MotoGP 2026
Round 18 – Phillip Island – Friday
Aprilia claimed four of the top five places in Friday’s decisive MotoGP Practice session at Phillip Island, with Marco Bezzecchi recovering from an early crash to lead Raul Fernandez, Marc Marquez, Ai Ogura and Jorge Martin. The Australians also went close in the support classes, Senna Agius finishing just 0.018 seconds from the fastest Moto2 time and Joel Kelso missing Moto3’s top spot by 0.026 seconds.
MotoGP Friday Practice
Would this be the last dry track time for MotoGP this weekend? That was the question on everyone’s lips, despite Phillip Island turning on an absolutely glorious Friday afternoon. With the track at 48 degrees, the ambient at 29 and hardly a wispy cloud in the sky, it was difficult to reconcile the scene in front of us with the forecast for what lay ahead.
Saturday promised a dramatic change, with air temperatures around 16 degrees and the forecast suggesting a wet circuit through morning practice, qualifying and the Sprint. The chance of rain during qualifying and the Sprint was around 55 per cent. The predicted showers were generally light, but projected track temperatures of only 15 to 16 degrees suggested a very different challenge from Friday’s sun-baked asphalt.
Sunday looked considerably less inviting again, with a 97 per cent chance of rain during warm-up and 90 per cent during the Grand Prix. Air and track temperatures were forecast to fall to around 12 degrees for the race, with south-westerly gusts approaching 35 km/h. There was still room for that forecast to shift, but Friday potentially offered the final opportunity for meaningful dry-weather preparation.
Also feeling under the weather was Luca Marini. Still battling a nasty bout of gastro picked up in Indonesia, the Italian opted to sit out the afternoon session in the hope of returning on Saturday.
Crashes and two red flags
Jack Miller was among the first riders to fall, going down at Siberia after his Turn One crash during FP1. Marco Bezzecchi then went down at Turn Four and was briefly pinned beneath his Aprilia before marshals lifted the machine away. The Italian appeared unhurt.
Bezzecchi had carried a strong run out of Turn Three and made contact with the rear of Alex Marquez’s Ducati under braking for Turn Four. Alex took to the escape road, while Bezzecchi ran onto the grass and fell. The red flag followed to allow debris from the Aprilia to be cleared from the braking area.
When action resumed, championship leader Jorge Martin became the first rider into the 27s with a 1m27.902. That came on lap nine, still using his original hard-front/medium-rear combination. A second red flag then interrupted proceedings when a wallaby ventured onto the circuit, eventually making its escape over the trackside signage.
Aprilia establish the benchmark
Bezzecchi’s early tumble had done little to blunt his speed. With around 38 minutes remaining he posted a 1m27.693, before Marc Marquez responded with a 1m27.615. The Ducati rider was still using his original hard front and soft rear, already ten laps old when he began that run.
Bezzecchi struck back with a 1m27.374, then backed it up with a 1m27.393 and a 1m27.457 on the following two laps. He later lowered the benchmark to 1m27.335 on the same tyres, having started that next run with 11 laps on the hard front and six on the soft rear.
At the halfway point, all four Aprilias occupied places in the top five, with Marc Marquez the only rider interrupting the Noale party. Fabio Di Giannantonio subsequently put another Ducati amongst the Aprilias, moving up to third with a 1m27.531 on fresh soft tyres at both ends.
Pedro Acosta then leapfrogged the lot of them. His first flying lap on a fresh hard front and soft rear produced a 1m27.208, the KTM taking over with around 20 minutes remaining. Marquez was still working with used tyres, beginning his fourth run on a pair that had already completed 16 laps.
Iker Lecuona also improved after switching to a medium front and soft rear, but a run-on at Turn One interrupted his next attack. Martin and Ogura moved forward on fresh rubber without initially displacing Acosta, before Alex Marquez finally took over with a 1m27.150.
Late attacks decide the order
Marc Marquez’s first flying lap on a fresh hard-front/soft-rear pair was a 1m27.114, beating his younger brother by 0.036 seconds. He immediately followed it with the first 26 of the weekend, a 1m26.901, with just under nine minutes remaining.
