Words: Mike Ryan
Photos: Russell Colvin (unless indicated)
The MotoGP Sprint race at this year’s Red Bull Grand Prix of Australia was arguably the highlight of the season to date. That made it all the sadder when the following day’s grand prix, the last to be held at Phillip Island, was cancelled. MotoGP deserved better, Phillip Island deserved better, and the fans who came in record numbers certainly deserved better.
After more than three decades across two separate stints, Phillip Island has hosted its final Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix before a move to the Adelaide Street Circuit next year. What was billed as the 'Final Roar' at the Island was more like a squeak when the rain came on Sunday, 25 October, and stayed all day.
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation did everything they could to ensure at least some track action took place, repeatedly pushing the schedule back in the hopes that weather would improve. Ultimately, they had to concede defeat (more on the specific reason at the end of this article).
The entire Sunday schedule was cancelled, with the only consolation for fans who had stayed around until late in the afternoon (well after the GP would have finished under its original schedule) being a couple of parade laps from the MotoGP field.
Rewind back to the Australian round’s opening day (Friday, 23 October), and conditions couldn’t have been better, allowing all classes to get their first Practise sessions done under clear skies. Saturday had wet weather, but the remaining Practise sessions and Qualifying for all classes were completed, along with the MotoGP Sprint.
Everyone knew that rain was coming for Sunday, but no-one could have predicted the particular nature of this weather and how it would draw the curtain on MotoGP at Phillip Island without a lap being completed in anger.
PRE-GP - State of Play
Moto3 – Fighting for Scraps
Coming into the Red Bull Grand Prix of Australia 2026, Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) had already wrapped up the Moto3 World Championship at the previous round. There was still a battle on for the minor placings, with a three-into-two situation involving David Almansa (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who were covered by 18 points.
Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing), fifth in the championship coming into the Australian round, could improve his position, as could Marco Morelli (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team), who was eight points behind Fernandez. Australia’s Joel Kelso (GRYD Racing) was 16th in the championship coming into his home round.
Adding to the Aussie presence was Marianos Nikolis. Making his Moto3 debut, the 19-year-old from the ACT was a last-minute substitute for the injured Cormac Buchanan at Code Motorsports KTM. A bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup champion in 2020, Nikolis also brought experience in the Asia Talent Cup and European Talent Cup.
Moto2 – Man vs Izan
While Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) was leading the Moto2 title race ahead of the Australian GP, he was under threat from Izan Guevara (bLU cRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2), who had won the previous three races, closing the gap to just 5.5 points. Guevara was also looking to secure the Moto2 World Championship ahead of his move to MotoGP with Prima Pramac Racing in 2027, while Gonzalez was attempting to avoid a repeat of last year’s title chase that saw him lose the championship to Diogo Moreira after leading early in the season.
Ivan Ortola (QJMotor R.O.M.E.A MSI) was 74 points behind the championship leader, while the MotoGP-bound pair of Daniel Holgado and David Alonso (both of CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team) were mathematical chances only, being almost 100 points adrift of Gonzalez. Australia’s Senna Agius sat behind this pairing, sixth in the championship and 100.5 points off the leader coming to Phillip Island.
MotoGP – Two at the Top
In a reversal of the usual situation this late in the season, the tightest championship battle ahead of the Australia round was in the premier class. Just two points separated Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) and Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) after the Indonesian GP.
While Marquez had won more races (six GPs and eight Sprints), he’d also DNF’d at two rounds and had poor results at Assen and Silverstone. Martin, meanwhile, had only one GP and four Sprint wins, but was more consistent, with only one round where he didn’t score points. At the pre-event media conference, Martin was bullish on his prospects, saying he was “fast and ready”.
Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) was third in the championship after the Indonesian round, 46 points behind his team mate and the only real chance of upsetting the leading pair. Bezzecchi was also on the improve after a poor mid-season run, with four runner-up placings and a win in the last six GPs.
Other riders still in title contention included Ai Ogura (Superfile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and last year’s feature race winner at Phillip Island, Raul Fernandez (Superfile Trackhouse MotoGP Team). However, with margins to the leading Martin ranging from 96 to 119 points, these three were mathematical chances only.
Australia’s Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) was 19th in the championship ahead of his home grand prix, with his most recent points finish at Aragon. Phillip Island had been good to Miller in the past, though, with Sprint points last year, GP points in 2024 and 2023, and a memorable third-place podium in 2019.
DAY 1 - Good Day, Sunshine
Moto3 Practise – Quiles, Carpe carve it up
Friday, 23 October, the opening day of the Red Bull Grand Prix of Australia 2026, saw Moto3 hit the track first in dry and mild conditions.
Quiles topped the opening Free Practise session ahead of the Red Bull KTM Ajo pair of Uriarte and Carpe. Kelso (who holds the all-time Moto3 lap record at Phillip Island) was flying the flag in fourth, just ahead of team mate Eddie O’Shea, with this group of five the only riders to record lap times under 1m36s for the session. Nikolis logged a 1m38.164s lap.
The afternoon’s Moto3 Practise session saw lap times improve, but only fractionally. Chasing his first Moto3 race win after a string of podium finishes, Carpe topped this session with a 1m35.292s, just ahead of Kelso on 1m35.318s. Quiles was fast again, despite devoting this session to working on his race pace. Improving riders in this session included David Almansa (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power), Rico Salmela (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Matteo Bertelle (Level Up – MTA), all of whom jumped up multiple places compared to their FP1 times.
Thai rider Kiattisak Singhapong (Rivacold Snipers Team) earned a direct entry into Qualifying 2 (his first), while Nikolis had a tougher time of it, only completing seven laps and failing to improve on his FP1 time.
Moto2 Practise – Spanish 1-2… and 1
In the intermediate class, the opening session showed that Italtrans Racing Team were dialled in, with team mates Adrian Huertas and Daniel Munoz going 1-2 in Free Practise 1. This pair were just ahead of Agius on the timesheets, while championship rivals Guevara and Gonzalez were split by 0.276 seconds. MotoGP-bound Alonso and Holgado completed this session in eighth and tenth place, respectively.
The intensity ramped up in the afternoon Practise session, where Aron Canet (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was an early casualty. The experienced Spaniard crashed at Turn 11, fracturing his right thumb and ending his weekend.
Guevara topped the Friday afternoon session with a late 1m30.016s lap, just ahead of Agius (1m30.034s) Alonso and Holgado. Gonzalez was eighth fastest and Huertas ninth, but both improved their FP1 times, with most of the field managing to log sub-1m31s laps.
MotoGP Practise – Replacements and Red Flags
With Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha) out of the Australian round due to injury, substitutes Iker Lecuona and Augusto Fernandez were back in the grand prix paddock. Both riders performed respectably in the opening Free Practise session.
Miller set the crowd alight with the fastest lap early in Free Practise 1 but crashed shortly after at Turn 1. Raul Fernandez was another crasher, in an incident at Turn 6 that could have been more serious. Luca Marini (Honda HRC) would complete only two laps in FP1 before retiring for the day, and ultimately the entire weekend, with illness.
Marquez topped FP1 with a 1m27.985s lap in the dry and warm conditions, followed by Raul Fernandez, Miller and Bezzecchi.
The afternoon Practise session saw Miller crash early at Siberia, but without injury. A more serious spill followed when Bezzecchi hit the rear of Alex Marquez under braking at Turn 4, spreading debris over the track and bringing out the red flag.
It wouldn’t be a Phillip Island weekend without the local wildlife making their presence felt. This time it was a wallaby that came onto the track at Turn 6, bringing out the red flags for a second time.
Once Practise restarted, a flurry of riders would top the timesheets, including Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), but the session would end with Bezzecchi on top (1m26.775s), followed by Raul Fernandez. Four Aprilias in the top five were only split by Marquez, third fastest with a 1m26.901s lap.
Alex Marquez crashed in the final few minutes, but had done enough to get an automatic entry into Q2, as had Enea Bastianini (Red Bul KTM Tech3) with a late 1m27.182s. Miller finished Friday with a 1m27.598s - best of the Yamahas but twelfth overall, which meant he’d have to run through Qualifying 1 to improve his grid position. The same applied to 2023 Phillip Island race winner, Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR).
DAY 2 – Wet Start, Epic Finish
Moto3 Qualifying – Pratama’s stunner
Rain predicted for the weekend had already arrived when the Moto3 field began Saturday's Free Practise session. Despite the wet track, Quiles excelled with the only sub-1m43s time. Uriarte and Almansa were solid in this session, but Kelso dropped to seventh fastest with a 1m45.189s lap.
Temperatures were still low for Qualifying 1, but the track was declared dry. O’Shea, Casey O’Gorman (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Guido Pini (Leopard Racing) and Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia) all graduated to Qualifying 2, but their performances in Q2 would be vastly different.
Kelso, with a special green-and-gold livery on his Honda, set provisional pole early in Q2, topped by Pini soon after. As drizzle started to fall and the rain flags came out, Kelso logged a 1m35.366s lap, then Almansa crashed. On fresh tyres, Quiles delivered a 1m35.320s just before the session finished, but Kelso’s efforts to respond were extinguished when Salmela crashed into him at Turn 4, also comprising Ogden’s final lap.
