This rescheduling will move the Sprint to Sunday, if it could be held. Saturday will therefore be the most challenging day of all, considering that the riders of the premier class will have to face qualifying in the morning, a few hours before taking to the track for the long race, scheduled for 27 laps.
In this way, the various parties involved in the organization of the championship, led by the promoter Dorna, hope to be able to assign the majority of the points under discussion, so as to alter the planned program as little as possible.
The weather forecast at Phillip Island made it clear from the start of the week that bad weather would be a risk as the weekend approached. While Thursday and Friday were sunny days for most of the practice sessions, things looked like they could get worse on Saturday. However, wind gusts of over 80 kilometers per hour forecast for Sunday pushed Dorna to take matters into its own hands.
“Since yesterday, many rumors have been circulating that the long race would take place tomorrow. We’ll see what happens in the end,” confirmed Aleix Espargaro on Friday, getting off the bike. “I think it’s a smart change. We come here to race. All the manufacturers are talking at the moment,” added the Aprilia rider, convinced that the change of plan could be taken for granted.
“It is clear that if this happens, we will not be able to run,” agreed Joan Mir. Others, like Marc Marquez, next to him in the Honda garage, preferred to wait for developments before considering any countermeasures. “I don’t agree. Now it has become very fashionable to anticipate this kind of thing. But I prefer to wait and see,” he said.
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