Raul Fernandez initially split the brothers with a 1m27.102, then returned with another new soft rear and went fastest on a 1m26.847 with just over two minutes left. It was quite a recovery for the birthday boy after his painful Siberia tumble in FP1. His decisive lap combined all four of his best sectors, including the quickest third sector of the session at 13.949.
Ogura matched Marquez’s 1m26.901, but Bezzecchi then jumped them all with a 1m26.775. That came on the first flying lap of his final run, with a new soft rear and a hard front that had completed four laps when he left the pits.
Martin’s late 1m27.030 lifted him to fifth and completed Aprilia’s 1-2-4-5. Bezzecchi’s advantage over Fernandez was 0.072 seconds, with Marquez and Ogura both 0.126 seconds from the top. Marquez took third on the strength of his second-best lap, a 1m26.924 compared with Ogura’s 1m27.218. Ogura also recorded the session’s highest speed at 360 km/h.
Marquez subsequently ran out of fuel before he could complete his practice start. Alex Marquez retained sixth despite a late fall at Turn Four, while Enea Bastianini’s penultimate lap of 1m27.182 made him the leading KTM rider in seventh. Acosta finished eighth, his later 1m27.260 falling just short of improving his earlier benchmark.
Miller misses Q2 by 0.067 seconds
Diogo Moreira was the leading Honda in ninth on a 1m27.519, just 0.012 seconds ahead of Di Giannantonio, whose earlier lap secured the final direct Q2 place. Johann Zarco missed that cut by 0.026 seconds.
Miller finished 12th and fastest Yamaha, his final lap of 1m27.598 leaving him only 0.067 seconds from direct passage. The Australian improved by 0.349 seconds on that last attempt, putting all four of his personal best sectors together. His third sector was fifth quickest overall.
Brad Binder and Francesco Bagnaia also face Q1 after finishing 13th and 14th, ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Lecuona. All ten direct Q2 places went to the first ten riders in the afternoon classification, with the leading 14 covered by 0.952 seconds.
Phillip Island MotoGP Friday Practice Results
 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Top |
| 1 | M. Bezzecchi | Apr | 1m26.775 | 358.8 |
| 2 | R. Fernandez | Apr | +0.072 | 354.1 |
| 3 | M. Marquez | Duc | +0.126 | 355.2 |
| 4 | A. Ogura | Apr | +0.126 | 360.0 |
| 5 | J. Martin | Apr | +0.255 | 356.4 |
| 6 | A. Marquez | Duc | +0.375 | 354.1 |
| 7 | E. Bastianini | KTM | +0.407 | 357.6 |
| 8 | P. Acosta | KTM | +0.433 | 355.2 |
| 9 | D. Moreira | Hon | +0.744 | 352.9 |
| 10 | F. Di Giannantonio | Duc | +0.756 | 350.6 |
| 11 | J. Zarco | Hon | +0.782 | 355.2 |
| 12 | J. Miller | Yam | +0.823 | 349.5 |
| 13 | B. Binder | KTM | +0.880 | 352.9 |
| 14 | F. Bagnaia | Duc | +0.952 | 354.1 |
| 15 | F. Quartararo | Yam | +1.051 | 351.8 |
| 16 | I. Lecuona | Duc | +1.065 | 352.9 |
| 17 | F. Morbidelli | Duc | +1.204 | 348.4 |
| 18 | A. Rins | Yam | +1.341 | 351.8 |
| 19 | M. Viñales | KTM | +1.377 | 352.9 |
| 20 | A. Fernandez | Yam | +2.045 | 348.4 |
| NC | L. Marini | Hon | — | — |
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
Senna Agius was denied the fastest time by just 0.018 seconds as Izan Guevara struck late in Friday’s Moto2 Practice session at Phillip Island. The Australian’s 1m30.034 was good enough for second, with a further 0.254 seconds separating him from third-placed David Alonso.
Under clear blue skies and with a strong wind blowing riders down Gardner Straight, Guevara set the early benchmark with a 1m30.444 on only his second lap. That time stood for more than 28 minutes, while Agius spent much of the opening half in second ahead of Adrian Huertas, Alonso Lopez and Alonso.
Daniel Holgado’s session was interrupted by a front-end loss on the downhill entry to Turn Ten around 15 minutes into proceedings. The Aspar rider was able to return, setting up a late recovery that would eventually put both of the team’s riders in the top four.
