Lorenzo: Riders want earlier Qatar MotoGP start
Jorge Lorenzo says that MotoGP riders wan🐬t the start time of the season-opening Qatar night race to be moved even earlier, for safety reasons.
The race was broug𓄧ht forward from 9pm to 7♈pm last season, to try and avoid the sharp drop in temperature and formation of dew that occurs late at night, while also providing more leeway in the case of any rain delays.
But the 2019 race is due to start at 8pm [updated] which Lorenzo thinks is too late, after being among a number of fallers on t𝔍he final night of thi👍s week's Qatar pre-season test.
Jorge Lorenzo says that MotoGP riders want the start time of the season-opening Qatar night race to be moved even📖 earlier, for safety reasons.
The race was brought forward from 9pm to 7pm l🐓ast season, to try and avoid the sharp drop in temperature and formation of dew that occurs late at night, while also providing more leeway in the case of any rain delays.
But the 2019 race is due to start at 8pm [updated] which Lorenzo thinks is too late, after being among a nu🎶mber of fallers on the fi💞nal night of this week's Qatar pre-season test.
"I had a big crash at the end of the ni🍎ght because the temperature dropped a lot and there was a lot of humidity, a lot of [de♏w] and a lot of riders started crashing," said the new Repsol Honda rider, already nursing a wrist injury.
"So that's why we would like to speak quite seriously with [Dorna CEO] Carmelo Ezpeleta and the🐷 ones who decide the schedule of the race, because if we can put it earlier it would be much better for the safety of the riders.
"Hopefully we can modify this by half an hour, one hour… As much as possible because 💃if we are unlucky and have a very humid night for the race, it will be dangerous."
The current MotoGP start time already🔴 means that the Moto3 race (4pm) is held in daylight, with the Mot𝔍o2 race (5:20pm) during sunset.
The 2019 season-opener takes 🐈place at Losail on M𒊎arch 8-10.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit s✤tory and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
