After conditions at Phillip Island deteriorated on Saturday afternoon at the Australian Grand Prix, FP4 was suspended pending a decision on whether or not to continue in the high winds hitting the Island.
Race Direction, in consultation with the riders at a Safety Commission meeting, decided to cancel the day’s remaining track action and that creates a first: qualifying on Sunday.
The lightweight and intermediate classes had already headed out to decide their grids but by the time MotoGP were back on track, the ever-increasing wind put paid to the program – so the combined timesheets therefore remain the same.
Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) is fastest ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), with no one improving in FP3 and entry to Q2 unchanged from the provisional glimpse we got on Friday.
There was some news from Saturday before the weather got worse, however, as Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) got back out on track after his crash in FP1.
The Frenchman sat out FP2 yesterday due to the medication he was given after hitting his left foot in the crash, and was to be reviewed before heading out on track this morning.
Deemed fighting fit to continue, he did just that and improved his laptime – although that was somewhat a given given his fastest FP1 effort was set in the wet.
The Frenchman will be back out with the rest of the field at the slightly different time of 9:50 (GMT +11) on Sunday morning, before Q1 then beckons the rookie for the first time. That begins at 10:20am, before Q2 decides the grid just after. The race time remains unchanged from the 15:00 (GMT +11) original schedule.