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An updated schedule for Saturday’s crammed practice and qualifying day at the Argentine Grand Prix has left LCR Honda rider Taka Nakagami in a rush to Termas de Rio Hondo, with a new later start to proceedings coming at the same time as a negative COVID test for the Japanese rider in the latest upset in a crazy weekend of MotoGP action before a bike has even turned a wheel in anger.
UPDATED #ArgentinaGP SCHEDULE pic.twitter.com/rd7zaczsYP
— Aspar Team MotoGP (@AsparTeam) April 1, 2022
Tomorrow’s newly-updated schedule will now see Moto3 and Moto2 kick off the day, with both classes getting two 50-minute practice sessions first thing in the morning, the former kicking off at the new time of 0815 local.
That means MotoGP won’t head out until 1235 for an hour-long FP1, with the later start time designed to give teams the maximum amount of time possible to prepare their bikes. A broken down aircraft means that some freight is still to arrive, prompting the cancellation of all of Friday’s scheduled track action, with the anticipated plane – at the time of writing – refuelling in Brazil before making the final four-hour hop to Tucuman, the nearest major airport.
After MotoGP FP1, Moto2 and Moto3 will head straight into their qualifying sessions, before a second hour-long MotoGP session and the premier class’s own qualifying, with both FP1 and FP2 for both classes counting towards the crucial Q1/Q2 decider.
With MotoGP’s planned FP3 session from the originally-amended schedule now gone, MotoGP will instead get a 40-minute warm-up on Sunday morning, with Moto2 and Moto3 also both reverting to 20-minute slots, before the racing gets underway for it’s original race distances.
The news is a welcome relief for some teams, in particular Gresini Racing and VR46 Ducati, both of whom have received none of their cargo and have a long night ahead – but it’s even more welcome news for Nakagami, who was originally ruled out of the weekend’s action after testing positive for COVID-19.
With a negative test and the newly-amended schedule, he’s now in a race to make it from his European base in Barcelona in time for Saturday’s action.
“Early this week before flying to Argentina,” explained team boss Lucio Cecchinello, “Taka tested positive, but with high CT value which indicates low viral charge and he was asymptomatic.
“It was decided, together with our medical consultant, to repeat the test every couple of days. Nakagami has now returned a number of negative tests and will be arriving to the paddock on Saturday morning in time for the beginning of track action as agreed with IRTA and Dorna.”
