NEIL MORRISON | The Cruellest Goodbye

Phillip Island deserved a glorious MotoGP send-off. Instead, its final Grand Prix ended in heartbreak, controversy and a cruel twist in the title fight

It was supposed to be a celebration. Instead, Phillip Island’s MotoGP farewell was a washout. The famous circuit’s stint on the Grand Prix calendar ended on a bum note as Sunday’s racing was cancelled for the first time in a MotoGP weekend since 2018.

To say the timing was unfortunate would be guilty of understatement. Never in its previous 31 years of hosting the Australian Grand Prix had Phillip Island been a sellout, with fans travelling from across Australia – and the world – to see grand prix prototypes racing there one last time.

Instead, they had to make do with an admittedly brilliant 13-lap Sprint race on Saturday. The following day’s on-track action was limited to two MotoGP parade laps run behind the Safety Car. As Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) said, “Phillip Island didn’t deserve this.”

Many asked why Sunday’s racing was cancelled when several riders commented track conditions were wet but acceptable. Limited visibility around Phillip Island, as well as the neighbouring Melbourne, meant the medical helicopter couldn’t take off and land safely at either place.

There was an added importance on the helicopters for this round. MotoGP protocol states there must be a clear access route by air if a potential ambulance journey to the nearest major hospital takes more than 45 minutes. A journey from the circuit to Melbourne on Sunday would take two hours by road.

Later in the day, visibility improved sufficiently over Phillip Island for a takeoff. But the Victorian capital remained engulfed in fog for much of the day. MotoGP then had an ever-diminishing window to play with. As the afternoon progressed, temperatures decreased, making racing less likely.

“The further we pushed things on, the more sensitive we became to situations with tyre temperatures as the temperature started to drop,” said Race Director Graham Webber. “The updates we were getting suggested there was a possibility towards the end of the day. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t moving as fast as we’d have liked.”

Aside from whether we’d see any race, another burning question hung over Sunday: why wasn’t the racing rescheduled to Saturday with Sunday’s heavy rain known more than a week in advance? This fact clearly stuck in Jack Miller’s craw. “Obviously we weren’t organised enough to get the racing going,” he said after seeing a golden chance to perform in the rain snatched away.

2023 had shown there was a precedent to move the schedule around. Indeed, contingency plans had been discussed on the eve of the GP. “We’re talking about seeing if we can fix the schedule and race with better conditions,” said Fabio Di Giannantonio on Thursday afternoon.

But MotoGP was caught unawares by the poor visibility. The series insists there was no prior warning for anything other than steady – and at times heavy – rain. Indeed, it saw the forecast worse for Saturday evening than the following day. “Whoever took this decision not to swap the long race for the Sprint for sure can’t have thought about the problems of visibility,” said Ducati Team Manager Davide Tardozzi.

That oversight ensured the final event will be remembered for the wrong reasons – a colossal shame considering the rest of the weekend had been so good. Friday was stunning, the track bathed in sunshine all day. A day later Marquez then produced the qualifying performance of the season. A crash at the start of a wet Q2 was quickly shrugged off, as he rode an astonishing 1.5s quicker than anyone else (0.4s up in the final sector alone).

That set the tone for the day, as he and chief title rival Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) went to war in the Sprint in an encounter than possibly provided the defining moment of 2026. Fighting with Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati), Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) and Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) early on, Martin soon broke clear to join his adversary out front. Their battle was worthy of being remembered alongside other Phillip Island classics.

The Aprilia RS-GP, which occupied four of the top five on Friday, was clearly quicker. That much was obvious when Martin recovered the 0.6s he lost when nearly crashing from the lead at Turn 4 in just over half a lap. But he was ragged. “The lap he did right in front of me, he was fast but taking a lot of risks,” said Marquez. “He was shaking a lot and overriding. Then I saw that it was possible to fight for victory.”

The importance of the contest wasn’t lost on either rider. Martin knew beating Marquez at one of the reigning champ’s favourite tracks would gain him a huge psychological edge. The same could be said if the inferior Ducati could beat Aprilia here. “Today was more than just the three points difference,” Marquez said.

But as the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Championship fights involve ridiculously fine margins. Here, clipping the outside kerb entering the Hayshed was enough to unsettle Martin as he threw his bike from left to right. A 150mph tumble through the gravel and a small fracture of the radius bone in his right wrist was the result. It was a cruel end – not just to the fight of the season, but potentially Martin’s title aspirations. Even if he rides at Sepang, it’s hard to see him recovering a ten-point deficit with such a clear ailment.

For the third time in the past five weeks, Martin had looked ragged and flustered while fighting Marquez. By contrast, the nine-time champ was serene. “What I saw was Marc managing, was thinking,” said Team Manager Davide Tardozzi. “He was really on the limit, but he was conscious about the situation.” In the biggest moment, he once again kept his head.

Much like the previous round, Aprilia was left to ponder a weekend when its potential went untapped. Last year’s winner Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) retired due to the discomfort of his broken index finger. And Marco Bezzecchi’s (Aprilia Racing) fightback from 12th to fourth was scant consolation when he’d been the pace-setter on Friday. Ultimately, they’re coming up against an immovable force. Tardozzi again: “In the end, we have Marc Marquez. And that’s something that relaxes us.”