Oliveira 'pushed out of the track'

A frightening fall for Miguel Oliveira prompted final practice for the Australian MotoGP to be stopped and, after a meeting of the riders' Safety Commission, the cancellation of Saturday qualifying at Phillip Island

The MotoGP rookie had been blown off-track by a big gust of wind on the main straight, sending him straight on at turn one before falling heavily in the run-off area and bouncing to a halt in a gravel trap.

"I was slipstreaming Zarco and at that point I was a little bit closer to the left side of the track," Oliveira explained. "From the morning to the afternoon the wind completely changed direction and was going sideways on the straight.

"I rolled off to let Johann pass and when I braked, I braked completely sideways and the wind just pushed me out of the track."

Already carrying shoulder ligament damage since Silverstone, the Portuguese was taken to the Medical Centre on a stretcher. Fortunately,  while his hands are very painful, he escaped without any fractures. However, he will need to pass a further check before returning to action on Sunday.

"They checked me in the Medical Centre and saw nothing was broken in my hands, but they didn’t declare me 'fit' so I need to pass tomorrow to see if I can close my hands to ride," he said.

"The rest is fine. The shoulder seems a little bit painful also, so I just need to wake up tomorrow and hope for the best."

Oliveira was 20th fastest during free practice.

The two qualifying sessions are now scheduled to take place directly after Sunday's warm-up.