MotoGP Australian GP
Why MotoGP had "no choice" but to abandon Phillip Island sprint
MotoGP race director Mike Webb has said that worsening wind at Phillip Island left organisers with no choice but to call off Sunday's postponed Australian Grand Prix sprint race.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Oct 22, 2023, 2:18 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Having already moved the sprint to Sunday and instead holding the main race of the weekend on Saturday in anticipation of bad weather, organisers abandoned efforts to hold the 13-lap race just half an hour before the scheduled start time of 1pm local time.
It followed the earlier Moto2 race that was red-flagged after just nine of 23 laps were completed, with 10 of the 30 starters crashing in that time in the treacherous conditions.
Read Also:
Explaining the decision to call off the sprint in more detail, Webb told reporters that race direction was constantly monitoring the speed and direction of the wind, and that the fact it had not improved since the Moto2 race was stopped was decisive factor.
"In the end we had no choice," said Webb. "We knew the forecast was bad, and strangely for here, it's been consistent all week that this was going to happen. That's why we changed the race [schedule].
"The rain was never an issue, it was the wind. We know from past experience here, with the wind in that direction [crosswind on main straight], in particular Turn 1, Turn 7 and 8, are very trying.
"All the way through the day we were monitoring the steady wind and what [speed] the gusts peaked at, and that number slowly went up through the day.
"Having red-flagged the [Moto2] race for the wind, unless it got better there was no way we could start another race, and it didn't get better; it got worse."
Webb pinpointed Celestino Vietti's crash on the ninth lap of the Moto2 race as the moment where race direction realised that the wind had reached unsafe levels.
"The first crash we could clearly identify was due to wind was Vietti's," said Webb. "There were a few others where perhaps the riders would say they were blown off line, but Vietti's crash was one we could clearly pin on the wind."
Webb acknowledged that while there were some riders who were eager to at least attempt a race, the severity of the conditions meant this option was not given serious consideration.
"As you can imagine, there was a big range of opinions [among the riders] depending on their own circumstances," said Webb.
"We spoke to the teams to tell them the options, but to even do a sighting lap when the weather conditions were measurably worse than when we stopped the [Moto2] race, that's not an option.
"These days the responsibility and the duty of care [towards the riders] is not like 40 years ago. Having information about the weather, and knowing that we stopped a race because of it, we couldn't run."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article MotoGP Australian GP: Sprint race cancelled due to poor weather
Next article Bagnaia: MotoGP riders asking to have Australian GP dates changed
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jamie Klein
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
Latest news
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 3 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe