Jorge Martin leads Marc Marquez by two points with five rounds left, and the next one is at a circuit about to drop off the calendar. The Australian MotoGP 2026 at Phillip Island, from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October, is round 18 of 22 and the last Grand Prix at the clifftop track before the event moves to an Adelaide street circuit in 2027. You couldn't script a much better send-off.
Two champions, two points apart
Both men have been world champion, and both have come back from losing almost everything. Martin won the 2024 title with Pramac Ducati, moved to Aprilia, and then watched injuries wreck his first season with the Italian factory. Marquez spent years rebuilding after his own long injury nightmare and took the 2025 crown with the factory Ducati team.
This year it's flipped. Martin has turned the Aprilia RS-GP26 into a title-winning bike and Marquez has been the one chasing, with the momentum swinging back and forth all autumn. At Motegi, Marquez won the sprint and the Grand Prix to cut the gap to two points. A week later in Indonesia he won the Saturday sprint, and then Aprilia filled the first four places on Sunday, Marco Bezzecchi winning from Raul Fernandez and Martin while Marquez came home sixth.
So it's Martin 355, Marquez 353, and Bezzecchi on 309, still in it but needing help. There are 185 points left to win.
Why Phillip Island suits Marquez
If Marquez could pick one track from what's left, I suspect it'd be this one. The fast, flowing left-handers along the Bass Strait coast suit the way he rides, and he has won the premier-class race here four times, in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024. He missed last year's race injured, which is when Fernandez took his first MotoGP win for Trackhouse Aprilia.
The paddock isn't unanimous on him being favourite. Aprilia's leadership has suggested Marquez is still the man to beat on reputation, while Ducati's Davide Tardozzi has pointed to grip problems in the fast corners as a real worry for his rider. When the rival team is talking him up and his own team is worried, you know the weekend is open.
Martin has been quick here as well. He was on pole at Phillip Island in 2022 and 2023, and he turns up on a bike that has just filled the top four at Mandalika. Aprilia have been talking openly about team orders, too, which could matter a lot if Bezzecchi or Fernandez end up ahead of him late in a race.
Australian MotoGP 2026 sprint and race times
The sprint is 13 laps on Saturday afternoon and the Grand Prix is 27 laps on Sunday, with 37 points on offer across the two (12 for the sprint win, 25 for the race). Racing in Australia means an early alarm in Europe and a late night in the Americas. The race start comes from listings, so check it against the official timetable, and note that the UK and Europe change their clocks between the sprint and the race.
| Session | Local (AEDT) | UTC | UK | Spain | India (IST) | US ET / PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying 2, Sat 24 Oct | 11:15 | 00:15 | 01:15 | 02:15 | 05:45 | 20:15 / 17:15 Fri |
| Sprint, Sat 24 Oct | 15:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 09:30 | 00:00 / 21:00 Fri |
| Grand Prix, Sun 25 Oct | 14:00 | 03:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 08:30 | 23:00 / 20:00 Sat |
Every session is free in HD, with no sign-up, on DAMITV's MotoGP page.
Saying goodbye to the island
Phillip Island first hosted the Australian Grand Prix in 1989 and has held it every year since 1997, apart from the two seasons lost to the pandemic. It has given us Casey Stoner's six straight home wins and the last-lap brawls of the late 2010s. The Victorian Government turned down a proposal to move the race to Albert Park, South Australia stepped in, and from 2027 Adelaide hosts it on a track based on the old Formula 1 street circuit.
So Australian fans will turn up knowing it's the last time they'll see MotoGP bikes fly down Gardner Straight and over Lukey Heights in a championship round. I'd expect a big crowd.
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Victoria. Photo: thomasrdotorg, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
What could swing it
Weather first. Phillip Island sits on the edge of the Southern Ocean, and wind and sudden showers have decided plenty of races here. Then tyres: the long, fast corners load up the left side of the rear, and managing that over 27 laps is half the job. And Aprilia's team orders, if Martin is fighting Marquez with a teammate in the mix, could be worth several points either way.
Don't forget Bezzecchi. He's 46 points back with five rounds left and needs something close to a perfect run, but Mandalika showed he can beat both title favourites on his day.
Our call
Marquez's record here is too good to ignore. We think he wins on Sunday and leaves Victoria back on top of the standings, with Martin limiting the damage on the podium and the gap down to a handful of points heading to Sepang. Fernandez or Bezzecchi for the other podium spot, with Aprilia again the strongest bike over a race distance.
The F1 title could be settled in Austin the same weekend; our US Grand Prix 2026 guide has those times. The Australian MotoGP 2026 sprint and race are both on our MotoGP streams hub.
