Relentless rain and low visibility at Phillip Island forced the cancellation of the eighteenth round of the 2026 MotoGP season. Red Bull KTM were able to leave the iconic racetrack south of Melbourne with two points-scoring performances from a dry Saturday Sprint.
The Australian Grand Prix looked as though it would be the first wet race of the campaign as rainfall coated Phillip Island Saturday night and throughout the day on Sunday. Red Bull KTM had qualified with P7 (Pedro Acosta), P11 (Enea Bastianini), P13 (Brad Binder) and P15 (Maverick Viñales) on the grid respectively and with some data for wet settings, thanks to the showery conditions and damp 4.4km layout through Free Practice and qualification Saturday; a day that saw Acosta and Binder take top six results on an (eventually) dry track for the Sprint.
Problems with visibility and medical helicopter clearance caused delays on Sunday and eventually cancellation of the MotoGP, Moto2™ and Moto3™ races. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 riders made a brief parade appearance for the soaked fans that remained at Phillip Island. The Australian Grand Prix is due to shift to a new city-based layout in Adelaide for 2027.
The world championship now has further stops in Malaysia, Qatar, Portugal and Spain slated for the rest of 2026 and Pedro Acosta currently sits 5th in the standings with a 51-point gap to P3. The next nearest rider is Enea Bastianini in 11th.
MotoGP leaves the continent and travels back to warmer climes with the Malaysian Grand Prix set to occur at the popular and familiar venue of the Sepang International Circuit next weekend.
Pedro Acosta: “A sad finish to the final GP in Phillip Island but we should be happy for all the good racing this place has given us over the years. The weekend for us was pretty good until today. Thanks to all the fans.”
Brad Binder: “It was quite sad doing my last laps here at Phillip Island behind a safety car but to be honest the conditions were not looking too good and there was a lot of water on track. It would have been a sketchy, long 27-laps. A pity, and I feel sorry for the people that sat in the rain from 8am. I hope I can see them again in February!”
Enea Bastianini: “I’m a bit disappointed. It’s not nice to leave Phillip Island like this but we still had the chance to say hello to everybody. I want to say thanks to all the fans for coming here on a day like this, with the rain. Overall, the weekend was not so bad. Now we go to Sepang, which is one of my favorite tracks, and I hope to find the speed we had on Friday here and fight for something important.”
Maverick Viñales: “It’s a shame because we all love to ride at Phillip Island. At least the fans saw a good show yesterday. Today we were waiting all day, trying to stay focused, but in the end, safety is the most important thing. At least we did some laps on the bike to wave to the fans, which was also important. My weekend was conditioned by the shoulder because most of the corners here are left-handers with a lot of changes of direction, so I struggled a lot. But I think every weekend I’m getting closer to being in shape, so we don’t give up and we keep working.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “A real shame we cannot race here in Phillip Island especially with so many people waiting for us and a great atmosphere but, of course, it is understandable because of the conditions. I think the weekend was quite solid for us and at least the Sprint results were promising. The rider parade today was at least something small we could give all the fans here and who are always so passionate.”