The 2009 Malaysian grand prix in Sepang was only the fifth GP in history which awarded half points to the drivers. The race was stopped half-way through, as the torrential rain caused the cars to fall off the track while traveling at walking speed. The extreme amount of water, combined with low visibility due to the race being run so late in the day meant it was impossible to continue the race.

Although I don’t normally watch MotoGP because it’s stupid to watch vehicles with only two wheels racing, I was interested in this race for to reasons. First of all, their new safety car is a brand new BMW X6 M, which means the bikes will have to follow an SUV around the track if needed. This is simply too awesome for words. Secondly, it was a night race under floodlights, which should make things interesting.

Unfortunately, the first race of the MotoGP suffered an even worse fate than the F1. The race was in held in Qatar, in the desert. However, this did not keep the torrential rain away. There was no grip on the circuit under these conditions, and the drivers especially complained that the floodlights reflected off the road and greatly reducing visibility. The 125cc class was red flagged after only 4 laps (out of a planned 18). The 250cc class only completed 13 laps out of 20, under slightly better conditions. The worst however was yet to come, as the main race was cancelled completely due to a massive downpour. The race was rescheduled to be run on Monday, leaving many spectators and personnel to adjust their plans, if possible.

The only positive thing I can see out of this whole situation is that a car was able to drive around the circuit easier and quicker than the bikes. This is cool, without even mentioning that the car is a big 2.3 ton SUV…

So, my question is this: what’s up with the weather? Is this the weather gods finally getting their revenge after so many years of cars and bikes polluting the atmosphere? Or is it maybe just a coincidence?