Rain in Qatar forced the start of ꦰSunday's season-opening MotoGP race to be delayed - twice.

While rain spots had soon cleared,൲ when riders headed out for the next sighting lap, many of them ran wide at the same corner.

Some, inc♔luding Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, were then seen deep in discussion with officials on ꦦthe grid.

Some riders clearly unhappy with the conditions 💝-- ♐mahbx.com MotoGP (@crash_motogp)

"We went to the front of the grid to talk with Carmelo Ezpeleta. We said, 'Three corners at the end of the track are super wet.' He said, 'OK, we won't go, don't worry!' And this gives you a lot of calm," Espargaro said.

"After ano♊ther delay, they decided to giﷺve us two [warm-up] laps."

The two sighting laps allowed riders to fully evaluate if track conditions were safe. This time♏ no-one objected and the race finally began 45-minutes later than planned. No-one fell in the opening laps.

"It was handled more than correctly," Espargaro said. "It was super tricky and Dorna for me did a great job. For me, it's the best sport in the world. Our opinion is important and this is🉐 great.

"It was not an easy weekend for them, but they did a gꩵreat job."

All of Saturday's track action was cancelled due to drainage problems following heavy rain in 💧the ༺desert.

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