MotoGP Racers Ask for the Australian Grand Prix to be Moved to the Beginning of the Season

Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati when appearing at the Australian Grand Prix (photo: Twitter @PeccoBagnaia)

JAKARTA - Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia revealed that the MotoGP riders had requested that the Australian Grand Prix be moved to the start of the season after bad weather forced the cancellation of the race on  Sunday, October 22.

The threat of extreme strong winds on  Sunday forced MotoGP to change its Australian Grand Prix weekend schedule, with the main race – won by Johann Zarco – taking place on  Saturday, October 21.

The sprint race was rescheduled for Sunday at 13.00 p.m. local time, but had to be canceled after conditions worsened during the Moto3 and Moto2 contests. Even in Moto 2, 10 riders had accidents in the nine laps before it was finally stopped.

Weather disruptions are not unusual during the Australian Grand Prix weekend during the country's spring season. Championship leader Bagnaia believes it would be better if the event was moved to the summer season at the start of the year.

"We asked for that, but I think it's difficult to do for many reasons – maybe because of the Formula 1 schedule, I don't know," said Bagnaia when asked whether this weekend should urge Dorna and the race organizers to move the event to earlier in the year.

"For me, it's better if we move Mandalika and this race to the beginning [of the season] because Phillip Island in summer is probably better than these conditions. Maybe the wind will be the same, but you will have sun, good temperatures," added Bagnaia quoted from Motosport.com.

"Today, during warm-up, it was almost impossible to warm up the front brake, and we entered turn 10 every lap without brakes. So, the temperature was also too low," he added.

MotoGP race director Mike Webb told media on Sunday that the October 20 date would not change for next year as "the schedule is already set in stone," while noting there were "commercial reasons" at play as well.

One of these is the current agreement between the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and Formula 1 which runs until 2035 and guarantees that the event at the Albert Park Circuit will be held as one of the first three races of the season.

"MotoGP has Qatar as the opening race; that precludes January or February," said former AGPC CEO Andrew Westacott. "We have Formula 1 at the start of the year and we need some breathing space in our organization. Apart from that, we have to think about infrastructure and suppliers and so on."

"So, the right time for MotoGP is now. This is a very comfortable time for us, and so does Dorna," he added.

Qatar is not hosting the opening race in 2023 due to track work being carried out, but will do so in 2024.

Bagnaia enters Sunday's sprint race with a 27-point lead in the title race after finishing second in the Grand Prix, while championship rival Jorge Martin finished fifth.

The factory Ducati rider said he was "already prepared to compete at the top" in the sprint race and that his "initial balance is positive", despite the chance of dropping points.

Pramac's Martin agreed that the decision to cancel the sprint races was the right move. "It was a race management decision and we have to respect it," Martin said. "I felt comfortable in the water and I saw an opportunity to get points in this race, but unfortunately it didn't happen and we have to think about the next one."

Australian racer, Jack Miller, felt that the race director should try to run a few laps to assess the conditions. "I don't agree with this decision; we should have at least tried some laps," Miller told DAZN soon after the sprint race was called off as he visited fans trackside.

"It's true that the wind is strong, but that's how it is. If the wind is strong on the road, you have to keep riding. Stopping to watch a bicycle race in conditions like these is not easy. I'm disappointed, but hopefully we can race next year," he said.