The meteorologists were not wrong and MotoGP had to cancel the main course of its amended schedule on Sunday in the Australian GP. The race to sprint could not be held due to the strong gusts of wind expected throughout the week, which were accompanied by intermittent downpours and quite uncomfortable cold for the entire team. paddock. After scorching in India and Indonesia, Phillip Island forced the drivers to take off their woolly hats despite a sunny start to the weekend.
Dorna, promoter of the contest, was right to exchange the long race for the sprint, thus saving the main attraction of the event in a World Cup full of theatrical coups. An umbrella crossed the track during the Moto2 race, canceled after 10 laps due to the rising storm. Pedro Acosta, who rose from last place to ninth after falling on the formation lap, will have match ball in Thailand next week to become Moto2 world champion. Fermín Aldeguer, second behind the winner Tony Arbolino, commented on the play with Aleix Espargaró. “You can’t see it from TV,” the Granollers driver told his compatriot. “No, but he sends you out,” confirmed the Murcian from the closed park.
Shortly after, the premier class drivers met with race management. Half an hour before the scheduled time, 4:00 a.m. in Spain, the organization announced the definitive cancellation. “Thinking things in retrospect is very easy, but it shows that the decision to change the main race to yesterday was the correct one. “Today is a bit what we expected,” said Carlos Ezpeleta, sports director of the event, to the microphones of DAZN.
“It’s understandable. These bikes reach the end of the straight too quickly. We were interested in racing, but these are not conditions,” acknowledged Fonsi Nieto, sports director of Pramac Racing and one of Jorge Martín’s trusted men, determined to overcome the disadvantage that separates him from Pecco Bagnaia in the fight for the title. . “The first thing is the safety of the pilots. In the first corner you reach 300 km/h and we do not understand the sensations and what a gust of wind means there. We must thank race management for making a difficult but forceful decision,” said Davide Tardozzi, Ducati Corse team manager.
The gale in the Indian Ocean closed the distribution of points with Saturday’s result, which placed Bagnaia as the clear winner in the duel with Martín for the championship. With four grand prix and eight scoring races remaining, the current world champion maintains a cushion of 27 points over his rival. Two falls, one literal in Mandalika and another in performance after a poor strategic choice yesterday, have turned what a week and a day ago was a 7-point margin in favor of the Madrid player into the current disadvantage. In total, 148 points must still be distributed in one of the most exciting outcomes in memory in the premier category.
After the disappointment, the pilots, well bundled up, approached some of the 19,000 brave people who approached the track and were still enduring the rain, wind and cold to take photos, sign autographs and have a good time. The fans, without a doubt, deserved it. In less than a week, MotoGP will resume its march with the dispute at the Thai GP.
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