Oliveira: “Dorna made every effort to put us out there in a safe way”

Miguel Oliveira says every step was followed by Dorna and that they did everything they could to try and have the MotoGP sprint go ahead at Phillip Island.
Miguel Oliveira, RNF Aprilia MotoGP Phillip Island 2023
Miguel Oliveira, RNF Aprilia MotoGP Phillip Island 2023

After a schedule change which saw the grand prix moved to Saturday, the sprint race was cancelled on Sunday morning after heavy winds caused havoc in the Moto2 race.

The schedule change was made because of fears that win could reach unsafe speeds, and that’s what proved to be the case.

Last on the schedule prior to the expected sprint, the Moto2 race was red-flagged as a result of the conditions.

"Obviously when the forecast was looking a bit dark for Sunday, we all thought we had a good chance of not racing because of the wind,” said Oliveira. 

“Thus, finally the change of the schedule to race on Saturday was due to that. Dorna made every effort to try and put us out there in a safe way today for racing but it was just not possible. 

“I think all the efforts were done, and when you do that, you can't ask for more. The weather also needs to help us a little bit and, in this case, it didn't work out."

Oliveira’s team-mate Raul Fernandez also said the conditions were too dangerous to race in.

While it rained throughout Sunday, it wasn’t until the Moto2 race where the wins also became a big issue.

Fernandez added: “In morning the track was not too bad, the wind was stable. 

“But the problem was during Moto2 as the wind started coming up heavily, it was too aggressive and we saw a few crashes. 

“It was on our mind, we knew the possibility of the weather going crazy on Sunday. 

“So they did a good decision to cancel the race today and that we did the race yesterday."

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