MotoGP 2026
Round 18 – Phillip Island – Preview
Phillip Island hosts its final Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix on October 23–25, with a two-point MotoGP title fight providing the competitive edge to an emotional farewell. Jorge Martin leads Marc Marquez into round 18, Marco Bezzecchi is coming back strongly, and Aprilia arrives fresh from filling the first four places at Mandalika.
From Wayne Gardner’s victory at the inaugural world championship meeting in 1989 to Mick Doohan’s fifth title and Casey Stoner’s six consecutive home wins, this circuit has repeatedly supplied occasions that Australian race fans remember for a lifetime. Our Phillip Island retrospective revisits the races and riders that made that history, ahead of the Australian GP’s move to Adelaide in 2027.
There is still another weekend to add to it. Jack Miller has his final home MotoGP appearance to savour, Senna Agius returns as the defending Moto2 race winner, and Joel Kelso knows better than most how much a Phillip Island podium can mean.
Martin and Marquez separated by two points
If Marc Marquez has a bogey circuit, Mandalika has been a strong candidate. Leaving Indonesia with exactly the same two-point deficit he carried into the weekend therefore represented a useful escape, particularly given Aprilia’s superiority in Sunday’s race.
Marquez won the Sprint and finished sixth in the Grand Prix, matching the 22 points Martin collected through fourth and third. The championship lead changed hands twice, but the overall balance remained unchanged: Martin 355, Marquez 353.
Our Mandalika Saturday report explains how Martin’s front tyre-pressure problem and subsequent mistake opened the door for Marquez. That remains an important part of the Australian preview. Aprilia had the speed to make a sizeable championship gain, yet execution across the whole weekend allowed its principal rival to leave without losing ground.
Their Sunday records also make an intriguing comparison. Martin has only one Grand Prix victory this season but has finished on the podium at each of the last three rounds. Marquez has six Sunday podiums, every one of them a victory. Martin’s consistency and Marquez’s ability to turn his strongest afternoons into maximum points have brought them to almost the same place.
Phillip Island has already staged a memorable confrontation between them. In 2024, Marquez recovered from a start compromised by a tear-off beneath his rear tyre to catch and beat Martin. This time Martin will be learning the circuit on an Aprilia, while both riders know there is very little margin for an expensive mistake across five Grands Prix in six weeks.
Aprilia’s strength extends beyond a favourable circuit
Phillip Island’s fast, flowing layout should suit the RS-GP, but it is increasingly difficult to identify an obvious circuit weakness in Aprilia’s package. The concern for its rivals is the breadth of that competitiveness, with all four riders capable of contributing to a formidable collective result.
The historic Aprilia one-two-three-four at Mandalika was the clearest demonstration yet. Bezzecchi won from Raul Fernandez, Martin and Ai Ogura, while Fernandez’s pole had already extended Aprilia’s run to six consecutive poles.
Last year’s Australian results strengthen the case. Bezzecchi won the Sprint, Fernandez took his and Trackhouse’s maiden MotoGP Grand Prix victory, and Bezzecchi still reached third on Sunday despite serving two long-lap penalties. The RS-GP was already an exceptionally effective motorcycle here before its latest development.
That strength does not automatically make Martin’s task easier. Bezzecchi has his own championship ambitions, Fernandez is defending a breakthrough victory, and Ogura has already become a Grand Prix winner. An Aprilia-dominated race could put several bikes between Martin and Marquez, but Martin must first establish where he sits within that group.
Bezzecchi and Trackhouse bring more than supporting roles
Bezzecchi is 46 points behind Martin, with 185 still available across the remaining Sprints and Grands Prix. He needs to keep taking points out of both leading contenders, but five podiums from the last six Sunday races, including victory last time out, make him a credible threat.
His Australian record offers encouragement, as does the way his form strengthened late last season. The most useful contribution he can make to his title prospects this weekend is straightforward: win again and force Martin and Marquez to respond.
