Should Phillip Island have been cancelled?

The races at Phillip Island for the second round of the World Superbike championship were hampered by increasingly dangerous weather conditions, with riders falling and races being delayed, but at what stage do the races get cancelled for safety reasons?

In the days preceding race day there was no hint of the torrential rain and high winds that were going to hit on race day. Temperatures were high and winds low, but this was to change on Sunday when winds picked up and torrential rain started to fall early in the day.

Although no-one has directly called the organisers choice to carry on racing into question, some riders have stated that the conditions were a factor in some of their accidents.

Yamaha Italia's Andrew Pitt, who came off a number of times over the weekend, fell twice during the rain interrupted second race.

"I feel like I've been in a boxing ring for 15 rounds!" commented Pitt. "I was very careful through turn eight and I just touched the throttle, to get ready for the corner, and I went straight over the handlebars. The weather conditions, with so much wind and then the rain, were as bad as any I've ridden in here."

The same gust of wind helped Foggy Petronas rider Gary McCoy into the gravel traps only a few seconds before Pitt joined him.

"I went in there quite cautious so there could even have been a gush of wind because the bike went sideways all of a sudden," detailed McCoy on his second race get-off. "I got flicked onto the front screen and went down into the kitty litter! Andrew Pitt also came off behind me and I thought 'Here comes something blue' as I was lying there!"

The Supersport race itself was delayed due to wind conditions. The track had to be cleared after a number of TV towers, advertising boards and pit equipment were blown over moments before the riders took to the track.

Pirelli's own racing manager Giorgio Barbier admitted the track conditions were called into question.

"The wind was at such a level today (Sunday) that we could have stopped the race, and it was hard for the riders to keep the correct lines," he commented.

So at what point does the conditions dictate that the racing has to be cancelled?

This question seems to have no clear answer. Obviously the conditions were very bad at Phillip Island this weekend for the races, with the wind contributing to a number of the accidents. However the organisers have to take many factors into account in the very difficult decision to cancel a race due to weather conditions, unfortunately not only the riders safety.

The next round of the championship takes place at Valencia in Spain on 24th April, a track renowned for its good weather.