Reliving the biggest, boldest and downright bonkers MotoGP races Phillip Island ever served up
There aren’t many tracks in the world that can boast of having a list of classic races. But from Phillip Island’s first grand prix in 1989, the fabulous high-speed curves have regularly offered up some of MotoGP’s most memorable fights. To get you in the mood for another potential classic, we’ve whittled down our six favourite contests around the jewel on the MotoGP calendar. (Honourable mentions go to: 1999 500cc race, 2009 MotoGP race, 2017 MotoGP race, 2019 MotoGP race, 2023 MotoGP race). Let’s go!
1989 500cc race: A new dawn
A cursory glance at the 1989 calendar showed the series was still made up of fearsome tracks that were soon to go out of fashion – Suzuka, Hockenheim, the Salzburgring, Rijeka and Spa-Francorchamps to name but a few. Even among that company, Phillip Island quickly stood out and became an immediate favourite among fans and riders alike.
The first running of the Australian Grand Prix could hardly have gone any better. Arguably the most competitive field in grand prix history – a total of six premier class champions both past and future lined up – responded in kind, serving up 30 laps that are still talked about to this day.
Where to even start with the major talking points? Kevin Schwantz high-sided out of second place exiting MG on the very first lap. Then Wayne Rainey, Christian Sarron plus home heroes Kevin Magee and Wayne Gardner got stuck in. It even had the formidable sight of superstar Freddie Spencer – back in for an unsuccessful stint at Agostini Yamaha after a series of disastrous aborted comebacks – reeling the leaders in before retiring.
After 40 minutes of near constant scrapping, Gardner beat his namesake for victory, with Sarron pipping a tiring Magee to third. It was fitting for the track’s first entry in the history books to be an absolute classic.
1990 500cc race: Pure grit
If ever there was a race that defined Gardner’s grit, it was this one. Still the victory he ranks among his very best, the Aussie battler came out on top of another epic scrap with Rainey, Schwantz and Mick Doohan. He could not stand the sight of his young compatriot winning.
Wayne takes up the story: “I fractured the scaphoid in Czechoslovakia when I crashed in qualifying. The doctor wanted to put it in a cast but I said, ‘No – we have Phillip Island in two weeks’ time.’ I came here thinking I was only going to do five laps. I’d go out and wave to the crowd and that’d be it. Anyway, prior to the race I had 25 injections in my wrist to kill the pain.
“When the race started, I was fast. But I started losing the feeling in my fingers. Mick was winning and I thought, ‘I don’t like that.’ I had a few moments and the fairing broke and was hanging down by the side. I thought, ‘I’ll give it a few more laps.’ I started to get some feeling back and dropped to around five seconds behind Mick. Then I thought, ‘Let’s give it a go.’ Once I started pulling them in, my thinking was, ‘Just deal with it after.’ On the podium Wayne Rainey asked me, ‘How the hell did you do that?’ I replied,
‘I have no f**king idea!’”
2000 500cc race: Rampaging road warriors
The premier class really had to work to outshine that year’s 250cc event on the Island, when Olivier Jacque out-dragged teammate Shinya Nakano to the line to win the title. But outshine it did, as a fabulous multi-rider fight crowned one of the wildest, most open premier class seasons in history.
For so long Doohan had ruled over the top class with a ruthlessness that had his opponents defeated before they even lined up. With the Aussie legend out of the picture, races were slower across 1999 and 2000, which allowed all kinds of challengers to step up.
This race was a culmination of that, as, at times, 13 names jostled in victory contention – something inconceivable only two years before. Chief among them was the all-star Italian trio of Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi and Valentino Rossi, with Alex Barros and home hero Garry McCoy also playing starring roles.
The action came thick and fast. McCoy somehow remained in the fight despite a hair-raising moment exiting Honda hairpin. Recently crowned champ Kenny Roberts Jnr took himself out of the action by running off track. And Biaggi just broke clear of the rest on the final lap to lead home Capirossi and Rossi for the first all-Italian top-class podium for more than 20 years. Another memorable detail: Biaggi and Rossi came together on the slowdown lap to shake hands with something even approaching affection – a far cry from the following season…
2001 500cc race: The coronation of a king
Among his many talents, Valentino Rossi was as good as his word. The Italian headed to the 2001 Australian GP with a chance to wrap up his maiden 500cc title with two races to spare. An eighth place would have been enough to secure the crown. Yet, as he said on the Saturday: “Finishing eighth isn’t a good way to win a title.”
What followed was one of the great 500cc battles, just three races from the introduction of 990cc four strokes. Nine riders fought it out for victory, including the two – Rossi and Biaggi – who were gunning for the title, and two – former World Superbike star Noriyuki Haga and reigning 250cc champ Olivier Jacque – who were racing at the very front for the first time. There was as much joy in its unpredictability as its nailbiting action.
There were a few close scrapes. Rossi and Barros touched tyres along the front straight at over 300km/h for one. And it had a finale fitting to crown any champion. Of course, it came down to Rossi and Biaggi. The Yamaha man started the last lap ahead. Rossi moved by at MG on the Honda. And Biaggi almost got him back on the way to the line. Just 0.013sec was in it.
That it crowned the first of Rossi’s seven premier class titles made it all the more memorable. A fitting swansong for the 500s.
2015 MotoGP race: Opening Pandora’s Box
The race that launched a thousand conspiracy theories. And one that’s still debated down at the pub to this day. Was Marc Marquez cutting up Valentino Rossi in a bid to force him off the podium and allow title rival Jorge Lorenzo to get the upper hand in the championship? Or was the Italian trying to find any excuse to explain his inability to stave off his teammate’s late championship charge?
One thing all that noise distracts from is just what a cracker of a race this was. That trio plus Andrea Iannone went at it from lap one, the quartet changing places a staggering 52 times over 40 minutes and 33 seconds. Marquez’s last-lap pass on Lorenzo at MG sealed it (and surely disproved Rossi’s allegations of him favouring his compatriot).
What should have troubled Rossi more was how he lost his magic touch on the final lap as Iannone, who had headbutted a seagull on the first lap, powered by him on the run to the line. It was so good even Hollywood actor and motorcycle nut Ewan McGregor tweeted afterwards: ‘Holy s**t! What a race!’ And all while two of the title contenders went head-to-head. As for MotoGP – and Marquez – it’d never be the same again. Four days later and Rossi launched into that infamous press conference at Sepang…
2022 MotoGP race: Birth of a dynasty
Back in 2022, Ducati domination was still something of a novelty. The sight of five of them scrapping for the win showed what lay in wait over the coming years in MotoGP’s first post-COVID trip Down Under.
Yet not even the Bologna bikes had an answer for Alex Rins’ Suzuki GSX-RR and Marc Marquez’s ragged Honda RC213V. The action was ferocious from the start. And all while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo attempted to defend a dwindling championship lead from Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia in a thrilling championship fight.
The race was just four laps old when Quartararo dramatically crashed out at the Southern Loop. Alex Marquez then T-boned Jack Miller (above) at his very own corner five laps later. The Ducati speed was ferocious down Gardner Straight but it didn’t have the nimbleness that Rins or Marquez could call upon through the Southern Loop, which both exposed ruthlessly in an epic finale to push Bagnaia back to third.
Just 0.224sec covered the top three (the third closest podium in top-class history) and 5.9sec covered the top 10. This was 40 minutes and 50 seconds of pure joy. And it was made even better by Suzuki’s first win since announcing its intentions to withdraw at the end of the year. Rins’ performance really showed the extent of his bosses’ folly.
