The final race at Phillip Island that never took place

Friday, October 23rd

Phillip Island welcomes the World Championship for the final time with Friday morning’s opening Free Practice 1 session, held under clear skies and in high temperatures.
Kiattisak Singhapong immediately finds a good feeling with the Australian circuit. During his first run, consisting of ten laps, the Thai rider progressively improves his lap times, reaching 11th position and holding onto it almost until the chequered flag. During his second outing, however, he is unable to improve his time further.
Jesus Rios takes a more cautious approach, also making his absolute debut at the Australian circuit. The Spaniard works his way up gradually, aiming to build confidence on the track without taking excessive risks. Singhapong manages to set the fastest time in three of the four sectors during his fastest lap, while Rios shows steady improvement across several laps, setting the fastest sector time in each sector on four different laps.

After analysing the data collected during FP1 and working on the bikes’ settings, both Team Snipers riders make significant progress during Practice.
Singhapong sets a good benchmark already in his first run, improving his morning time by half a second. However, the real step forward comes after a couple of pit stops: the young Thai rider improves by almost another second, finishing the session in 10th position and securing direct entry into Q2 on Friday.
Rios also makes significant progress, improving his benchmark by half a second as early as his second flying lap, before returning to the pits for a tyre change. His fastest time of the session comes on the first flying lap of his second run, when the Spanish rider manages to take an impressive 1.7 seconds off his FP1 time.
Despite this considerable improvement, Rios misses out on direct entry into Q2 by just two tenths of a second. His gap to the top of the standings remains relatively small, an encouraging sign ahead of qualifying and an opportunity to continue making progress at the Australian circuit.

Saturday, October 24th

As expected, the weather changes dramatically on Saturday morning, bringing rain and temperatures around 15°C for FP2. Teams and riders are therefore required to adapt their work to wet conditions, looking for new solutions to tackle a particularly challenging track surface.
Despite the difficulties, both Team Snipers riders manage to gather positive feedback ahead of qualifying. After just their first flying lap, Singhapong and Rios move into 9th and 11th position respectively, before continuing their work and progressively improving their lap times.
The Thai rider sets his fastest time on his 11th lap out of 14 completed, while Rios records his quickest lap right under the chequered flag, at the end of a 16-lap session.
Both riders complete FP2 without returning to the pits, gathering useful information for the remainder of the weekend.

Australian qualifying gets underway with Jesus Rios competing in Q1, aiming to secure one of the available spots in the second qualifying session. The Spanish rider completes the session without returning to the pits, managing a total of nine laps and setting his fastest time on his penultimate lap.
The battle for a place in Q2 proves particularly intense, with minimal gaps between the riders. With traffic on track and weather conditions progressively worsening throughout the 15-minute session, Rios is unable to find the time needed to progress to the next qualifying phase, missing out on Q2 by just a few tenths of a second.

With the track surface becoming increasingly treacherous, Team Snipers continues its qualifying efforts in Q2 with Kiattisak Singhapong. The Thai rider splits the session into two runs, immediately setting a good benchmark during his first outing and briefly moving into the Top 10 before returning to the pits.
During his second outing, Singhapong has one final flying lap at his disposal, which he makes the most of, improving his previous time by almost a second right under the chequered flag. His performance earns him an excellent 9th place on the starting grid, a significant result on his debut at the Phillip Island circuit.

Sunday, October 25th (Race Cancelled)

The Moto3 race, initially scheduled for 11:00 local time, has been officially cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.
The thick cloud cover and poor visibility caused by particularly low clouds prevent helicopters from operating safely in the event of an emergency. Helicopter availability is a fundamental requirement for ensuring that races can take place, making it impossible to start the Grand Prix without the necessary safety conditions being met.
After several delays, in the hope that the weather would improve and allow the race to go ahead as scheduled, the organisers ultimately decided to cancel the Moto3 Australian Grand Prix.

Comments

Jesus Rios is deeply disappointed not to have been able to race at the Phillip Island circuit:
“It’s a real shame that we couldn’t race at this circuit, especially considering that from next year onwards, we’ll be racing at a different track. The conditions wouldn’t have been easy, but I would have given my best in the race, confident that I could make up positions.”

Kiattisak Singhapong is disappointed not to have had the chance to prove himself after a positive weekend:
“After completing a good qualifying session, just like yesterday, I’m disappointed that I couldn’t show my potential in the race, although this wouldn’t have been an easy Grand Prix in these conditions. Nevertheless, I take away more experience and a lot of confidence heading into the next races.”