Francesco Bagnaia retains lead over Jorge Martin as Australian MotoGP sprint race cancelled due to weather

High winds and deteriorating track conditions caused the Australian MotoGP sprint race to be abandoned on Sunday morning, striking a blow to Jorge Martin's hopes of overhauling Francesco Bagnaia in the championship standings.

The main race had already been moved to Saturday to avoid the worst of the weather, but chaos in the Moto2 and Moto3 races earlier on Sunday meant that the sprint was always in doubt.

In Saturday's race, Bagnaia finished second to extend his lead at the top of the standings with Martin running fifth.

With the gap between the two leading contenders sitting at 27 points, Martin's qualification on pole for the sprint promised to have real implications for the title. However, race organisers felt compelled to step in with winds already high and predicted to top 50 miles per hour.

They released a statement, explaining the decision. It read: "Changes were made to the schedule to try and ensure the maximum track action in the safest possible conditions on Sunday. But the weather conditions - forecast to worsen throughout the day - have obliged the cancellation of further track activity."

Martin has won each of the last four sprint races, holding the all-time record in the discipline which was introduced this season, and would have hoped to claim maximum points at Phillip Island, too.

Bagnaia, for his part, was disappointed but ultimately approved the decision.

He said: "For me it's a lost occasion when we lose a race ... I was prepared to fight for the top position and I was positive. But the wind was quite crazy and with MotoGP riders at 330kph it can become very dangerous, so for me the decision is the correct one."

Marc Marquez, himself no stranger to competing for MotoGP titles having won six of them, felt similarly.

He said: "In warm-up it was acceptable, but then it looks like the wind was super strong and especially with these bikes, with all aerodynamics we have, it becomes a bit dangerous."

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