Agius took over with just under eight minutes remaining, posting his 1m30.034 on the first flying lap of his second run. Alonso moved into second, before Filip Salac pushed Guevara back to fourth. Manuel Gonzalez then joined the leading group, relegating Guevara another position as the closing stages became increasingly competitive.
Alex Escrig jumped from 15th to fourth with around four minutes remaining, putting the Forward into contention with a 1m30.375. Guevara had slipped to seventh by the time he responded, producing a 1m30.016 with just over two-and-a-half minutes left to reclaim the lead.
Guevara’s decisive lap included his best first, third and fourth sectors of the session. Agius, meanwhile, was outright fastest through both opening sectors, and his best individual splits added up to a theoretical 1m29.888, some 0.146 seconds quicker than his actual best. He also backed up his fastest lap with two identical 1m30.277s during the same run.
Holgado completed his comeback with a 1m30.320 on his final lap, taking fourth and pushing Salac back to fifth by just 0.003 seconds. Lopez finished sixth, ahead of Escrig, Gonzalez, morning pacesetter Huertas and Taiyo Furusato.
Joe Roberts, Mario Aji, Barry Baltus and Ayumu Sasaki secured the remaining direct Q2 places. Sasaki’s 1m30.803 left Luca Lunetta facing Q1 by only 0.036 seconds, with Ivan Ortola another thousandth behind in 16th. The first 21 riders were covered by just 0.981 seconds.
Aron Canet completed only two laps, with his 1m36.060 placing him outside the 105 per cent benchmark for this session. Conditions remained dry, with an air temperature of 28 degrees and a track temperature of 47 degrees.
Moto2 Friday Practice Results
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Top |
| 1 | I. Guevara | Bos | 1m30.016 | 299.3 |
| 2 | S. Agius | Kal | +0.018 | 296.8 |
| 3 | D. Alonso | Kal | +0.272 | 299.3 |
| 4 | D. Holgado | Kal | +0.304 | 298.5 |
| 5 | F. Salac | Kal | +0.307 | 301.0 |
| 6 | A. Lopez | Kal | +0.320 | 296.8 |
| 7 | A. Escrig | For | +0.359 | 299.3 |
| 8 | M. Gonzalez | Kal | +0.371 | 299.3 |
| 9 | A. Huertas | Kal | +0.438 | 299.3 |
| 10 | T. Furusato | Kal | +0.468 | 296.8 |
| 11 | J. Roberts | Kal | +0.517 | 298.5 |
| 12 | M. Aji | Kal | +0.535 | 301.0 |
| 13 | B. Baltus | Kal | +0.645 | 298.5 |
| 14 | A. Sasaki | Kal | +0.787 | 298.5 |
| 15 | L. Lunetta | Bos | +0.823 | 297.6 |
| 16 | I. Ortola | Kal | +0.824 | 297.6 |
| 17 | Z. vd Goorbergh | Kal | +0.854 | 297.6 |
| 18 | D. Muñoz | Kal | +0.923 | 289.7 |
| 19 | T. Arbolino | Kal | +0.955 | 301.0 |
| 20 | C. Veijer | Kal | +0.972 | 299.3 |
| 21 | A. Piqueras | Kal | +0.981 | 298.5 |
| 22 | X. Zurutuza | For | +1.070 | 299.3 |
| 23 | J. Rueda | Kal | +1.152 | 301.0 |
| 24 | A. Ferrandez | Bos | +1.207 | 299.3 |
| 25 | C. Vietti | Bos | +1.570 | 296.0 |
| 26 | D. Öncü | Bos | +1.937 | 298.5 |
| 27 | S. Garcia | Kal | +2.071 | 292.8 |
| NQ | A. Canet | Bos | +6.044 | 292.8 |
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 Friday Practice
Joel Kelso came within three-hundredths of topping Friday’s Moto3 proceedings at Phillip Island, with Alvaro Carpe snatching the fastest time as the final seconds counted down. Carpe’s 1m35.292 on his penultimate lap displaced the Australian’s 1m35.318, leaving the GRYD Honda rider second and comfortably through to Q2.