Fernandez returns to the scene of his first premier-class win after another performance that deserved considerable credit in Indonesia. A broken right index finger forced changes to his braking technique and controls, yet he led much of the Grand Prix before finishing second. His recovery during the break will be an important factor in how effectively he can convert that speed at Phillip Island.
Ogura also raced through a fractured finger at Mandalika, finishing second in the Sprint and fourth on Sunday. He is fourth in the championship, one point ahead of Pedro Acosta, and returns with a season’s worth of additional MotoGP experience after last year’s Australian appearance came immediately after an injury layoff.
Asked about the difference that experience could make, Ogura was clear about his expectations.
Ai Ogura
“For sure. I’m expecting to have a much much better weekend than the last year. Last year, in Phillip Island, it was just the race after the injury and in the first season in MotoGP going to Phillip Island and to race there would have never been easy. I think the track experience on a MotoGP bike is definitely going to help me a lot this season. Hopefully, I can do much better this year.”
His emphasis on making the tyres work is particularly relevant here. Sustained cornering loads, long left-handers and exposure to strong winds make tyre management and confidence central to the weekend. The fastest bike over one lap still needs to retain enough grip for the closing stages of Sunday’s 27-lap race.
Miller’s final home MotoGP and a demanding Yamaha test
For Miller, the farewell carries an additional personal significance. His final home MotoGP comes at a circuit where he won in Moto3 in 2014, stood on the premier-class podium in 2019 and came close to a Sprint podium last year.
Fourth in the 2025 Sprint showed what a confident Miller could produce on the Pramac Yamaha around Phillip Island. The challenge is to rediscover that feeling after a difficult Mandalika weekend ended with a crash on Sunday.
Yamaha does have encouraging Island reference points. Fabio Quartararo took pole here last year, and his recent points finishes offer a more positive starting point than the championship positions alone might suggest. Qualifying speed and sustained race performance are separate tests, however, particularly when tyre life becomes decisive.
Miller’s team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu returns to familiar territory from WorldSBK, although his shoulder was a significant limitation in Indonesia. Circuit knowledge should help, but his physical condition will also matter as he continues learning how to extract performance from a MotoGP machine.
Acosta, Di Giannantonio and Lecuona add further interest
Acosta was the first non-Aprilia finisher at Mandalika, while Fabio Di Giannantonio finished second at Phillip Island last year. Along with Fernandez, they are part of a close contest behind the championship’s leading trio: only 23 points separate fourth-placed Ogura from seventh-placed Fernandez.
The rider and team reactions from Indonesia also highlighted problems that could remain relevant here. Acosta lost time managing front tyre pressure, Di Giannantonio struggled with front-end vibration, and Francesco Bagnaia described a lack of rear grip and connection with the throttle. Phillip Island’s long, committed corners will provide a searching test of any progress.
Gresini will field Iker Lecuona alongside Alex Marquez after confirming that Fermin Aldeguer will miss Australia following surgery on his injured right hand. It is Lecuona’s third appearance for the team this season, having replaced Alex Marquez at Balaton Park and Aldeguer at Silverstone. Aldeguer is targeting a return at Sepang, subject to his recovery.
Further back, Luca Marini will aim to continue his run of scoring points in every Grand Prix this season, while fellow Honda rider Johann Zarco returns as the 2023 Australian GP winner. Joan Mir’s participation remained unconfirmed at the time of writing as he continued recovering from illness.
The MotoGP Sprint is scheduled for 3 pm AEDT on Saturday, October 24, over 13 laps. Sunday’s 27-lap Australian Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 2 pm AEDT.
