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The weekend schedule for the MotoGP 2019 season-opening Qatar Grand Prix will remain unchanged for now despite safety concerns.
Some in the paddock had called for the MotoGP race, which is run under the floodlights at the Losail circuit, to be brought forward from its 8pm local time start slot on March 10 to avoid the potential risk of dropping track temperatures.
This came into focus after a number of riders crashed towards the end of the final day of pre-season testing in Qatar, when the temperature of the surface was below 16 degrees Celsius.
Carmelo Ezpeleta, head of MotoGP promoter Dorna, had indicated on Wednesday that he was open to moving the start time one hour forward in response to riders’ concerns.
But it has now been confirmed that the weekend schedule for the event will remain as it is, at least for now.
The race is set to begin at 8pm local time, with second free practice on Friday and qualifying on Saturday also kicking off at the same hour.
It is understood that a tweak to the schedule could be back on the agenda during the race weekend itself if the temperatures prove too low.
Honda rider Jorge Lorenzo was one of the riders to fall and argued for changing the start time in the aftermath, insisting the race could turn “dangerous” under the planned start time.
“I would like to speak with 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,” Lorenzo said at the end of testing.
“Hopefully we can modify this by half an hour, one hour, as much as possible because if we are unlucky to be racing on a very cold night, it will be dangerous.”
Lorenzo even phoned up Ezpeleta to relay his concerns, and was present at the media event on Wednesday where Ezpeleta mooted a time change.
A switch to a 7pm start would have brought the race back in line with last year’s schedule.
That in itself was a major change from the previous practice of starting the MotoGP race at 9pm local time.