Away from this drama, Pratama handled the sketchy conditions perfectly to record a 1m35.299s lap – his first pole and the first for an Indonesian rider in Moto3. Quiles held onto second, with Kelso completing the front row.
While grid positions would ultimately prove irrelevant, the second row was made up of Joel Esteban (Level Up – MTA), O’Shea and Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing). Nikolis was 26th on the grid alongside Code Motorsports’ team mate, Ruche Moodley.
Moto3 Qualifying – Top 3
- Veda PRATAMA INA Honda 1m35.299s
- Maximo QUILES SPA KTM 1m35.320s
- Joel KELSO AUS Honda 1m35.366s
Moto2 Qualifying – Surprises all Round
Like Moto3, the Moto2 field faced a wet start to Saturday for their Free Practise 2 session, but Guevara was still the class of the field, closely followed by Agius. Alonso Lopez (Italjet Gresini Moto2) and Tony Arbolino (REDS Fantic Racing) improved in the damp conditions, rising to third and fourth, respectively. As with the previous day’s sessions, there was little to separate Holgado and Alonso, while Huertas was one of several riders to complete only a handful of laps.
By the time Qualifying 1 got underway, the track was dry, with Zonta van den Goorbergh (Momoven Idrofoglia RW Racing Team) topping the session ahead of Ortola, Arbolino and Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo). This quartet used their additional track time to advantage in Qualifying 2, leading the timesheets at various points, but Gonzalez was on a charge.
Halfway through Q2, Agius had achieved provisional pole to the delight of the home crowd, while the championship contenders were well off the pace. Aiming to lock down pole, Agius crashed heavily at Turn 8, ending his session, but also compromising the times for those behind on flying laps. When the yellow flags came out again for a separate incident, Alonso also had his charge compromised.
At the end of a dramatic Q2, pole went to Gonzalez – in his 100th race start – with a 1m30.122s lap. Barry Baltus (REDS Fantic Racing) and Filip Salac (OnlyFans American Racing Team) completed the front row. Ortola, Holgado and Guevara would fill Row 2, with Agius having to settle for Row 3 and seventh on the grid, alongside Huertas and Lopez.
Moto2 Qualifying – Top 3
- Manuel GONZALEZ SPA Kalex 1m30.122s
- Barry BALTUS BEL Kalex 1m30.228s
- Filip SALAC CZE Kalex 1m30.237s
7. Senna AGIUS AUS Kalex 1m30.295s
MotoGP Qualifying – Marquez makes a Margin
In Saturday morning’s wet Free Practise 2 session, Marquez topped the timesheets – almost a second clear of Acosta. Martin was next best, followed by Bezzecchi, Zarco and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team). Miller was eighth quickest and once again the best of the Yamahas, while Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was experiencing technical issues.
It was wet again by the time Qualifying 1 got underway in the afternoon, with Miller joining the likes of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Bagnaia, Zarco and the two substitute riders - Lecuona and Augusto Fernandez – in trying to gain a Qualifying 2 entry. Despite a fight from Bagnaia and Binder, it was Miller and Zarco who would join Q2 (separated by 0.001s), leading to a dramatic session that produced a result not seen in seven years.
Zarco laid down a fast time early in Q2, but held it only briefly before Marquez went to the top in the rainy conditions. This despite a crash at Turn 4 on his first flying lap. As the Aprilias of Martin and Bezzecchi struggled, Zarco regained provisional pole, with Miller pushing Marquez down to P3.
With only a few minutes left in the session, Marquez produced a blinding 1m34.203s lap to take pole. That proved to be a time no-one could get close to, with Alex Marquez the next best – 1.494 seconds behind. That margin between pole and second was the biggest since the 2019 Czech Grand Prix and saw Marquez overtake Casey Stoner for the most amount of Phillip Island poles with six.
Zarco held on for third, while Martin was the best of the Aprilias in fourth, pushing Miller down to fifth. Raul Fernandez would complete the second row in sixth, with the third row of the grid made up of Acosta, Di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi.
MotoGP Qualifying – Top 3
- Marc MARQUEZ SPA Ducati 1m34.203s
- Alex MARQUEZ SPA Ducati 1m35.697s
- Johann ZARCO FRA Honda 1m35.706s
5. Jack MILLER AUS Yamaha 1m35.984s
MotoGP Sprint – One for the Ages
With the track mostly dry, the expected battle between Marquez and Martin in the Tissot Sprint didn’t take long to materialise. Marquez got the holeshot, but Martin was on his tail by the first corner. After threatening to pass Marquez at the end of the opening lap, Martin made a dive for the lead on lap 3, lost it, then regained it at Turn 10.
