MotoGP – Qatar race schedules remain unchanged

Bruno Gomes

February 28, 2019

Photo credits: Detik

During the recent MotoGP Qatar test, on the last of the three days that riders had to fine tune their bikes, there were many crashes and some riders voiced their concerns for the safety during the first race of the season. The reason for such concerns was the humidity coming from the desert that surrounds Losail, and the fact the asphalt was getting very cold.

The MotoGP tests were done at the same time the race is supposed to happen next March 10, so that riders and teams could tune the bikes and get used to race at night time and with the artificial lights of the Qatari track turned on.

After the tests, Jorge Lorenzo spoke about the about the possibility to change the race schedule on Sunday, saying he was concerned for the safety of riders. The Spaniard said it would be good to do the races one hour earlier than scheduled, and Dorna CEO, Carmelo Ezpeleta, said in an interview that MotoGP organizers would do everything they could to guarantee the safety of riders competing in the World Championship.

Now, the Qatar race weekend schedule was finally released today, and Dorna has decided to keep the original schedule unchanged, so Jorge Lorenzo and all other riders won’t be racing earlier as they wanted.

Alex Rins, Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Francesco Bagnaia, Takaaki Nakagami, Tito Rabat, Cal Crutchlow, Miguel Oliveira, and Johann Zarco, all suffered crashes on the last day of testing, and all of them said it was because of the low temperature and high humidity.

Of course, Dorna might still change the schedule at the last minute as they did in Sepang last season when they moved the MotoGP race as a precaution over the incoming storm and heavy rains, that never happened.