It’s been a frustrating first day at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit as relentless light rain and fog prevented any bikes taking to the track.

The decision was taken by race control to cancel both sessions due to safety concerns as the circuit medical helicopter has been unable to fly and is therefore not available in the event of an emergency, with the nearest hospital an hour away by road.

Hopefully weather will improve tomorrow and sessions will resume as normal. If it’s still not possible in the morning, then the afternoon sessions will be extended. If no sessions can take place again tomorrow then race direction will look at a suitable solution, together with the teams, that will include free practice, qualifying and race all taking place on Sunday - again, weather permitting.


Marc Marquez

"There wasn't much that we could do today due to the weather conditions and therefore we didn’t have a medical helicopter and weren’t able to ride. The forecast for tomorrow is similar, but let's hope that things improve and we can go on track. If not then we will have to see the proposed schedule for Sunday and how it will work, sure it’s not the ideal situation but it’s the same for everybody!”

Dani Pedrosa

"There's not much to say about today - we were unable to undertake any practice sessions, which meant we were a little bored. We hope to have better luck tomorrow and be able to go out on track!”

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