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Multiple MotoGP riders have called for improvements to fencing at the Phillip Island circuit to protect them from the possibility of dangerous wildlife strikes.
That was the second red flag triggered by the local Cape Barren Geese this weekend, and came after Aleix Espargaro missed a wallaby which ran across the track by barely a metre as he sped towards the fast Hayshed corner during Friday practice for the premier class.
The Aprilia rider was among those agitating for changes.
“At the beginning [of the Safety Commission meeting] everybody was laughing, but they understood it was a very important thing in terms of safety,” said Espargaro.
“For me, it is unacceptable; it was very dangerous.
“Let’s see if they can improve; we asked them to close the track a little bit better.
“For the birds, you can’t do anything – birds can happen – but wallabies cannot happen.
“If yesterday I caught the wallaby – I was doing 220 km/h – big, big, big crash.”
Suzuki Ecstar rider Alex Rins similarly suggested that fences need to be higher.
“We already talked yesterday in the Safety Commission that they need to improve the fences,” remarked the Spaniard.
“Because, if we hit a wallaby, it could be so dangerous for the animal and also for us.
“I’m looking at this fence on the straight and it’s not so high.”
Australian Jack Miller, on the other hand, speculated that the fences would not make any difference.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s very dangerous to have kangaroos and whatnot hopping around in the middle of a race track when you’re doing 350 km/h,” he conceded.
“But, like I said yesterday in the Safety Commission, I understand there’s not a six-foot fence around this joint, but that kangaroo definitely didn’t just waltz on in.
“I’d say it was burrowed in somewhere, and the noise of these bloody 300 horsepower machines starting to go around [woke it up].
“At the end of the day, when you have a track in such an iconic location like this, you’re always going to have an issue in Australia with wildlife.
“Whether it’s seagulls or whatever those dodo-looking birds are, you’re always going to have an issue.
“I mean, what are we going to do, exterminate the whole island? I don’t think so, so it’s all a part of it.
“Like I said, it’s not nice to have it on the race track at 350km/h, but at the end of the day, what are you going to do?”
“I’m sure there’s nothing waltzing in over the fences now, because the fences are six-deep, the whole way round, with people.
“I don’t think that’s too much of an issue.”
Asked if there was an outcome from the Safety Commission meeting, Miller said, “That’s basically it.
“Everyone knows when you come to Australia there is wildlife. All you have to do is drive down one of our hundreds of highways and you can see the amount of roadkill on the side of the road.”
“There’s a lot of animals in this joint and not a lot of people, so it’s different to everywhere else in the world; it’s a part of it.”
Premier class Warm up is scheduled for Sunday at 09:40 local time/AEDT and the Race itself at 14:00.
