VOTE: Top 5 moments from the Australian MotoGP™
Thursday, 13 October 2022
The best moments from Phillip Island Circuit.
MotoGP™ returns to Australia for the first time since Marc Marquez took an 11-second victory at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in 2019.
Since the Motorcycle contingent first descended on the island in 1989, there have been some iconic moments.
Advertisement
We’ve picked our top five and want to see what our community thinks by voting below.
1989 – Wayne Gardner’s victory at the inaugural Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
A huge crowd piled into the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit to see history made in 1989.
Australia was hosting its first-ever world championship motorcycle Grand Prix race, and with four locals in the field, they had no shortage of riders to cheer.
Wayne Gardner headed that list, the 1987 world champion joined by Kevin Magee, Michael Dowson and a rookie by the name of Mick Doohan.
In a race that will go down in Australian motorsport folklore, Kevin Schwantz, who qualified first, was first to fall off his bike, as Gardner and Yamaha’s Wayne Rainey traded the early lead on several occasions.
It was mostly a battle between Gardner and Rainey, the pair coming close to colliding on several occasions.
The last of those lead changes came with three laps to go as Gardner pounced again before he held off his rivals on a thrilling final lap.
2006 – Marco Melandri wins the first flag-to-flag MotoGP™ race
A flag-to-flag rule introduced in 2005 was used for the first time at the history-making 2006 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.
The rule - allowing riders to pit and swap motorcycles if rain falls and they see a white flag - was used at Phillip Island after the skies opened up in the race’s early stages.
It was to the detriment of Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano, who made a brilliant start.
Nakano led by more than five seconds before the white flag was raised, and mayhem ensued in an amazing race full of lead changes and momentum shifts.
Italian Marco Melandri would top the timesheets, the Honda rider biding his time before making an ultimately race-winning move on Ducati’s Sete Gibernau with 11 laps to go.
Melandri’s bike was clearly the quickest once the dust from the white flag had settled, and he sped clear of his rivals to claim victory.
2014 – Miller’s Moto3 win
Jack Miller added his name to an honour roll that includes Australian legends Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner after producing a thrilling win at Phillip Island.
Miller won the Moto3 event at the 2014 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, holding off title rival Alex Marquez on a thrilling final lap that captivated home fans.
Miller, then 19, did not help himself in qualifying and starting from eighth on race day presented a major challenge for the Townsville product.
But he gained two places on the first lap and quickly emerged as a genuine contender to win the race.
Miller’s title rival, Marquez, dropped back to ninth with just four laps to go after an error in judgement, but the latter’s speed was shown by the fact he was back in front with two laps remaining.
Miller dug deep, though, going past Marquez and Alex Rins on the final lap to the roar of the Phillip Island masses.
2012 – Casey Stoner’s final win on home soil before his retirement
Casey Stoner had a perfect record to protect at the 2012 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix with five wins from as many races at Phillip Island.
Stoner had announced he would be retiring at season’s end, giving him one last chance to win on the iconic circuit.
In the main race, Stoner started from pole but was passed into the first turn by Lorenzo and his fellow Spaniard, Dani Pedrosa, a shock for fans so used to seeing the local dominant from start to finish.
But they did not have to wait long for Stoner to assume control of the race, while Pedrosa ran wide and lost the front end of his bike in a move that helped hand Lorenzo the title.
Stoner ended up finishing 9.223 seconds in front of the second-placed Lorenzo, allowing the New South Wales product to really enjoy his victory lap.
2015 – Marquez wins one of the closest races in MotoGP™ history
Marc Marquez’s incredible last-lap performance saw him claim victory at the 2015 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix by 0.2 seconds.
Starting the last lap a second behind rival Jorge Lorenzo after a race full of challenges, Marquez knew what he had to do to clinch the win – and did so.
