MotoGP 2026
Round 18 – Phillip Island – Saturday
MotoGP Sprint Race
Marc Marquez turned a fierce fight with Jorge Martin into victory at Phillip Island, reclaiming the championship lead after the Aprilia rider crashed out on lap eight. Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio completed a Ducati 1-2-3, with only 0.590 seconds covering the podium.
Marquez had already delivered MotoGP’s biggest pole margin in seven years after crashing and switching to his spare Ducati, as detailed in our full Saturday morning qualifying coverage. The Sprint, however, would be a much closer contest.
Rain started falling as the riders formed up on the grid, around 20 minutes before the scheduled start. It was not enough to force a switch to wets, but there was plenty to keep riders watching the clouds rolling in from the northwest. The race was declared dry, with an ambient temperature of 17 degrees and the track at 31 degrees.
Marc got the jump from pole to lead Martin through Turn One, with Alex Marquez third ahead of Johann Zarco, Pedro Acosta and Jack Miller.
Zarco muscled past Alex at Turn Four, but the younger Marquez reclaimed third on the following lap.
Marco Bezzecchi had work to do after slipping from ninth on the grid to 12th at the end of lap one.
Alex then swept around the outside of Martin at Lukey Heights to claim the inside line for MG and move into second. That gave Marc a little breathing space, but Martin responded into Turn One and was soon back on the Ducati’s tail. The Aprilia had tremendous drive through the final turns, and Martin worked his way into the lead before setting the fastest lap of the race, a 1m27.229, on lap four.
There was no chance of either settling into a rhythm. Martin had a front-end slide and ran wide at Turn Four, leaving an invitation Marc needed no encouragement to accept.
Martin slipstreamed back past into Turn One, only to leave another opening at Southern Loop. Marc reclaimed the lead and defended into Turn Four as the pair continued to trade places.
Behind them, Alex and Acosta had been fighting over third, allowing Di Giannantonio to close.
The VR46 rider passed Acosta on lap six, while the scrap at the front was bringing Alex back into contention. At the end of lap seven, less than seven tenths covered the leading three.
Lap eight proved decisive. Martin attacked into Turn One, Marc came back underneath him at Southern Loop, and Martin’s block pass at Turn Four forced the Ducati rider to pick the bike up. Marc struck again at Siberia, before Martin lost the front at the very fast Hayshed and tumbled through the gravel. The championship leader’s race was over.
Martin was taken to the circuit medical centre, where X-rays revealed a fractured radius and a suspected fracture of the ulna near the wrist. He has been declared unfit for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix and will undergo further examinations.
That left a Marquez brothers 1-2, Alex only three tenths behind Marc with five laps remaining.
Di Giannantonio was third, while Bezzecchi continued his recovery and passed Acosta for fourth on lap ten. The Aprilia rider then closed on Di Giannantonio, bringing the fight for the podium right back to life.
At the last lap board, Alex was just over a quarter of a second behind his brother, with Di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi also within a second of the lead. Marc held firm through the final 4.448 kilometres to win by 0.323 seconds, while Di Giannantonio finished only 0.267 behind Alex. Bezzecchi had to settle for fourth, just over a second from victory.
Acosta completed the top five ahead of Ai Ogura, who climbed from 12th on the grid. Brad Binder recovered from 13th to seventh.
Miller finished eighth as the leading Yamaha and collected two points. Diogo Moreira passed Iker Lecuona on the final lap to claim the last Sprint point by just 51 thousandths.
Pecco Bagnaia’s difficult weekend continued with retirement after only two completed laps. Zarco, Maverick Viñales and Raul Fernandez also returned to the pits and retired.
Raul Fernandez has been ruled unfit for Sunday’s race. The Trackhouse rider retired from the Sprint as the right index finger he fractured at Mandalika became too painful. The fracture remains stable, but inflammation around the injury has ended his Australian weekend. He will travel to Malaysia for further medical assessment.
