During the Australian Moto3 qualifying session at Phillip Island, the session was halted. At Turn 4, known as the Honda corner, a number of riders slid off the circuit, without even colliding.
Apparently, wildcard rider, Yanni Shaw, had an engine failure and ground to a halt with a smoking engine. Unfortunately, since the mess was not cleaned up in time, the Moto3 riders were greeted by an oily and slippery track.
The end result was at least 8 bikes sliding off the circuit, with some going into each other. The session was red-flagged immediately, so that the chaos could be cleared away. The likes of Raul Fernandez, Ai Ogura, Tony Arbolino, Sergio Garcia, Can Oncu, Makar Yurchenko, Jakub Kornfeil, Jaume Masia and Kazuki Masaki, were victims of the incident.
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Turn 4 looks slightly slippery! 😱⚠️#AustralianGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/F3PiG771IK
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) October 26, 2019
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This session was actually one of attrition, as there were numerous falls on the circuit. Then, the heavens opens, and the difficulty level cranked up to near-impossible. In the end, Leopard rider Marcos Ramirez slotted into pole for the first time in his career. The Spaniard mastered the incredibly tricky weather conditions at Phillip Island during the Australian Moto3 qualifying session.
Ramirez powered his Honda through the elements and slippery track and stayed on top. Soon, the tarmac began to dry with the arrival of the sun to climb to pole position as the session drew to a close.
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Meanwhile, Aron Canet remains the only one capable of stopping Lorenzo Dalla Porta from winning the title this weekend. The Spaniard will start on the front row in second, while Dalla Porta starts sixth. Canet used the power of the slipstream to his advantage, by latching onto his title rival
However, conditions soon worsened and it got to a stage where the MotoGP qualifying had to be cancelled. Now, the new schedule says that qualifying will be held a couple of hours before Moto3 begins.