The MotoGP Czech Grand Prix could have been like “tenpin bowling” if it started with all riders on slick tyres on a partially wet circuit, said Pramac rider Jack Miller.
A heavy downpour around 20 minutes before the race at the Brno circuit was originally due to start left the track wet, though the circuit soon dried out apart from the first and last corners.
With all riders set to start on slicks despite those two sections remaining wet, the race start was delayed by 40 minutes – a decision which was almost universally praised by the riders.
“I have to say thank you to all the Dorna staff for the decision for the start of the race, because I didn’t feel comfortable on the grid,” Pramac Ducati’s Miller said.
“We’re all racers and we all would have went with the slicks, 95 percent of the track is dry.
“But I did not feel safe sitting on the front of the grid with 24 bikes going in there with so much water on the ground.
“It would have been like watching tenpin bowling. So thanks to those guys.”
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro echoed Miller’s comments, and also believes there would have been a mass crash had the race gone ahead at its original start time.
“I know there is one rule, it doesn’t matter how the track is you have to start; rain tyre or dry,” he said when asked by Autosport.
“But there is another rule not in the books that says when there’s something dangerous [on track] it’s better to stop the race, and today it was very dangerous because just the straight and corner one [was wet].
“I’m completely sure that if the race started, in the first corner 10 riders [would] crash because I went out with the slick and I was at 10km/h, I touched the throttle and the bike didn’t move.
“You have to think it is 300hp on the slick, [in the wet at Brno it would be] impossible to ride.
“So I think Dorna did really good, because the situation was not easy.”
LCR’s Cal Crutchlow says he “respects” the decision, but says he was “all action” to get the race underway and in part “didn’t understand” why it was delayed.
“I was all action to start the race on slicks, I wanted it started there and then,” he told Autosport.
“I think I would have risked to push and go at the start with the other guys. I think me, Jack and Marc [Marquez] would have really pushed and risked, along with everyone.
“I think that would have been an ideal scenario from where I was starting. But anyway, they delayed it, it was not my decision.
“But I didn’t understand why we didn’t start.
“Yes, it was a lot safer to go when we went, at the end of the day the race was still the race.
“The only thing we would have seen is riders crashing, so all the media, all the people [asking] “why didn’t they start the race?” – you just want the action.
“I don’t understand why it was not started either, but we want less risk, I want to be able to finish the championship and not have a broken collarbone.
“So I can understand both scenarios.”