Following a series of crashes during the latest round of testing at the Losail circuit last week in Qatar, MotoGP riders are calling for the start time to be brought forward from 11pm for the upcoming season opener.

Fallers Casey Stoner, his Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden and Yamaha riders Colin Edwards and Ben Spies think that dampness forms on the track surface as temperature drop during the cold desert night, making the track unsafe for racing.

Ben Spies (Photo: Yamaha)

Stoner feels that the problems from the very late start go further than the dampness: "It's difficult to bring the tyres up to temperature at the time when we race because of the low ambient and track surface temperatures. Nothing warns you: 'bang’ and you're down."

Joining in, Valentino Rossi believes an earlier start time would also be better for European television audiences anyway, and called on Dorna officials to take action before next month's race.

This is yet another conflict of interest between the commercial aspects of racing and rider safety. To say that the track is the same for all riders is not a valid reason to do nothing, as the price riders pay for a fall is too great, and injured riders do not bring out the crowds. Dorna needs to correct this right now, as they cannot risk losing one of their headliners through a preventable incident.