Ezpeleta: Monday race the right call

The 125cc race earlier on Sunday evening had to be red-flagged after just four laps because of a heavy downpour, the 250cc race was delayed and then shortened, and another storm hit the Losail circuit just as the MotoGP field was preparing to start the formation lap last night.

Ezpeleta, who is the head of MotoGP organiser Dorna, described the weather as "extraordinary" and says the majority of teams agreed to accept the Qatar sporting authority's invitation to run the race on Monday.

"The QMMF offered us the choice to run the race tomorrow, and as it was a very important decision we wanted to consult with all the team managers," said Ezpeleta.

"The postponement was accepted by a large majority. This has been an extraordinary decision in extraordinary circumstances."

The teams' backing was given to the postponement proposal in a midnight meeting at the Losail circuit. Yamaha Racing manager director Lin Jarvis said the Monday evening timeslot would be an inconvenience, but was better than cancelling the race outright.

"Obviously we're disappointed not to race tonight under normal circumstances, but due to this totally bizarre situation of such incredibly heavy rain in the desert, we can't," he said.

"It's a great pity for all the fans at home and those here. After considerable internal discussion with Masahiko Nakajima, Davide Brivio, Daniele Romagnoli and of course Valentino and Jorge, Yamaha's decision was to fully support the proposal to race tomorrow."

Dani Pedrosa was one of the riders who stood to benefit from a cancellation, as it would have given him a further fortnight before Motegi for his injured wrist and knee to fully heal. But the Honda rider agreed that having already travelled to Qatar it was better to ensure a race took place.

"At first we thought the race was going to be called off completely and I can't say that this would have been bad for me personally because my condition is not 100 per cent," he said.

"But we came to Qatar to race so we'll come back and go for the maximum result tomorrow."

MotoGP had already agreed that it would not attempt to run a night race in wet conditions due to the glare from the floodlights reflecting off the surface water and spray. The downpour did not relent for over two hours anyway, leaving the circuit saturated into the early hours of the morning.

Doha normally receives just eight days of rain per year, but so far three of the six days of MotoGP running at the track this year have been hit by adverse weather.

Rain interrupted the opening day of last month's test, and another shower delayed 250cc qualifying on Saturday night, before the repeated downpours yesterday that affected all three races.

Claude Denis, president of the FIM road racing commission, said there had never been any question of attempting to run the event in the rain.

"For safety reasons it was not possible to race in the night due to the reflection of the lights on the track," he said. "This decision had already been taken a few years ago when we first decided to run a night race in Qatar.

"On behalf of the FIM I am very happy that we could postpone the race until tomorrow. It is important for the championship, especially at the first race, and I would like to thank Dorna, QMMF, IRTA and the MotoGP teams for helping reach this decision together."