The decision was made on safety grounds after Portuguese KTM rider Miguel Oliveira crashed heavily when his bike was blown off the track while accelerating at around 300kph in final practice.

Oliveira escaped with no more than bruising.

“Due to high winds, and the safety of the riders being of paramount importance, there will be no further track activity today,” the Australian Grand Prix announced on its official Twitter feed.

The third practice session had also been halted when Australian rider Jack Miller’s pit board blew onto the front straight.

If qualifying cannot take place on Sunday then grid positions will be decided by the combined practice results, which would put Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales on pole position.

The season’s MotoGP title has already been won by Honda’s Spaniard Marc Marquez.