MotoGP is waking up the morning after the night before wondering whether Sunday already happened on Saturday.
When race organisers rescheduled the Australian Grand Prix for Saturday afternoon to avoid the risk of today’s high winds cancelling the race, they could never have expected conditions that would set up one of Phillip Island’s most memorable races.
A slow burner at first that turned into a full-blown last-lap thriller, Frenchman Johann Zarco won his maiden premier-class race after Pramac teammate Jorge Martin’s gamble on a soft tyre spectacularly collapsed eight corners from home.
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The race that had everything included championship permutations, with Francesco Bagnaia rescuing second place to extend his points lead over the hapless Martin to 27 points.
But now the central question for Sunday: how do you back that up?
The answer may well be that you don’t.
The forecast wild weather is arriving at Phillip Island as the sport wakes up for its schedule final day Down Under.
Heavy rain is intermittently falling, and the wind is already gusting at 50 kilometres per hour.
Phillip Island has been warned to brace for damaging winds, and the Bureau of Meteorology has issued a gale warning for the waters crashing around the circuit, meaning an average wind speed of up to 87 kilometres per hour and gusts as extreme as 120 kilometres per hour.
The track’s position perched on the cliffs on the coast means it’s completely exposed to winds coming off Bass Strait.
It’s this exposure that has most concerned riders and the sport, forcing the schedule changes to get the grand prix away on Saturday.
To give today’s action the best chance of getting underway, the following changes have been made to the schedule, including the addition of warm-up sessions for Moto3 and Moto2 to assess safety for the lower classes.
Sunday schedule
All times in AEDT
Moto3 warm-up: 8:20am (10 minutes)
Moto2 warm-up: 8:40am (10 minutes)
MotoGP warm-up: 9:00am (10 minutes)
Moto3 race: 10:00am (21 laps)
Moto2 race: 11:15am (23 laps)
MotoGP sprint: 1:00pm (13 laps)
How much of the weekend can be completed before the weather defeats the sport remains to be seen.
Wild weather headed for Aus Moto GP! | 01:42
‘HAPPY AS’ KELSO READY FOR RAIN
Aussie Moto3 star Joel Kelso will start today’s Moto3 race from second on the grid behind pole-getter Ayumu Sasaki in a career-best home qualifying result.
Kelso’s qualifying performance was impressive for him completely eschewing the slipstream, which is usually crucial to a good time in the lightweight class, especially at a track like Phillip Island.
The 20-year-old Darwin native is uncontracted for 2024, though he’s confident of staying on the grand prix circuit. A big result under the pressure of racing at home — and in what will likely be tricky conditions — can only do him well for next season.
“Everything’s going to plan so far,” he said on Saturday night. “Obviously we’ll see tomorrow, but at least at the moment everything’s going smoothly.
“We’ve just got to keep going like this and take it session by session.”
The Prüstel GP rider said the forecast sketchy weather didn’t concern him despite Phillip Island’s high-speed layout.
“Let’s see what the weather brings, but I’m ready for more or less anything,” he said. “I think we’ll be able to get through with all the home crowd there supporting me onwards.
“I’m feeling really good and happy as. Ready to go racing
“Let’s hope the weather is all right. I’ve ridden here for many years — one time the weather app says something different and the next it’s all right. You never know.”
JORGE MARTIN EAGER FOR REDEMPTION
Jorge Martin says he was convinced the soft tyre could go the distance until the last lap of the race, when his victory bid suddenly unravelled.
Martin led every lap but the last, when he was jumped by winner Johann Zarco and title leader Francesco Bagnaia into Miller Corner. Fabio di Giannantonio and Brad Binder demoted him to fifth by the chequered flag.
Martin was the only rider among the leaders to use the soft, with all other victory contenders considering it to be too delicate to complete the full 27 laps, but the Spaniard said he thought he was onto a winner.
“I was really convinced that the soft was the one, the tyre to choose,” he said. “Now it‘s really easy to understand what was the best choice, but it was my plan 100 per cent to go with the soft.
“I tried it and it didn‘t work, but I’m happy with my performance.”
Bagnaia suggested after the race that his second-place finish — and by extension Martin’s fade-out — was down to homework completed during practice in a veiled swipe at his rapid but inconsistent rival.
Martin appeared to give some credence to that theory after the race, when he admitted he wasn’t sufficiently prepared for the grand prix distance.
“I didn‘t try [the medium tyre] a lot,” he said of his practice program. “Maybe this was the problem.
“I worked a lot with the soft, so I thought this was going to make the race, but for sure it wasn‘t the best choice.
“I thought that with the medium I wouldn’t be able to make the difference, so I preferred to pull away. This was my strategy.
“But maybe I was able also with the medium, but we will never know. For sure I won‘t race any more with the soft here!”
With his title deficit now out to 27 points, Martin said he hoped the weather would be calm enough for him to make back some ground on Sunday afternoon.
“Hopefully we have a sprint, even if it‘s snow tomorrow!” he said. “Whatever comes will be good. If we race, I will try to do it again. If not, I will wait to Thailand.”
