MotoGP 2026: The final roar

By Peter Cleeland

STEEPED in Australian motorcycling folklore, the 2026 MotoGP, the last to be held at the beautiful, picturesque seaside circuit at Phillip Island, took place over the weekend.

With the world championship up for grabs, more than 100,000 devoted motorcycle fans flocked to the Island to enjoy the last hurrah.

Starting with Wayne “I rode my balls off to win” Gardner’s unforgettable victories in 1989 and 1990, through Mick Doohan’s win in 1998 and Casey Stoner’s fantastic streak of six consecutive victories, the Phillip Island circuit has no peer.

The MotoGP event will move to a street circuit in Adelaide in 2027, where the locals are rubbing their hands together at the prospect of cheap firewood as the felling of 377 trees in the city parklands gets under way, but that’s another story.

In theory, three riders could have won the MotoGP world championship this year, with Spanish riders Jorge Martin (355 points) and Marc Marquez (353 points) and Italian Marco Bezzecchi (309 points) all in contention, so to say the stakes at the Phillip Island round were high would be a gross understatement.

With Jorge Martin injuring his wrist in the Tissot Sprint, Marc Marquez would have to make a major blunder not to win his 10th world title in 2026, an amazing achievement.

The supporting classes of Moto2 and Moto3 held special interest for local fans, with Australian rider Senna Agius sitting sixth in the Moto2 championship after notching up two victories this season, having won at the Island in 2025.

In Moto3, Aussie rider Joel Kelso, who has put in some stunning performances at previous events, qualified third for Sunday’s race.

Friday practice

In hot conditions offering riders maximum grip, Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi topped the MotoGP time sheets in Friday practice, with Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez 0.072 seconds behind, also on an Aprilia.

Ducati’s Marc Marquez had to settle for third quickest, while championship leader Jorge Martin was fifth.

In Moto2, Australian rider Senna Agius was second behind championship contender Izan Guevara, with current championship leader Manuel Gonzalez sixth quickest.

Aussie Joel Kelso stormed into second in Moto3 practice, narrowly missing top spot to Alvaro Carpe by 0.026 seconds, while Spanish rider Maximo Quiles was third quickest.

A special mention goes to the second Australian rider in the class, Marianos Nikolis, who finished the session in 26th place.

The gutsiest effort definitely belonged to Australian MotoGP rider Jack Miller, who briefly led the first practice session before losing the bike at turn one in a high-speed crash.

Miller went hurtling through the air into the kitty litter but shook himself off, returned to the pits and immediately went back out on the reserve Yamaha.

Sensational Saturday

Qualifying in all classes in improving conditions after heavy overnight rain treated fans to some spectacular action at the famous Island circuit.

In the first MotoGP qualifying session, Jack Miller turned on a brilliant fast lap to go through to Qualifying 2 with French rider Johann Zarco (Honda), the pair scorching around the circuit in one minute 36 seconds in trying conditions.

Miller and Zarco went on to qualify fifth and third respectively, while Marc Marquez, after falling off at turn four, raced back to the pits, jumped on his reserve bike and took pole position by 1.494 seconds from his brother Alex.

Such is the bottomless talent of the Spaniard.

Tissot Sprint (13 laps)

It soon became apparent when the lights went out that the bumper crowd would witness an amazing battle between the two championship contenders, Marc Marquez (Ducati) and Jorge Martin (Aprilia).

In thrilling shoulder-to-shoulder racing that had the crowd on its toes, the two titans were inseparable until lap eight, when Martin came to grief as the front end of his bike washed out.

Martin has since been declared unfit for the grand prix with a fracture of the right radius and a suspected fracture of the right ulna at the distal end.

In the remaining laps, Alex Marquez (Ducati) quickly closed the gap on his brother Marc but could not mount a challenge to make a passing move.

Some pundits would proffer that Alex was acting under manufacturer’s orders, or at least that’s the way it appeared.

Marc Marquez’s winning margin was 0.323 seconds from his brother Alex, with Fabio Di Giannantonio a further 0.59 seconds back in third place, making it a clean sweep for Ducati.

Aussie Jack Miller, with top speeds of 345km/h, was at least 10km/h down on straight-line speed to the all-conquering Ducatis.

In what turned out to be his last ride on a MotoGP bike at Phillip Island, Miller carried the national flag proudly to finish a very creditable seventh.

Injured rider Jorge Martin, with a DNF beside his name, surrendered the championship lead to Marc Marquez, who now leads him by 10 points with four rounds left in the season.

Saturated Sunday

Tempestuous weather on Sunday obliterated the scheduled program, with race organisers forced into rescheduling, shuffling and cancelling mode as the bureau’s forecast came to fruition.

With at times heavy and persistent rain, the enthusiasm displayed by thousands of dedicated race fans was admirable to say the least.

However, with the circuit resembling a cascading river at times, the day’s racing was abandoned in the interests of rider safety, which was the only sane outcome that could be reached under the circumstances.

The weather prevented the Moto2 and Moto3 riders from experiencing any race time, while the MotoGP Tissot Sprint on Saturday had provided quality viewing for spectators.

The MotoGP and Phillip Island marriage has been a long and successful one, and with the event’s move to the proposed street circuit in Adelaide, one can only hope the city of churches is able to provide the level of support that the various strata of government could not here in Victoria.

As a resident photographer and reporter of the event for the past eight years, I have been privileged to provide content for the readership and, in closing, would like to acknowledge the wonderful event hospitality provided by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

The next round of the 2026 MotoGP Championship is scheduled for October 30 to November 1 at Sepang in Malaysia.