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MotoGP riders back call to cancel Qatar qualifying

MotoGP's leading riders have backed the decision by race organisers to cancel qualifying for the Qatar season opener due to wet weather.

Track drying

Track drying

Toni Börner

Following heavy rain at the Losail circuit on Friday evening and Saturday, the track failed to dry sufficiently for any running on Saturday evening.

While most of the circuit was completely dry, rivers running across it in places were the main concern, along with pools of water in the run-off areas.

The grid for Sunday evening’s race will therefore be set on practice times, led by Yamaha rider Vinales, who said the decision to call off qualifying was the right one.

“It’s been very strange, strange that it rains in Qatar,” he said. “The track was not [suitable] for rain tyres, it was not for dry tyres. 

“I think it was too risky to go out. Sure some riders will be disappointed, others a little bit more happy, but for me first is safety and today was quite difficult.

“If it rains [on Sunday], we are going to try to race, we have to try.”

Riders have never run under lights in the wet in Qatar, with the 2009 race postponed to Monday after the onset of rain the previous evening.

Plans for Sunday of the 2017 event include an extended warm-up session, with the view that riders will have a chance to check track conditions before the race.

“For me the problem is that we had extreme conditions,” Marquez, who will start third, said. 

“Last night, really heavy rain, and here in Qatar it’s not usual for it to be this wet and maybe they are not able to prepare like people in other countries. 

“Today the problem was that the run-off areas were like a small lake. This is dangerous if you crash, then in some parts some rivers crossing the middle of the track. 

“I hope if the rain is normal, we can test and we can ride. We need to check, but tomorrow the forecast looks better.”

 

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Valentino Rossi was among those to lose out from the cancellation of qualifying, as he will only start Sunday's race from 10th based on combined practice times.

But the Italian agreed holding the session as planned would have been impossible.

"For me personally it’s very bad because I have to start behind, but it was the right choice," said Rossi. "[There was] no way to make the practice today.

"The track was half completely wet, half completely wet, you wouldn’t have known what tyre to use and it was also very dangerous. It was the only decision that they could take."

Marquez: Riders have final say on wet riding

Most of the pre-event weather talk had centred around concerns about reflections from lights off a wet track surface, rather drainage-related issues.

Riders had expressed reservations about a report from a trial completed by FIM Safety Commission representatives Loris Capirossi and Franco Uncini that the lighting was fine on a wet track, but Marquez said the decision always remained with the current MotoGP field.

“I think there was some misunderstanding,” he said. “Capirossi just rode the bike and it was artificial rain, he said it was a possibility but the decision was for the riders.

“In the end, he said it was not impossible. He has a lot of experience, if he said it was impossible, then straight away, they say ‘if it rains, cancel the race’.

“But he said it was a small possibility, but riders have the last decision.

“Yesterday we were in the Safety Commission and we spoke about it, and everybody was agreed that if Capirossi said it was a possibility, we must try and understand it.”

Additional reporting by Jamie Klein

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