Qualifying cancelled as winds batter Phillip Island
Conditions were deemed too dangerous to continue running at the Australian GP, Qualifying rescheduled for Sunday morning should weather allow it.
Morning running on Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix was limited to just a few laps as high winds and rain hit the Phillip Island Circuit. While the rain eased in the afternoon, strong gusts of wind persisted. Riders attempted to run during Free Practice 4 but an emergency Safety Commission meeting between the MotoGP class riders ruled it was too dangerous to continue running today.
Before the red flag, Marc Marquez managed a 1’31.185 to lead Free Practice 4 from Maverick Viñales. Jorge Lorenzo completed a best lap of 1’35.589 while working on setup changes during the session and was 20th as the red flag came out.
Sunday’s provisional schedule will see MotoGP Warm Up held at 09:50 Local Time with Qualifying starting immediately after the session at 10:20. The 27-lap Australian Grand Prix is still scheduled to run at 15:00 Local Time, weather permitting.
Marc Marquez
"In my opinion it was very dangerous, the wind was there and with the speed on this circuit, you feel it a lot. I was riding alone and you could feel the wind, but it looks like when you overtook another rider like with Zarco and Oliveira, you feel it a lot more. For safety reasons we decided to cancel it. There was no need to risk that much in Qualifying, we were right on the limit of being able to ride and in the end we have another day to do it tomorrow. It will be a busy day with Warm Up, Qualifying and race but it's not the end of the world."
Jorge Lorenzo
"Today we had very extreme conditions with the wind, already in FP3 I could feel it was a bit dangerous. In FP4 it was worse and after Oliveira's crash, we as riders came together and agreed that this was the best decision to make - to stop practice. The conditions with the wind was dangerous, especially as the wind was coming in gusts so it was unpredictable. Tomorrow will be a busy day and we have to hope that the morning will be sunny and warm so we can do what we need to do."
Australian GP Overall Combined Free Practice Classification
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|
Location Information
Phillip Island, the self-styled home of Australian motorsport, is steeped in motor racing tradition, with the first car races having been held there on public roads in the 1920s. The first motorcycle races took place in 1931 and a permanent track was built in 1956. The circuit fell into disrepair… read more.
| Length | 4.448 kilometres / 2.764 miles |
| Width | 13 metres |
| Left corners | 7 |
| Right corners | 5 |
| Longest straight | 0.900 kilometres / 0.559 miles |
| Constructed | 1956 |
| Modified | 1988 |
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Phillip Island, Ventnor, Victoria, Australia - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m 27.246s (183.5 km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2023) |
| Race Lap | 1m 27.765s (182.4 km/h) Marc Marquez (Ducati, 2024) |
| Race Time | 39m 47.702s (181.0 km/h) Marc Marquez (Ducati, 2024) |
| 2024 Race Winner | Marc Marquez (Ducati) |
| 2024 Sprint Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducati) |
