MotoGP Qualifying cancelled as winds batter Phillip Island

High winds brought out the red flag

Conditions were deemed too dangerous to continue running at the Australian GP, Qualifying rescheduled for Sunday morning should weather allow it.

Morning running on Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix was limited to just a few laps as high winds and rain hit the Phillip Island Circuit.

While the rain eased in the afternoon, strong gusts of wind persisted. Riders attempted to run during Free Practice 4 but an emergency Safety Commission meeting between the MotoGP class riders ruled it was too dangerous to continue running today.

Before the red flag, Marc Marquez managed a 1’31.185 to lead Free Practice 4 from Maverick Vinales. Jorge Lorenzo completed a best lap of 1’35.589 while working on setup changes during the session and was 20th as the red flag came out.

Marquez fastest in final practice

Sunday’s provisional schedule will see MotoGP Warm Up held at 09:50 Local Time with Qualifying starting immediately after the session at 10:20. The 27-lap Australian Grand Prix is still scheduled to run at 15:00 Local Time, weather permitting.

Marc Marquez 93
"In my opinion it was very dangerous, the wind was there and with the speed on this circuit, you feel it a lot. I was riding alone and you could feel the wind, but it looks like when you overtook another rider like with Zarco and Oliveira, you feel it a lot more. For safety reasons we decided to cancel it. There was no need to risk that much in Qualifying, we were right on the limit of being able to ride and in the end we have another day to do it tomorrow. It will be a busy day with Warm Up, Qualifying and race but it's not the end of the world."

Combined Practice Times so far