Both Ogura and Augusto Fernandez received eight-second penalties after their tyre pressures were found to be below the required minimum. Ogura drops from sixth to 13th, while Augusto remains 15th with his gap increased to 45.945 seconds. Binder is promoted to sixth, Miller to seventh, Moreira to eighth and Lecuona into the final points-paying position in ninth.
Marquez’s 12 points turn a two-point deficit into a ten-point championship lead ahead of Sunday’s 27-lap Grand Prix. He now has 365 points to Martin’s 355, while Bezzecchi remains third on 315, 50 behind Marquez and 40 behind his team-mate. Acosta and Ogura are tied on 263, with Acosta ranked fourth.
Revised Phillip Island Sprint Race Results
 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | M. Marquez | Duc | 19m09.411 |
| 2 | A. Marquez | Duc | +0.323 |
| 3 | F. Di Giannantonio | Duc | +0.590 |
| 4 | M. Bezzecchi | Apr | +1.074 |
| 5 | P. Acosta | KTM | +3.689 |
| 6 | B. Binder | KTM | +7.433 |
| 7 | J. Miller | Yam | +7.782 |
| 8 | D. Moreira | Hon | +10.722 |
| 9 | I. Lecuona | Duc | +10.773 |
| 10 | F. Quartararo | Yam | +11.215 |
| 11 | E. Bastianini | KTM | +11.437 |
| 12 | A. Rins | Yam | +11.568 |
| 13 | A. Ogura (+8s) | Apr | +14.146 |
| 14 | F. Morbidelli | Duc | +18.277 |
| 15 | A. Fernandez (+8s) | Yam | +45.945 |
| DNF | R. Fernandez | Apr | 5 laps |
| DNF | J. Martin | Apr | 6 laps |
| DNF | M. Viñales | KTM | 7 laps |
| DNF | J. Zarco | Hon | 10 laps |
| DNF | F. Bagnaia | Duc | 11 laps |
Ai Ogura and Augusto Fernandez each received an eight-second time penalty for tyre-pressure infringements.
The displayed gaps include those penalties.
Revised MotoGP Sunday Grid
The revised grid has 18 riders following the withdrawals of Martin and Raul Fernandez. Marc and Alex Marquez retain the first two positions alongside Johann Zarco, while Miller moves up to fourth to head the second row ahead of Acosta and Di Giannantonio. Bezzecchi now starts seventh, while Bagnaia moves to 14th.
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike |
| 1 | M. Marquez | Duc |
| 2 | A. Marquez | Duc |
| 3 | J. Zarco | Hon |
| 4 | J. Miller | Yam |
| 5 | P. Acosta | KTM |
| 6 | F. Di Giannantonio | Duc |
| 7 | M. Bezzecchi | Apr |
| 8 | D. Moreira | Hon |
| 9 | E. Bastianini | KTM |
| 10 | A. Ogura | Apr |
| 11 | B. Binder | KTM |
| 12 | I. Lecuona | Duc |
| 13 | M. Viñales | KTM |
| 14 | F. Bagnaia | Duc |
| 15 | A. Fernandez | Yam |
| 16 | A. Rins | Yam |
| 17 | F. Quartararo | Yam |
| 18 | F. Morbidelli | Duc |
Revised MotoGP Championship Points
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | M. Marquez | 365 |
| 2 | J. Martin | 355 |
| 3 | M. Bezzecchi | 315 |
| 4 | P. Acosta | 263 |
| 5 | A. Ogura | 259 |
| 6 | F. Di Giannantonio | 252 |
| 7 | R. Fernandez | 236 |
| 8 | A. Marquez | 181 |
| 9 | F. Bagnaia | 166 |
| 10 | F. Aldeguer | 125 |
| 11 | E. Bastianini | 122 |
| 12 | L. Marini | 108 |
| 13 | B. Binder | 108 |
| 14 | D. Moreira | 76 |
| 15 | F. Quartararo | 74 |
| 16 | F. Morbidelli | 59 |
| 17 | J. Zarco | 51 |
| 18 | J. Mir | 33 |
| 19 | J. Miller | 31 |
| 20 | A. Rins | 25 |
| 21 | T. Razgatlioglu | 18 |
| 22 | M. Viñales | 12 |
| 23 | I. Lecuona | 10 |
| 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 Qualifying
Senna Agius was leading the Phillip Island pole shootout before a fast Turn Eight crash ended his qualifying challenge, leaving team-mate Manuel Gonzalez to lead a field separated by the finest of margins.
