The oceanic weather imposed its own rules and made the track of the Phillip Island circuit which overlooks the ocean to the south of the Australian continent unusable. Wind gusts of up to 60 km/h and occasional heavy downpours first made the FP3 session, in which most drivers did not even leave the pit lane, useless, and then brought about a total stop of FP4.
It was precisely during the last free practice session that the Portuguese driver Miguel Oliveira suffered a dangerous fall caused by the wind. The accident did not have serious consequences for the pilot, but it highlighted the lack of safety.
The session was therefore canceled and, after a meeting with all the drivers, the Race Direction decided to cancel the two qualifying sessions planned for today.
At this stage, the two sessions which will determine the order on the starting grid will take place tomorrow morning after the warm-up, notwithstanding the need for satisfactory weather conditions.
Aleix Espargaró : " The situation in FP4 was really dangerous with too much wind and especially inconsistent gusts. Oliveira crashed in front of me in the first corner and we could clearly see how the wind pushed him off the track. The three drivers who voted not to postpone qualifying until Sunday morning (editor's note: apparently Marc Márquez, Jack Miller and Johann Zarco) said to themselves that it was at the limit and that even if they could not really race, qualifying could have taken place. The rest of us, however, found that this was not possible. I was riding behind Oliveira when he was caught by a gust of wind and he crashed very hard, even though he had done everything perfectly. »
“The decision to cancel the sessions was the right one. This was obviously a good thing, as most drivers agreed that it would have been very dangerous to ride today. The wind was very strong and unpredictable. Ultimately, the right decision was made. One thing I like about this paddock is the respect they have for the drivers' opinions, especially when it comes to safety. Hopefully the situation will improve for tomorrow and we can race. The regulations provide that in the event of cancellation of qualifying, the starting grid will be established according to the combined ranking of the practice sessions, which would not be so bad for me because it would put me in tenth place. However, I hope we can qualify. »
FP4 standings for the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
