The Argentinian circuit was built between 2007 and 2008, and a corner –Turn 10– was added to the original design to prevent excessive cooling to the right side of the tyre.
The Termas de Río Hondo circuit in Argentina is one of the most recent additions to the MotoGP World Championship calendar. Since 2014, Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa have taken two victories and two further podiums, respectively, in three seasons.
Facts about the Argentinian GP:
1. Argentina was the first non-European country to host a World Championship event, in 1961 in the capital, Buenos Aires.
2. The Termas de Río Hondo circuit was built between 2007 and 2008.
3. In 2013 it was remodeled in order to receive homologation for MotoGP rounds. The original layout of the circuit, the adjacent infrastructure and the asphalt were modfied, irrigation was installed for the astroturf on the perimeter of the track, drainage systems were put in place to avoid puddles in rainy conditions and new elements were added for safety and timing.
4. The designer of the circuit, Jarno Zaffelli, invented software to analyse the safety of circuits with simulations and crash tests.
5. Thanks to this software, the right-handed corner of Turn 10 was added, breaking up a series of left-handers that cooled tyres.
6. Around 40 people work at the circuit during the year.
A HUNDRED ARGENTINIAN MEDIA
7. Termas de Río Hondo regularly hosts three international series (WTCC, MotoGP and Porsche GT3 Brazil Cup), two regional championships (A.P.I.C.E.R. and Car Show Santafesino) and five national championships (Turismo Carretera, Super TC 2000, Turismo Nacional, Top Race and Super Bike).
8. Around a hundred Argentinian media outlets have accreditation to cover the Argentina GP.
9. The finish line is only 300 metres from the banks of the Río Hondo reservoir, which was opened in 1967 and flooded the old city of Termas de Río Hondo.
10. The nearly 300 inhabitants of the city were relocated to their current enclave, located 21 kilometres from the original nucleus.
11. Today the city has around 44,000 inhabitants.
16,000 HOTEL ROOMS
12. The circuit is located in an eminently touristic area with more than 180 hotels, with a total of 16,000 rooms.
13. The typical food of the region are empanada pasties, locro (maize stew), roast beef and goat
14. The mineralised thermal baths stretch up to 12 kilometres around the city.
15. Part of the energy used at the circuit comes from the dam of the reservoir.
838 CONTAINERS
16.Termas de Río Hondo and Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina and its main intercontinental link, are separated by 1,146 kilometers. The journey by car takes more than 15 hours.
17. In order to compete in Argentina, the teams and rights holders Dorna have transported more than 342,000 kilograms of material from Doha (Qatar), the scene of the inaugural round of the season.
18. This is packed into 838 containers, which fit into the holds of four Boeing 747-400F aircraft.
19. 52 trucks have been used to transport material from the circuit to the airport.
20. The distance in a straight line from Doha to Buenos Aires is over 13,300 kilometres, and the direct flight time is around 17 hours.
21. Marc Márquez has achieved pole position at Termas de Rio Hondo on every visit to date.
22. The two times that Márquez has finished the race, he has taken the win.
23. Dani Pedrosa, who missed the race in 2015, has accompanied him on the podium on both occasions, with a second and a third place.