David Almansa established the first significant benchmark with a 1m35.616 on lap four, a time that kept him on top until Maximo Quiles posted a 1m35.567 just over 22 minutes into the session. Quiles shaved another hundredth away on his next lap, before Kelso took charge with just under eight minutes remaining.
Kelso’s best came on his first flying lap after returning from the pits, and he backed it up with 1m35.546 and 1m35.368 on the next two laps. That gave the Australian three consecutive laps under 1m35.6, while his fastest final sector of 29.112 was again the session’s best. He improved his morning benchmark by 0.365 seconds.
Carpe built towards his late intervention with laps of 1m35.670 and 1m35.607, then produced the decisive 1m35.292 with only 21 seconds left on the clock. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was fastest through Sectors Two and Three, edging Kelso off the top before completing one final, slower lap.
Morning pacesetter Quiles finished third, 0.131 seconds behind Carpe. His lap chart was notable for a single 21-lap run that ended with back-to-back laps of 1m35.423 and 1m35.436. Almansa’s early time remained good enough for fourth, ahead of Scott Ogden, Rico Salmela, Matteo Bertelle, David Muñoz, Brian Uriarte and Kiattisak Singhapong.
Joel Esteban, Adrian Fernandez, Valentin Perrone and Ryusei Yamanaka completed the 14 riders progressing directly to Q2. Yamanaka’s 1m36.172 proved just enough to keep Eddie O’Shea out: Kelso’s team-mate improved to a 1m36.195 on his final lap but missed the cut by 0.023 seconds.
The first 18 riders were covered by less than a second, with Veda Pratama, Casey O’Gorman and Adrian Cruces joining O’Shea in Q1. Guido Pini and Marco Morelli were also among those missing direct passage.
Fellow Australian Marianos Nikolis was brought down following contact with Valentin Perrone at Turn Two during the afternoon session. The CODE Motorsports substitute completed only seven laps and finished 26th on a 1m38.347, leaving him facing Q1.
The FIM MotoGP Stewards subsequently found Perrone responsible for causing the crash and handed the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider a Long Lap Penalty for his next race. It was his first offence of this type this season. Perrone finished the session 13th and qualified directly for Q2.
Track temperature had climbed from 26 degrees in FP1 to 46 degrees for the afternoon session, with the air at 28 degrees.
Moto3 Friday Practice Results
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Top |
| 1 | A. Carpe | KTM | 1m35.292 | 253.1 |
| 2 | J. Kelso | Hon | +0.026 | 253.1 |
| 3 | M. Quiles | KTM | +0.131 | 253.1 |
| 4 | D. Almansa | KTM | +0.324 | 253.1 |
| 5 | S. Ogden | KTM | +0.355 | 253.7 |
| 6 | R. Salmela | KTM | +0.512 | 253.7 |
| 7 | M. Bertelle | KTM | +0.621 | 254.9 |
| 8 | D. Muñoz | KTM | +0.690 | 254.3 |
| 9 | B. Uriarte | KTM | +0.731 | 252.5 |
| 10 | K. Singhapong | Hon | +0.760 | 254.3 |
| 11 | J. Esteban | KTM | +0.830 | 254.3 |
| 12 | A. Fernandez | Hon | +0.849 | 258.6 |
| 13 | V. Perrone | KTM | +0.866 | 254.3 |
| 14 | R. Yamanaka | KTM | +0.880 | 254.3 |
| 15 | E. O’Shea | Hon | +0.903 | 257.3 |
| 16 | V. Pratama | Hon | +0.956 | 254.9 |
| 17 | C. O’Gorman | Hon | +0.972 | 252.5 |
| 18 | A. Cruces | KTM | +0.974 | 254.3 |
| 19 | J. Rios | Hon | +1.053 | 253.7 |
| 20 | G. Pini | Hon | +1.074 | 252.0 |
| 21 | M. Morelli | KTM | +1.345 | 256.7 |
| 22 | Z. Mitani | Hon | +1.422 | 253.7 |
| 23 | R. Moodley | KTM | +1.842 | 255.5 |
| 24 | L. Rammerstorfer | Hon | +2.331 | 249.6 |
| 25 | H. Danish | KTM | +2.482 | 253.7 |
| 26 | M. Nikolis | KTM | +3.055 | 254.3 |
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
|
