Adverse weather conditions on Saturday has forced the organisers to postpone the Australian GP MotoGP qualifying to Sunday.
Gusty winds greeted the riders and teams at Philip Island on qualifying day of Australian MotoGP weekend. The FP3 was cut short already with only 12 riders taking the track after Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller pit board flew onto the circuit.
It delayed the junior class qualifying sessions and also MotoGP’s FP4 session. Post the qualifying runs for both Moto3 and Moto2, the premier class riders hit the track for their final practice session but it was red-flagged with just less than 13 minutes remaining.
Tech 3 KTM’s Miguel Oliveira had a high-speed crash and was taken to the medical center but has suffered no broken bones. The decision then was taken upon request from the MotoGP riders to postone the qualifying to Sunday before the races.
As a result, Q1 will take place at 10:20 AM local time and Q2 at 10:45 AM local time, just after the Warm-Up sessions of all the classes. The races will then take place as per the original schedule with Moto3, followed by Moto2 and MotoGP.
Should the qualifying doesn’t take place on Sunday as well, the grid for the Australian MotoGP race will be decided by the combined times from Friday and Saturday. As per the current standings, Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales then will take pole.
He will have Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow alongside him on the front row. Prior to the cancellation of MotoGP qualifying, Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro took pole in Moto2, while Leopard Racing’s Marcos Ramirez headed the Moto3 class.
The Sunday qualifying for MotoGP follows up from F1’s recent two-day weekend run in Japan at Suzuka due to Tyhpoon Hagibis, with qualifying taking place early on Sunday and race as per schedule. They did not run any support event all weekend.