(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Rain, rain go away, Come again another day… Yesterday it was not just the kids but also the adults who were singing this nursery rhyme at the Losail International Circuit yesterday. But it didn't go away quickly enough, resulting in the qualifying sessions for the opening round of the MotoGP being cancelled. The combined times of the three free practice sessions have been used to determine the grid for today's race.
This means that Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales has got his first pole position of the 2017 season. In second position is Suzuki's Andrea Iannone and completing the third row is Honda's Marc Marquez. Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo is the rider most affected by the cancellation of the qualifying sessions because he will now start in 11th position on the grid.
It was a frustrating day for everyone from the riders to the fans. The riders were keen to get out there and get those valuable laps under their belt so that they could get the set-up perfect for the race. The race organisers, considered the extraordinary situation yesterday, have decided that every class MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 will get 30 minutes of warm-up today afternoon. This will give the riders the time to fine tune the set-up and get ready for the races in the evening.
There were a lot of changes made to the schedule in the hope that qualifying could take place but the conditions didn't allow any track activity. The key issues were the standing water left on the track in certain areas and the run-off areas being flooded. Despite the organisers employing pumps to drain the water and also using drying machines, they couldn't get the track ready in time.
There is rain forecast for today morning but nothing in the afternoon. The organisers are hoping that they can get the track ready in time for 30-minute practice sessions.
'There were a lot of things that we wanted to test electronics, full tank runs, tyres etc. I am little bit disappointed that we couldn't ride the bike on race set-up. But I will make the last adjustments during the practice session. I hope the weather stays nice, said Vinales yesterday.
'The warm-up is important to check the grip level and then we will decide which set-up to use. I will look to get a good start, push in the first lap and try and set my pace. There are many riders that I need to watch out for, he added.
Defending champion Marquez, like every other rider, was looking forward to run race simulations today but he said that weather wasn't something that one can control. 'The weather is something that you can't do anything about. Safety of the riders is most important, said Marquez.
'Starting on the front row is a good result for me. It's not the best way to achieve it but it's good for me. Maverick will lead the race and will have a good pace. Our target is to finish on the podium, he added.
MotoGP safety chief Loris Capirossi said that the organisers tried everything they could to ensure that the track was ready but had to call off the sessions in the end. 'We thought we could resolve the problem but in the end it turned out to be bigger than we understood it to be and we decided to cancel everything. The main problem of the track is no drainage because normally we don't expect rain in Qatar, said the Italian yesterday.
'We will be working through the night to try and resolve the conditions as much as we can. We will be working all day today too to get the track to be in its best condition, he added.
Capirossi also indicated that if the weather continued to crate havoc, the race could be moved to Monday. 'If we have rain, we will send the riders out and they can decide if the conditions are good to race. If not, we could cancel the race and postpone it to Monday. But the decision will be taken tomorrow (Sunday), he said.
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