2026 MotoGP Championship Standings
 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | J. Martin | 355 |
| 2 | M. Marquez | 353 |
| 3 | M. Bezzecchi | 309 |
| 4 | A. Ogura | 259 |
| 5 | P. Acosta | 258 |
| 6 | F. Di Giannantonio | 245 |
| 7 | R. Fernandez | 236 |
| 8 | A. Marquez | 172 |
| 9 | F. Bagnaia | 166 |
| 10 | F. Aldeguer | 125 |
| 11 | E. Bastianini | 122 |
| 12 | L. Marini | 108 |
| 13 | B. Binder | 104 |
| 14 | F. Quartararo | 74 |
| 15 | D. Moreira | 74 |
| 16 | F. Morbidelli | 59 |
| 17 | J. Zarco | 51 |
| 18 | J. Mir | 33 |
| 19 | J. Miller | 28 |
| 20 | A. Rins | 25 |
| 21 | T. Razgatlioglu | 18 |
| 22 | M. Viñales | 12 |
| 23 | I. Lecuona | 9 |
| 24 | A. Fernandez | 6 |
| 25 | P. Espargaro | 5 |
| 26 | S. Chantra | 3 |
| 27 | T. Nakagami | 3 |
| 28 | C. Crutchlow | 0 |
| 29 | J. Folger | 0 |
| 30 | L. Savadori | 0 |
| 31 | M. Pirro | 0 |
| 32 | A. Espargaro | 0 |
Moto2
Agius defends home victory as the title fight tightens
Senna Agius returns to Phillip Island with a home victory to defend and a MotoGP future already secured. Before he moves to Red Bull KTM Tech3 in 2027, the Australian has one more chance to win a Moto2 Grand Prix at the circuit that delivered his first world championship podium and, a year later, one of the biggest moments of his career.
His 2025 Australian Moto2 victory was a commanding performance. Agius led every lap and finished 3.684 seconds clear of David Alonso, becoming the first Australian to win a Moto2 race on home soil. His third-place finish in 2024 and first in 2025 give him a strong record to build on.
He also arrives with encouraging recent race pace. At Mandalika, Agius recovered from 13th on the grid to fourth and finished just 0.312 seconds behind Daniel Holgado. A stronger starting position would give him a much better opportunity to use that pace against the leaders, rather than spend the opening laps recovering lost ground.
Guevara closes in on Gonzalez
The championship contest is almost as finely balanced as MotoGP. Manuel Gonzalez leads Izan Guevara by 5.5 points, with the Intact GP rider on 265.5 and the Pramac Yamaha rider on 260.
Guevara has won the last three races, in Austria, Japan and Indonesia, taking 42 points out of Gonzalez’s advantage since Misano. That run has transformed a substantial deficit into a gap small enough to disappear in a single race.
Japan was particularly costly for Gonzalez, whose clutch problem forced him off the grid and into a pit-lane start. His recovery to second from tenth on the grid at Mandalika was therefore valuable, limiting the loss to five points and preventing another difficult qualifying session from becoming a much bigger setback.
Our Mandalika Moto2 and Moto3 report covers the late mechanical heartbreak that denied Alex Escrig a shot at victory and handed Guevara the lead. Escrig’s performance was also a reminder that the two championship favourites cannot assume they will have the front of the race to themselves.
With the current gap, a Guevara victory and Gonzalez finishing third would put Guevara into the championship lead by 3.5 points. If Gonzalez finishes second behind him, the margin would shrink to just half a point. Those scenarios underline how much influence riders such as Agius could have simply by pursuing their own results.
Agius has positions to gain beyond the race result
Agius is sixth in the championship on 165 points, only one behind Alonso and five behind Holgado. Ivan Ortola is third on 191.5, so there is still a worthwhile contest for the final championship podium position as well as individual race honours.
Alonso was runner-up here last year and Holgado fourth, making both relevant to the Australian’s prospects. Alonso will also be looking to recover from the Mandalika first-corner accident that left his motorcycle too badly damaged to restart, while Holgado salvaged third after being involved in the same incident.
Gonzalez’s seventh place at Phillip Island last year adds another complication for the points leader. His team-mate has demonstrated how effectively the Intact GP package can work here, but Gonzalez needs his own strong weekend as Guevara’s winning run gathers momentum.
For Agius, the opportunity is to combine the confidence of that 2025 win with the pace he showed in Indonesia. His future is settled, but another home victory and a stronger championship finish would be a fitting way to complete his time in Moto2.
The 23-lap Moto2 Australian Grand Prix is scheduled for 12.15 pm AEDT on Sunday, October 25.