After the wet morning, Moto2 qualifying took place on a dry track, with the surface up to 28 degrees. Zonta van den Goorbergh topped Q1 ahead of Ivan Ortola, Tony Arbolino and Collin Veijer, while Dani Muñoz missed the final transfer spot by just 21 thousandths.
Alonso Lopez set the early pace in Q2 before Agius went top with a 1m30.295 just before the halfway point. The Australian was still on provisional pole with around three minutes remaining when the front folded at Hayshed. Agius shrugged it off and walked away, but his Kalex looked destined to provide plenty of work for the Intact GP mechanics.
While Agius was dusting himself off, Gonzalez struck with a 1m30.122. Barry Baltus then pushed the Australian back another place, before the late improvements kept coming. By the time Agius had made his way back to the box, his provisional pole had become seventh on the grid.
That was a harsh return for a lap only 0.173 seconds shy of pole and just 58 thousandths away from the front row. Gonzalez will start alongside Baltus and Filip Salac, with Baltus 0.106 seconds behind and Salac another nine thousandths back.
Gonzalez carries a 5.5-point championship lead over Guevara into Sunday, with his closest rival starting sixth.
Just 0.115 seconds covered the Moto2 front row at Phillip Island – Image RbMotoLens
Ortola made the most of his escape from Q1 to head the second row in fourth, ahead of Daniel Holgado and wet-session pacesetter Izan Guevara. Agius starts the 23-lap Grand Prix from the front of row three, alongside Adrian Huertas and Lopez. Arbolino, Taiyo Furusato and Mario Aji complete a top 12 covered by less than three tenths.
Further back, Muñoz qualified 19th and also faces a double long lap penalty in Sunday’s race after crashing at Turn One under yellow flags during FP2.
Phillip Island Moto2 Qualifying Results
 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Top |
| 1 | M. Gonzalez | Kal | 1m30.122 | 289.7 |
| 2 | B. Baltus | Kal | +0.106 | 292.8 |
| 3 | F. Salac | Kal | +0.115 | 288.9 |
| 4 | I. Ortola | Kal | +0.129 | 288.9 |
| 5 | D. Holgado | Kal | +0.148 | 285.9 |
| 6 | I. Guevara | Bos | +0.155 | 285.9 |
| 7 | S. Agius | Kal | +0.173 | 287.4 |
| 8 | A. Huertas | Kal | +0.207 | 287.4 |
| 9 | A. Lopez | Kal | +0.209 | 292.0 |
| 10 | T. Arbolino | Kal | +0.212 | 290.5 |
| 11 | T. Furusato | Kal | +0.222 | 289.7 |
| 12 | M. Aji | Kal | +0.296 | 290.5 |
| 13 | C. Veijer | Kal | +0.360 | 288.1 |
| 14 | D. Alonso | Kal | +0.361 | 288.1 |
| 15 | A. Sasaki | Kal | +0.373 | 287.4 |
| 16 | J. Roberts | Kal | +0.489 | 285.1 |
| 17 | Z. van den Goorbergh | Kal | +0.588 | 286.6 |
| 18 | L. Lunetta | Bos | +0.715 | 286.6 |
| Q1 | ||||
| 19 | D. Muñoz | Kal | +0.661 | 286.6 |
| 20 | J. A. Rueda | Kal | +0.944 | 294.4 |
| 21 | X. Zurutuza | For | +1.014 | 292.8 |
| 22 | A. Ferrandez | Bos | +1.074 | 292.0 |
| 23 | A. Piqueras | Kal | +1.210 | — |
| 24 | C. Vietti | Bos | +1.565 | 288.1 |
| 25 | D. Öncü | Bos | +1.680 | 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 Qualifying
Veda Pratama came through Q1 to snatch pole at Phillip Island, the Indonesian denying Maximo Quiles by just 21 thousandths while Joel Kelso secured a front-row start for his home Grand Prix. Only 67 thousandths separated the Australian from pole, with the top five covered by 0.148 seconds.
