Lorenzo: Possible wet Qatar race a worry

The Losail night race has never been run in the rain before, and was postponed to Monday in 2009 due to the onset of bad weather.

However, Michelin has supplied wet-weather tyres for this weekend, after FIM Safety Commission representatives Franco Uncini and Loris Capirossi conducted a test on an artificially soaked track last month and concluded that running in the wet would be safe.

Dunlop is also flying in rain tyres for Moto2 and Moto3, following that decision.

Weather forecasts outline a chance of rain on Sunday evening, while Thursday, Friday and Saturday's running could also be affected.

Lorenzo said he hoped the forecasts were inaccurate, as the prospect of racing on a wet track amid desert sand left him and his fellow riders concerned.

"We all hope not to try these conditions, especially at this track, because we don't have so much experience," said Lorenzo.

"We don't know how our vision will be in rainy conditions at this track.

"Also, the sand I think worries us a little bit. So we hope the predictions [of rain] are wrong this time."

Pramac Ducati's Scott Redding said competing in the rain with no prior testing was "not ideal", conceding riders will have little option but to race in the event of bad weather

"No-one has experience with the tyres, how will the tyres work with the sand and the water, reflections, the spray, the reflections in the spray," he said.

"If we have to try, we have to try. But it's not ideal to send a bike that does 365km/h to try it.

"And if one [rider] says they will race, they all will and you can't say no.

"It might be absolutely fine. But then why didn't they run the race in 2009?

"I know people weren't prepared, but they haven't prepared for any other year."

LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow said he saw "no real problem" with racing in the rain in Qatar, likening it to MotoGP's first visit to Argentina's Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in 2014.

"Loris [Capirossi] said he'd already done it," Crutchlow said of trying the conditions.

"Visibility, the spray, it was fine. But it's different when there's 25 people on the grid and a lot more can happen.

"At the moment I see no real problem with it. Grip is grip, you have to find it.

"I remember Argentina when we first started going there, it was a disaster and you had to ride with it. We'll see."