Francesco Bagnaia leads calls to move Australian MotoGP race to Saturday

Several MotoGP riders are wary about racing on Sunday due to adverse weather conditions

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia is leading calls for MotoGP to move the Australian Grand Prix to Saturday amid concerns over strong winds forecast for Sunday at Phillip Island.

Bagnaia said he plans to raise the issue with the safety commission, as wind is expected to reach up to 50km/h on race day.

There is precedent for such a move, with MotoGP having advanced the Melbourne race to Saturday in 2023 due to predictions of heavy rain and wind.

That decision allowed the grand prix to run safely, although the sprint was later cancelled after being moved to Sunday, when the weather was at its worst.

“I think that a good solution will be to make the long race tomorrow,” Bagnaia said unprompted in his media briefing on Friday. ”I will speak about it in the safety commission.

“The track is very, very bumpy and the wind today was already on the limit. And it looks like it will be the day with less [the least] wind.

“Sunday could be very tricky, like it was three years ago. So it will be important to speak well about the safety [with the commission] and try to find some solution.”

Luca Marini, Honda HRC

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Bagnaia wasn’t the only rider to raise concerns about the safety of racing in windy conditions, with his Honda counterpart Luca Marini warning about potential incidents in lower classes.

“I hope that somebody will take the decision before seeing Moto2 riders crash,” said the Italian.

“Because this happened in the past and it's something that we don't want. It's better to be more careful, more on the safe side, because this track is heavy when you crash."

Yamaha’s Alex Rins also supported discussing the issue in the safety commission, even before he had turned his first laps at the Phillip Island Circuit.

“For sure, on Friday we are going to talk on the safety commission,” he said on Thursday. “Already two years ago, we did the main race on Saturday and Sunday was cancelled. Let's see."