One of the most dramatic races

THE 2017 Grand Prix of Qatar will go down in history as one of the most dramatic races.

Uncertainty loomed large on the event, with torrential rains forcing cancellation of all track activities on the penultimate day, including the qualifying practice.

Even when rain stopped, there was too much water to be cleared from the track and adjacent areas. With conditions deemed too dangerous, the FIM Race Direction cancelled track action and decided the grid based on combined times after the end of the third free practice session.

It was for the first time since the 2010 Portugal Grand Prix that the qualifying sessions had to be cancelled and FIM Chief Safety Officer Loris Capirossi was at pains to explain the rationale behind the decision.

“We thought we could resolve the problem, but in the end it turned out to be bigger than we understood it to be and decided to cancel everything. The main problem with the track is that there’s no proper drainage facility here because normally we don’t expect rain in Qatar,” said Capirossi.

Though the weather was pleasant on the race day, there was further drama when it drizzled just before the scheduled start at 9pm.

Capirossi and his team were back in action and decided to delay the race by 30 minutes and reduce the number of laps from 22 to 21. The riders were then set out on sighting lap, but apparently, came back unhappy with the track condition. This followed a lengthy discussion between the team managers and organisers, and one more lap was reduced before the race finally began at 9.45pm. 

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