Late plane causes delays to Phillip Island MotoGP set-up

MotoGP team set-up activities at Phillip Island will be delayed due to a late-running freight plane.

The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix represents the second leg of two flyaway triple-headers after MotoGP raced at Indonesia’s Mandalika circuit in recent days.

One of the four planes having been delayed in its journey Down Under, report’s Germany’s Speedweek, and hence set-up times have been pushed back.

The paddock will open on Wednesday at 12:00 but teams will only be allowed to set up offices and hospitality units with equipment which arrives by boat.

Everything else must wait until Thursday at 08:00, by which time it is hoped that all of the air freight, including motorcycles, will have arrived.

It is still expected that Friday practice will run as normal, with Moto3 FP1 at 09:00 AEDT and the premier class first on-track from 10:45.

The freight drama is not the first in recent times for MotoGP, and hardly the worst.

In April 2022, Friday track activity was lost entirely due to mechanical dramas for a plane during the journey from, coincidentally, Indonesia to Argentina.

Then and now, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has contributed to freight problems because sanctions have reduced supply of cargo planes.