Moto2 Championship Standings
 |
||
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Manuel GONZALEZ | 265.5 |
| 2 | Izan GUEVARA | 260 |
| 3 | Ivan ORTOLA | 191.5 |
| 4 | Daniel HOLGADO | 170 |
| 5 | David ALONSO | 166 |
| 6 | Senna AGIUS | 165 |
| 7 | Filip SALAC | 153 |
| 8 | Celestino VIETTI | 133 |
| 9 | Alonso LOPEZ | 125.5 |
| 10 | Daniel MUÑOZ | 83 |
| 11 | Tony ARBOLINO | 82.5 |
| 12 | Collin VEIJER | 80.5 |
| 13 | Alex ESCRIG | 63 |
| 14 | Barry BALTUS | 60 |
| 15 | Deniz ÖNCÜ | 47.5 |
| 16 | Joe ROBERTS | 44 |
| 17 | Jose Antonio RUEDA | 43 |
| 18 | Adrian HUERTAS | 42 |
| 19 | Luca LUNETTA | 27 |
| 20 | Ayumu SASAKI | 24 |
| 21 | Alberto FERRANDEZ | 17.5 |
| 22 | Aron CANET | 17.5 |
| 23 | Taiyo FURUSATO | 17 |
| 24 | Zonta VD GOORBERGH | 14 |
| 25 | Sergio GARCIA | 11 |
| 26 | Angel PIQUERAS | 4 |
| 27 | Mario AJI | 3 |
Moto3
Kelso seeks another home highlight as Quiles arrives as champion
Maximo Quiles arrives at Phillip Island as the newly crowned Moto3 World Champion, having secured the title with his tenth victory of the season at Mandalika. For Australian fans, however, Joel Kelso’s attempt to turn a frustrating season into another memorable home weekend will command plenty of attention.
Kelso has already demonstrated that he can deliver here in very different circumstances. His first world championship podium came in the wet in 2023, when he finished third behind Deniz Oncu and Ayumu Sasaki. Last year he took pole and finished second to Jose Antonio Rueda after the pair broke clear of the chasing group.
Those results give the home optimism some substance. Kelso has fought at the front at Phillip Island in both wet and dry conditions, and last year’s performance was a sustained challenge over race distance.
A difficult Honda season, but the speed is still there
The move to Honda machinery with GRYD Racing has made 2026 a much harder campaign. Kelso has been unable to reproduce last year’s results consistently, and the competitiveness of his package has been an important part of that struggle.
There have still been clear reminders of his ability. At Assen he topped Friday practice and missed pole by only 0.025 seconds. At Misano he qualified on the front row and finished seventh as the leading Honda rider. Those performances offer grounds to hope that another fast, flowing circuit can give him an opportunity to show more than his season-long results suggest.
Mandalika brought another disappointment when a final-lap crash ended a recovery towards the top ten. It was a frustrating outcome after progress through the field, and leaves Kelso seeking a complete weekend in which qualifying speed, race pace and the final result come together.
Phillip Island cannot remove the limitations of a motorcycle, and carrying speed onto the main straight will remain crucial. But Kelso’s knowledge of the circuit and proven confidence through its corners give him something tangible to build around. Another podium would be a significant achievement in the context of this season.
A long road back to the home crowd
There is a broader story behind that determination. Kelso’s path from Australian junior racing to the world championship was shaped by family support, limited resources, and his partnership with Jake Skate. Their early Australian titles were followed by the difficult move to Europe, where finding the money and learning how to operate in a different racing environment were challenges alongside the riding itself.
Our feature on Joel Kelso’s road to the Moto3 World Championship traces that journey, including the Australian Moto3 title campaign in which Phillip Island had already played an important role.
His reaction in our interview immediately after his 2023 home podium captured what reaching that point meant.
Joel Kelso
“Bloody brilliant, one for the home crowd so happy days.”
Quiles sets the target, with plenty still to race for
Quiles no longer has to protect a championship lead, which could make him an even more formidable opponent over the final five rounds. His Mandalika victory again demonstrated his ability to establish a gap while others fought over the positions behind him.
