The opening round of the 2009 MotoGP championship in Qatar will take place at 1900 BST on Monday after Sunday's race was cancelled because of rain.
Earlier on the weather had curtailed the 125cc and 250cc races but the rain returned with a vengeance as the riders sat on the grid for the MotoGP race.
Because it was being staged under lights, the glare off the wet track would have made racing impossible.
Qatar only has an average of eight days rain per year.
The signs were not good on Saturday, when rain fell just before and after the MotoGP qualifying session, where 2007 world champion Casey Stoner secured pole position, ahead of 2008 champion Valentino Rossi.
"It's a big disappointment," said Rossi.
"We wait six months for the first race of the season. but when you decide to have a night race, it's risky. No-one expected these conditions in Qatar."
Sunday's racing programme began with the 125cc race, which had to be stopped after just four laps because of the rain.
Italy's Andrea Iannone was declared the winner, ahead of Julian Simon and Sandro Cortese, with Britain's Bradley Smith in fifth place.
The 250cc riders fared slightly better, with their race reduced from 20 to 13 laps because of earlier weather problems.
Spain's Hector Barbera won ahead of French pair Jules Cluzel and Mike Di Meglio, getting the crowd warmed up for the eagerly-anticipated main race.
But with the riders in place on the grid, the heavens opened and a combination of rain and high winds made racing impossible.
If the race had taken place during the day, it would just have been a factor for the riders to deal with rather than stopping the race, but the glare factor meant there was no way racing could take place.
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