MotoGp, Australia: wind also worries Pecco Bagnaia

Not enough of the long-standing trust issues with the Desmosedici GP25, Pecco Bagnaia said he was also concerned, at the end of Friday’s timed practice day in Australia, about the weather conditions, particularly the alert related to the high winds expected on Sunday. The Ducati centaur, speaking to ‘Sky Sport‘ also proposed his own solution.

“On the track there are really a lot of bumps, with the wind that there’was already today I think we were at the limit – said Bagnaia, who finished ninth in pre-qualifying, moving directly to Q2 -. Around here the wind can be a big problem, as it happened a couple of years ago. We need to talk about it with the Safety Commission as soon as possible”.

“The solution? If the forecast confirms bad weather, we could bring the long race forward to Saturday” explained the three-time world champion rider, two in the premier class. This would be nothing new for Phillip Island: back in 2023, in fact, the weather alert prompted the Motomondiale safety committee to advance the Grand Prix to Saturday, moving the Sprint to Sunday. The short race, however, was not run, precisely because the weather confirmed the forecast of bad weather.

Introduced to the MotoGP calendar in the 1989 season, the Grand Prix d’Australia has traditionally been run at Phillip Island, although from 1991 to 1996 it was held at Eastern Creek and in the 2020 and 2021 seasons it was not staged due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The all-time record holder for victories is Valentino Rossi with 8 wins (5 in MotoGp, one in 500, 2 in 250), while Casey Stoner is the rider who has won the most times in MotoGp alone, with 6 wins between 2007 and 2012.