The race direction of the MotoGP Australian GP received praise from most of the paddock for canceling the sprint race due to strong wind gusts. Maverick Viñales, Aprilia’s rider, took a more cautious approach in his analysis, emphasizing that safety is a priority. However, he did suggest at least having a sighting lap.
The Spaniard considers that it is difficult to judged if the decision was right: ‘It’s very difficult to say if it was correct or not. From my point of view, at least to do the sighting lap to see how the track was and then cancel the race if it was necessary. We had some information from Moto2 riders, they also said it was impossible, so I don’t know. It’s not in our hands’.
Asked whether the cancellation was a disappointment, Viñales replied: ‘I don’t know if it is disappointing or not, because at the end I think the safety has to be the main concern. But it’s always a difficult situation for race direction. I imagine after putting a red flag in Moto2 there was no meaning to let us go with the same conditions, I think’.