MotoGP issues second new Phillip Island schedule

There have been further changes to the Sunday MotoGP schedule at Phillip Island.

The existing sessions for the final day of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix event have been moved forward by up to an hour, meaning the MotoGP Sprint will be held at 13:00 local time/AEDT.

Warm Up sessions have also been added for Moto2 and Moto3, having otherwise been abolished with this year’s new weekend format.

The latest changes follow the unprecedented decision to swap the Sprint and Grand Prix races due to forecasts of dangerously high winds on Sunday, with the longer of those encounters to now take place this afternoon from 15:10 local time/AEDT.

The Sprint was to have assumed its start time of 14:00 on Sunday, but that is when the wind is set to become particularly strong.

By moving the Sprint forward, organisers have thus maximised the chance of fitting in all of the action at Phillip Island, albeit in a rather unorthodox fashion.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation has offered refunds and/or complimentary Saturday entry to Sunday ticketholders, depending on their circumstances, due to the upheaval.

Riders have backed the decision to swap the Grand Prix and Sprint races, reasoning that it is better to make changes in order to hold the headline act, particularly given how far the MotoGP paddock has travelled to get to Phillip Island.

Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin has earned pole position for both races after breaking his own outright lap record by half a second this morning in qualifying.

Updated Australian MotoGP schedule