Just 30 minutes before the start of the MotoGP race, light rain appeared, prompting race officials to declare a flag-to-flag race, resulting in total chaos.
Everything started to go wrong with the unexpected arrival of rain and a crash involving Fabio Quartararo as he made his way to the grid on the formation lap. Once on the grid, all the riders, set up for wet conditions, expected the race to be officially declared wet and therefore run under flag-to-flag rules.
After last year’s rain-affected race in Japan, a rule was introduced stating that if more than 10 riders left the grid before the warm-up lap, a red flag should be shown, followed by a quick restart procedure (10 minutes).
The first to act was Marc Marquez, who left his wet-condition bike on the grid and ran to the pitbox to switch to his dry-condition bike. The entire grid followed his lead, creating massive confusion and chaos as riders were unsure whether to take their bikes with them or leave them on the track.
Race officials then ordered the riders to return and retrieve their bikes, displaying the red flag and initiating a new grid formation with a standing start.
In the end, all riders switched to their dry-condition bikes fitted with slick tyres, as the rain had stopped by the time the race was set to begin. The race was officially declared flag-to-flag and shortened to 19 laps, one less than originally planned.