The challenge for his rivals is to prevent that separation at Phillip Island. The slipstream can keep a group together, but last year’s Rueda-Kelso breakaway showed that close pack racing is not inevitable when the leading riders find enough pace.
David Almansa, Brian Uriarte and Alvaro Carpe remain central to the contest behind the champion. Almansa followed his Motegi victory with second in Indonesia, Uriarte fought back to take third, and Carpe will want to recover from his Mandalika crash. Matteo Bertelle narrowly missed that podium, while Veda Pratama was the leading Honda finisher in sixth.
There has also been a significant development away from the circuit. Adrian Fernandez’s results from the opening six Grands Prix are being reinstated following Leopard Racing’s successful appeal, announced on October 16.
The Moto3 Australian Grand Prix opens Sunday’s world championship racing at 11 am AEDT on October 25, with 21 laps scheduled.
Moto3 Championship Standings
 |
||
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Maximo QUILES | 351 |
| 2 | David ALMANSA | 219 |
| 3 | Brian URIARTE | 203 |
| 4 | Alvaro CARPE | 191 |
| 5 | Marco MORELLI | 146 |
| 6 | Valentin PERRONE | 123 |
| 7 | Veda PRATAMA | 115 |
| 8 | Matteo BERTELLE | 109 |
| 9 | Hakim DANISH | 107 |
| 10 | Rico SALMELA | 92 |
| 11 | Adrian CRUCES | 83 |
| 12 | Guido PINI | 78 |
| 13 | Joel ESTEBAN | 73 |
| 14 | Adrian FERNANDEZ | 71 |
| 15 | Casey O’GORMAN | 70 |
| 16 | Joel KELSO | 67 |
| 17 | Eddie O’SHEA | 65 |
| 18 | David MUÑOZ | 61 |
| 19 | Jesus RIOS | 50 |
| 20 | Ryusei YAMANAKA | 44 |
| 21 | Scott OGDEN | 36 |
| 22 | David GONZALEZ | 7 |
| 23 | Marcos URIARTE | 6 |
| 24 | Cormac BUCHANAN | 5 |
| 25 | Leo RAMMERSTORFER | 4 |
| 26 | Zen MITANI | 2 |
| 27 | Ruche MOODLEY | 1 |
| 28 | Kiattisak SINGHAPONG | 1 |
2026 MotoGP Calendar
|
|||
|
Rnd
|
Date
|
Event
|
Circuit
|
| 1 |
01 Mar
|
Thai
|
Chang International Circuit
|
| 2 |
22 Mar
|
Brazil*
|
Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
|
| 3 |
29 Mar
|
US
|
Circuit of the Americas
|
| 4 |
26 Apr
|
Spain**
|
Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
|
| 5 |
10 May
|
France
|
Le Mans
|
| 6 |
17 May
|
Catalonia
|
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
|
| 7 |
31 May
|
Italy
|
Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
|
| 8 |
07 Jun
|
Hungary
|
Balaton Park Circuit
|
| 9 |
21 Jun
|
Czech
|
Automotodrom Brno
|
| 10 |
28 Jun
|
Netherlands
|
TT Circuit Assen
|
| 11 |
12 Jul
|
Germany
|
Sachsenring
|
| 12 |
09 Aug
|
GB
|
Silverstone Circuit
|
| 13 |
30 Aug
|
Aragon
|
MotorLand Aragon
|
| 14 |
13 Sep
|
San Marino
|
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
|
| 15 |
20 Sep
|
Austria
|
Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
|
| 16 |
04 Oct
|
Japan
|
Mobility Resort Motegi
|
| 17 |
11 Oct
|
Indonesia
|
Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
|
| 18 |
25 Oct
|
Australia
|
Phillip Island
|
| 19 |
01 Nov
|
Malaysia
|
Petronas Sepang International Circuit
|
| 20 |
08 Nov
|
Qatar
|
Lusail International Circuit
|
| 21 |
22 Nov
|
Portugal
|
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
|
| 22 |
29 Nov
|
Valencia
|
Circuit Ricardo Tormo
|
