Former world champion Casey Stoner says authorities should not rush into a date change for the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The Honda racer says he would be happy to race at Phillip Island at the start or near the end of the season â€" but the key issue is ensuring the round remains at the island track. Series promoters Dorna have insisted that unless the date is changed from October next year to March, the Phillip Island track will not be approved as a MotoGP venue. Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta says the date must be changed because of the bad weather later in the year which has the potential to endanger riders. Ezpeleta said last year’s event was on the brink of being abandoned as rain and wind lashed the track and riders could not get any heat into their tyres, making racing very risky. He has been backed up by a group of influential riders led by seven times world champion Valentino Rossi who for several years has called for the race to be slotted in at the start of the calendar. Ezpeleta admits there are no guarantees with the weather no matter what date the race is held on but says past forecasts have shown it is likely to be more favourable in March. The Spaniard has proposed a festival of motorsport’ in March with the Motorcycle Grand Prix and the Formula One GP at Albert Park being held on successive weekends. Stoner, who has won the past five races on his home track, says the weather in March can be unpredictable too. The 2007 world titleholder, who on Tuesday topped the timesheets in pre-season testing in Malaysia, says it is not necessarily imperative to move the race. ‘I’ve seen the same weather at both times of the year,’ Stoner said. ‘We’ve had some fantastically nice weather at the end of the season and we’ve had some disastrous weather at the beginning of the season. ‘I know some people who say when they are planning to put the race on in March, they can get some very bad and cold weather. ‘The last couple of years have definitely not been perfect and it has been difficult to understand the tyres. ‘But for some reason on race day the sun shines and it ends up not too bad. ‘The decision is not up to us but there are a…
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