Jorge Martin leads Marc Márquez by two points, and the Phillip Island MotoGP weekend of October 22 to 25 is the last time the championship will come here. Aprilia went 1-2-3-4 in Indonesia, with Marco Bezzecchi winning, Raúl Fernández second and Martin third, and Bezzecchi still sits 46 points back. A title this tight is going to be argued at a circuit riders love, and the series is leaving it after this weekend.
Indonesia was Round 17, so Australia is Round 18 of a 22-round season. Four rounds follow it: Malaysia, Qatar, Portugal and Valencia. Two points is less than a single position in a Grand Prix, and neither rider at the front can afford a crash or a bad weekend with the margin this thin.
Why the Phillip Island MotoGP Title Fight Is So Close
Márquez took the points lead at Misano after Bezzecchi crashed out. Martin has since taken it back, and the margin shows how little separates the two. Martin rides an Aprilia that has just finished first through fourth in the same race. Márquez rides a Ducati, and he swept the Aragon weekend earlier this season.
Bezzecchi is the third man, and 46 points is a lot with five rounds left, but it is not nothing. A bad weekend for both leaders and a win for him would drag him back into the conversation. A Phillip Island MotoGP race is the kind of place where that can happen, because one mistake at speed costs a lot.
What the Final Phillip Island MotoGP Weekend Looks Like
MotoGP says this is its final visit to the island, and the event is called the Red Bull Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, with Red Bull as title sponsor. Fans get an aerobatic display from Red Bull Air Race World Champion Matt Hall as part of the fan program. The release gives no day or time for it, so check the official schedule before you plan your weekend around it.
Red Bull also holds the title sponsorship of the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide for 2027 and 2028. The new venue is a revived street circuit with a very different character, and the 2027 calendar gives Adelaide the slot Phillip Island held for so many years.
What Riders Lose When Phillip Island MotoGP Leaves
I will not pretend a street circuit cannot produce good racing. Adelaide may well do it. But Phillip Island is a fast, flowing track on the water, and it suits a title decided by two points. The Phillip Island MotoGP weekend gives the championship leaders very little room to hide, and that is how a title fight should feel.
Riders talk about this place the way they talk about few others, and the speed of the lap never quite comes through on television. Watching a pack of MotoGP bikes flow around it is the reason a lot of us fell for this sport in the first place, and I will miss it.
Saying Goodbye to Phillip Island MotoGP
Whoever leaves with the points lead on Sunday, the island has earned its send-off. It gave this sport years of close racing, and Australia’s fans kept making the trip to make each race matter. That is a long record for one circuit.
So thank you, Phillip Island. The last Phillip Island MotoGP weekend should be a good one, and whatever happens on the final lap, the track has already given this sport more than a schedule change can take back. Adelaide has a lot to live up to, and the best thing it can do is race as hard as this place always did.
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