MotoGP™ Recap - weather impacts farewell to Phillip Island
27 October 2026Round Eighteen of the 2026 MotoGP season saw the Championship bid farewell to Phillip Island, as the Australian round moves to the Adelaide Street Circuit next season. Whilst ongoing difficult weather conditions ended the Red Bull Grand Prix of Australia prematurely, Saturday’s on-track action provided a classic Phillip Island battle, with a dramatic conclusion.
MotoGP had a reduced grid this weekend, due to multiple rider illnesses and injuries. HRC Honda Castrol’s Joan Mir was still out of action due to illness, and with Honda unable to bring in a replacement rider due to injuries and alternative commitments, Luca Marini was the sole factory Honda rider set to participate at Phillip Island. However a virus limited Marini’s participation in Friday’s activities, before he was then declared unfit on Saturday morning, leaving Honda with just two riders for the weekend’s racing.
Fermin Aldeguer was absent from the paddock as he focused on recovering from surgery to fix the hand fracture he sustained last time out, with Iker Lecuona once again stepping in to fill the empty seat in the BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP team. It has since been confirmed that Aldeguer will also miss the next round in Malaysia, with Lecuona set to continue with the team.
Prior to the weekend, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP announced that Toprak Razgatlıoğlu would be absent for the rest of the season, as the shoulder injury he sustained in Indonesia was worse than initially believed, with the rookie requiring surgery. Razgatlıoğlu’s focus will then be on rehabilitation, with the aim of being back at 100% fitness for next season. Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez was confirmed as replacement rider for the remainder of the 2026 season.
Marc Marquez flies to pole in wet qualifying
Riders faced difficult conditions during Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, with Marc Marquez beginning the session in the gravel, before going on to set an astonishing lap to take pole position at Phillip Island. With wet weather expert Johann Zarco and home hero Jack Miller navigating their way through Q1 on a damp track, the rain started to fall again just as Q2 got underway. Marquez went down at Turn Four on his first flying lap, but pushing to the absolute limit on his spare bike, on his last lap of the session, he secured pole position with a time of 1.34.203. Putting the lap into perspective, Alex Marquez moved up into 2nd in the final moments, with a lap time 1.494s slower than that of his older brother. Zarco completed the front row, whilst Martin qualified 4th, seeing him line up directly behind his main Championship rival, Marc Marquez, with Miller qualifying 5th for his home race.
Sprint victory for Marc Marquez as Martin falls
Marc Marquez took Sprint victory number nine in 2026 on Saturday, after an intense battle with title rival Martin ended in disaster for the 2024 MotoGP World Champion. An impressive start for
Martin saw him up to 2nd at the first corner, with his Aprilia showing a notable speed advantage compared to Marquez's Ducati at several points around the circuit. After a brief scuffle with Alex Marquez, Lap 3 saw Martin make his first attempt at taking the lead of the race, successfully passing Marc, though Marc was able to sneak underneath him to retake the lead, but the battle between the two main Championship contenders had only just begun.
Behind the leading duo, the fight for 3rd was also hotting up, with Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez exchanging positions after an unfortunate retirement from Zarco, who was running in 4th. At the front, the battling continued, with Martin taking the lead, then running wide, allowing Marc back through, as his younger brother Alex began closing in on them. Lap 6 saw Fabio Di Giannantonio pass Acosta and move into 4th, having dropped down to 9th on the opening lap, but there was work to do if he had any hope of catching up to Alex Marquez in 3rd.
The battle intensified between Martin and Marquez, with Martin making more claims for the lead on Lap 8, and Marc fighting back instantly to retake the lead each time. Suddenly though, the fight was over, as Martin crashed out of 2nd at Turn 8, his Sprint over as he bounced through the gravel. This left Marc Marquez to defend against his brother, managing to maintain his lead to take the win, ahead of Alex Marquez, with Di Giannantonio taking 3rd. Marc's victory once again moved him to the top of the Championship standings, with a 10 point advantage over Martin, who sustained a right wrist fracture during his crash, leaving him unfit for the rest of the weekend.
Martin to remain in Australia for treatment
An update provided by Aprilia Racing on Sunday morning revealed that Jorge Martin will not travel to Spain for necessary treatment for his fractured wrist, and will instead remain in Australia for the treatment. The announcement indicates Martin’s intentions are to travel to Sepang with the team for the final race of the triple-header, though his fitness will need to be evaluated prior to returning to the track.
Raul Fernandez withdraws from weekend after difficult Sprint
2025’s winner at Phillip Island was confirmed to have withdrawn from the weekend following his retirement from Saturday’s Sprint, due to ongoing issues with a finger injured in the first lap incident during the Sprint in Indonesia. The SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team confirmed that whilst Fernandez’s fracture is stable, he has been suffering with inflammation of the small tissue surrounding the fracture, and was therefore declared unfit. Fernandez will fly to Malaysia for further assessments to determine whether he can return to riding next weekend.
Weather conditions lead to cancellation of Sunday’s racing
Rainfall across Saturday evening and Sunday led to the cancellation of all three races, as poor visibility impacted the operation of the medical helicopter. On-track action was initially delayed on Sunday morning, with MotoGP’s morning Warm Up session cancelled, but as the day progressed, further updates revealed the cancellation of the Moto3 and Moto2 races, as they aimed for a later start for the MotoGP Grand Prix. However, a later update revealed that visibility was still an issue, and as the medical helicopter would be unable to operate, the decision was made to cancel the MotoGP Grand Prix. It was decided that instead, riders would head out onto the track for a parade lap, to say farewell to Phillip Island and the fans.
2027 MotoGP grid complete as Honda confirms lineups
With all of the riders for MotoGP’s 2027 grid confirmed, just one question remained - who out of Diogo Moreira and David Alonso would join the factory Honda team, and who would take the remaining Honda LCR seat. This final decision was confirmed by Honda prior to the race weekend beginning, with 2026 rookie Diogo Moreira being promoted from his current seat at Honda LCR to ride alongside Fabio Quartararo next season. David Alonso will take the seat currently held by Moreira and pair up with Johann Zarco for his rookie season in the premier class in 2027.
Next up, MotoGP heads to the Petronas Sepang International Circuit for the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia, where we’ll be waiting to find out if Martin is ready to return to battle for the title.
