mad parties, the city square transformed into a full-on drag strip. The fun, debauchery and late nights pretty much eclipsed the racing. Sunday evening’s Marlboro party in particularly was legendary – the hotel pool like a bloodbath, dyed red by mechanics swimming in their Marlboro uniforms.

Later that evening Marlboro Yamaha team owner Giacomo Agostini and his wife retired to bed in their five-star hotel. While they waited for the lift a bellboy approached Agostini and told him it was against hotel policy to allow guests to take, ahem, ladies of the night, to their rooms. Whoops.

At the nearby nightclub, factory riders danced semi-naked, making the most of their final night. It’s a shame we never went back to Goiania after 1989, it’s such a welcoming place.

In the 1990s MotoGP once again returned to South America – the sport has had a real love affair with the place, can’t think why. This time to the Jacarepaguá circuit outside Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. And nowhere knows how to have fun like Rio.

Rio was unforgettable, for all kinds of reasons. As soon as first practice for the 1996 event got underway there was a power cut, so practice was stopped. The circuit hadn’t paid its electricity bill, so the electricity company had waited for the right moment to cut the power. The debt was quickly paid and practice resumed.

Paddock bad behaviour was the norm, not the exception

The same weekend – or it might’ve been a different year, it’s all a bit of a blur – the Jacarepaguá media centre caught fire. We all rushed out, clutching our laptops. The fire was quickly extinguished and the electric fault fixed, kind of. For the rest of the weekend a worker stood by the electricity board, ready to flick the switch if it overheated again.

That Sunday night, a factory rider, who shall remain nameless, wanted to celebrate his race result, so he hired two ladies of the night. Unable to keep up he called one of his mechanics in an adjacent room to come and help out. These were wild days, when paddock bad behaviour was the norm, not the exception.

On the Saturday night of the 1998 Argentine GP I…