While it sometimes takes a long time to decide whether or not a race will take place in bad weather, Race Direction was quick to decide today. After the red flag that ended the Moto2 race, the MotoGP Sprint, postponed to this Sunday to ensure the main race could take place on Saturday, was canceled half an hour before the start.
With the rain pouring down and the gusts of wind becoming increasingly strong, the governing bodies felt they had no choice but to abandon the idea of racing the Sprint, a quick decision that Jack Miller regrets. The Australian driver would have liked to have had the opportunity to get back on track, four hours after the warm-up, to evaluate the conditions.
“I don’t agree with the decision, we should have tried, at least to do a few laps,” Miller commented to DAZN, the Spanish MotoGP broadcaster. “Yes, it’s windy, but these are the conditions. When it’s windy on the highway, you keep driving.”
Miller consoled himself by signing numerous autographs and offering his boots to the young spectators, but regretted that they were unable to attend the short race: “It’s not at all easy to come and see the bikes in these conditions. I’m disappointed, but I hope to be able to do the race next year.”
Maverick Viñales agrees with the Australian, although he doesn’t know if the decision was the best one and recognizes the need to put safety first. “It’s very difficult to say whether it’s good or bad,” said the warm-up leader. “As far as I’m concerned, we could have done a reconnaissance lap to see the track and canceled the race if it had been necessary. There’s nothing else we can do. We got the information from the Moto2 riders, who said it was impossible, so I don’t know. It’s not in our hands.”
“I don’t know if I’m disappointed, because safety must be the priority, but these are always very difficult situations for race direction,” added Viñales. “I guess when they put a red flag in Moto2, it doesn’t make sense to let us start in the same conditions.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team
A reconnaissance tour was ‘not an option’
Most drivers supported the decision, but when championship officials met with team bosses, different opinions were expressed. “Obviously there wasn’t unanimity, but I think safety comes first,” factory Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi told TNT Sports, which broadcasts the races in the UK.
Mike Webb confirmed that all points of view had been taken into account, but that it soon appeared impossible to send the drivers back to the track. “We had a meeting shortly before making the decision, with all the team leaders,” the race director recalled. “Loris Capirossi (security delegate of Dorna Sports, ed) and Carlos Ezpeleta spoke with the MotoGP riders in their garages to find out what their opinions were.”
“As you can imagine, the drivers expressed a wide range of opinions, depending on who they are, their personal situation or whatever. The situation was very varied. We talked to the teams to say ‘here are the options, this is the situation at the moment’. The idea of doing a reconnaissance lap and starting a race, in significantly worse weather conditions than when we gave the red flag in Moto2, was not an option. We just couldn’t do it.”
With Oriol Puigdemont
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