Zarco and Bagnaia had retired on lap 1 and 2 respectively, with Vinales the next retiree on lap 7. Miller, meanwhile, was holding a points scoring position, alternating between seventh and eighth in a battle with Bezzecchi, Binder and Ogura.
Out front, the two title contenders traded for the lead over the next few laps in what was an amazing contest. Martin ran wide at Turn 4 on lap 5, then passed Marquez into Turn 1 on lap 6. This combination was repeated on lap 8 before a pivotal moment in the race – as well as the championship – unfolded.
Clipping the kerb coming into Turn 8, Martin’s RS-GP was unsettled, sliding off and sending him cartwheeling through the gravel. Later diagnosed with fractures to his right wrist, Martin was declared unfit for the Sunday race that ultimately never happened.
With the end of the Martin-Marquez battle - one of the best seen in MotoGP for a long time - it was left to Marquez to take a relatively comfortable win – his first Sprint win at Phillip Island - ahead of his brother and Di Giannantonio for a Ducati lockout of the podium. More importantly for Marquez, the win saw him regain the championship lead he’d lost at the previous round.
Bezzecchi finished the Sprint fourth, well ahead of Acosta and Ogura, while Miller and Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) claimed the final points.
“Today we weren't the fastest out there, so I tried to defend my position as hard as I could against Martín and attack to retake the lead,” Marquez explained. “The pace was really fast, and it was clear that he had a rhythm I couldn't match.
“Once I was informed of [Martin’s] crash, I managed the race while trying to prevent the chasing riders from closing in.”
MotoGP Sprint – Top 5
- Marc MARQUEZ SPA Ducati 19m09.411s
- Alex MARQUEZ SPA Ducati +0.323s
- Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO ITA Ducati +0.590s
- Marco BEZZECCHI ITA Aprilia +1.074s
- Pedro ACOSTA SPA KTM +3.689s
8. Jack MILLER AUS Yamaha +7.782s
DAY 3 – Countdown to Disappointment
The rain that been predicted for Sunday started before dawn and had settled in before the circuit opened for spectators at 8:00AM. While never at torrential levels, nor exacerbated by high wind, the rain was constant, turning some outfield areas into quagmires and sending all but the most hardy of fans out of the open grandstands and into undercover areas. With the Sunday crowd officially a sell out for the first time in Australian GP history, that meant a LOT of people were on site, all with fingers crossed for an improvement in the weather.
The third ASBK race for the weekend was the first to be cancelled, while a line had been put through the Sunday morning rider’s parade the day before. A series of rolling postponements, then cancellations, followed.
MotoGP Warm Up was initially moved back an hour to 10:40AM, then moved again to between the Moto3 and Moto2 races. The highly anticipated ‘Legends Lap’ featuring Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner riding the circuit, was next to go.
An update at 11:00AM cancelled the MotoGP Warm Up and pushed the start of track activity back to 1:00PM. By 1:45PM, the Moto3 race had been cancelled and track action delayed until 3:00PM. At 2:10PM, the Moto2 race was cancelled and a start time for MotoGP pencilled in 4:30PM.
By 3:35PM, it was apparent conditions weren’t going to improve, and the event was officially cancelled. As a small consolation, the MotoGP grid completed a couple of parade laps for those fans who had hung around (many had left by this stage), followed by a thank you for the marshals who had assembled on Gardner Straight. Miller then joined Jet on the Fan Forum Stage for the opening of their set.
Why the Cancellation?
While most – including Marquez, Miller, Bezzecchi and others – agreed that conditions were tolerable for racing, the issue that ultimately led to Sunday’s track action being cancelled was one of safety, regarding the medical helicopter.
That helicopter requires a certain level of visibility to operate, but Sunday’s low cloud cover made that impossible. With visibility also compromised at The Alfred Hospital, which is where the helicopter would be required to fly to if a serious racing accident made it necessary, there was no way for the race to go ahead under the sport’s safety regulations. MotoGP Race Director, Graham Webb, explained that a window of acceptable visibility of around 60 minutes - at each end - would be required to operate the helicopter safely. This never eventuated over the course of the day.
For situations like this where an air ambulance can’t operate, related regulations require a major trauma centre to be accessible within 45 minutes by road. With The Alfred around two hours away from the Island – compounded by the familiar traffic problems of race weekend – that would have made this option unfeasible.
While this cancellation would have been just a disappointment if it happened any other year, for the last GP at Phillip Island, it was disastrous. As fans left the circuit, they seemed more deflated than angry about a day that should have been – and deserved to be - so special.