After the wet conditions of Saturday morning, qualifying took place on a dry track. Pratama had first needed to negotiate Q1, where Honda riders claimed all four promotion places. Guido Pini topped that session ahead of Casey O’Gorman, Eddie O’Shea and Pratama, with just 0.122 seconds covering the quartet. Marco Morelli missed the cut by 0.278 seconds.
Kelso looked a strong chance of delivering a home pole as he progressively lowered his marker during the opening run of Q2. A 1m35.366 on his fourth lap put the GRYD Racing Honda on top and remained the benchmark until the closing stages.
Quiles finally displaced the Australian with a 1m35.320, but the newly crowned World Champion’s time on provisional pole was brief. Pratama saved his best for his final lap, a 1m35.299 taking pole for Honda Team Asia after the chequered flag.
Kelso retained third by just a hundredth ahead of Joel Esteban, while team-mate O’Shea made it two GRYD Racing Hondas in the top five. Adrian Fernandez completed row two, giving Honda four of the first six positions.
Scott Ogden heads the third row alongside Q1 pacesetter Pini and Kiattisak Singhapong. Matteo Bertelle rounded out the top ten, while Brian Uriarte qualified 14th. Last-minute Australian stand-in Marianos Nikolis will start 26th.
Valentin Perrone and Ryusei Yamanaka each have a Long Lap Penalty to serve in the race. Yamanaka’s sanction followed slow riding on the racing line that disturbed Esteban at Turns Nine and Ten during Q2. Their qualifying positions remain 13th and 17th respectively.
Phillip Island Moto3 Qualifying Results
 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Top |
| 1 | V. Pratama | Hon | 1m35.299 | 246.8 |
| 2 | M. Quiles | KTM | +0.021 | 245.7 |
| 3 | J. Kelso | Hon | +0.067 | 242.9 |
| 4 | J. Esteban | KTM | +0.077 | 246.2 |
| 5 | E. O’Shea | Hon | +0.148 | 245.7 |
| 6 | A. Fernandez | Hon | +0.319 | — |
| 7 | S. Ogden | KTM | +0.380 | 249.6 |
| 8 | G. Pini | Hon | +0.510 | 246.8 |
| 9 | K. Singhapong | Hon | +0.542 | 249.1 |
| 10 | M. Bertelle | KTM | +0.613 | 244.6 |
| 11 | D. Almansa | KTM | +0.615 | 242.9 |
| 12 | A. Carpe | KTM | +0.622 | 249.1 |
| 13 | V. Perrone | KTM | +0.678 | 246.2 |
| 14 | B. Uriarte | KTM | +0.698 | 243.5 |
| 15 | C. O’Gorman | Hon | +0.810 | 240.2 |
| 16 | D. Muñoz | KTM | +1.009 | 245.1 |
| 17 | R. Yamanaka | KTM | +1.551 | 247.9 |
| 18 | R. Salmela | KTM | +1.793 | 245.7 |
| Q1 | ||||
| 19 | M. Morelli | KTM | +1.362 | 245.1 |
| 20 | A. Cruces | KTM | +1.655 | 244.6 |
| 21 | L. Rammerstorfer | Hon | +1.791 | 242.4 |
| 22 | Z. Mitani | Hon | +1.801 | 242.4 |
| 23 | H. Danish | KTM | +1.870 | 242.9 |
| 24 | J. Rios | Hon | +1.944 | 245.7 |
| 25 | R. Moodley | KTM | +2.342 | 246.8 |
| 26 | M. Nikolis | KTM | +3.747 | 244.0 |
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 |
MotoGP Calendar
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|||
|
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
|
