MotoGP’s Australian GP delayed due to bad weather

The Australian Grand Prix has been delayed by at least an hour due to poor weather at Phillip Island on Sunday.

The last-ever MotoGP race at the iconic Phillip Island circuit was due to kick off at 2pm local time, but all track action has been suspended until at least 3pm, with a revised schedule yet to be announced.

While Melbourne continues to witness heavy rain, lack of visibility remains the chief problem, preventing MotoGP’s medical helicopter from operating. The championship rules require the helicopter to remain on standby should a rider need to be airlifted to hospital.

A further update about the situation will be published at 2pm local time (3am GMT).

“Poor visibility continues to affect the operation of the medical helicopter at the Red Bull Grand Prix of Australia. It is now confirmed there will be no track action before 3pm local time,” a statement from MotoGP read.

“Once track action is able to commence, the MotoGP Grand Prix will take place first.”

MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 are all due to host races on Sunday, although the organisers are expected to prioritise the premier class if a window of improved weather allows track action to resume.

The warm-up session has already been cancelled having originally been rescheduled from 9:40am to 11am.

Poor weather had been forecast throughout the weekend at Phillip Island, with conditions deteriorating on Sunday as expected.

There were discussions about MotoGP proactively altering the schedule at the start of the weekend, but no such changes were ultimately made.

All sessions on Saturday went ahead as per schedule, with qualifying taking place in wet conditions before the circuit dried in time for the sprint.

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