Phillip Island gave us a timely reminder of just what a spectacular place and circuit it is. We had the full, glorious menu, together with a couple of the entertaining and downright dangerous downsides. And best of all, we got slowmo shots of Pedro Acosta drifting both wheels through Turn 3, paired with replays of Casey Stoner showing how it was done 15 years ago on the Repsol Honda.
(And given both factory Honda riders were absent through illness, Luca Marini having withdrawn after the first couple of laps on Friday morning, Repsol got more mileage out of the 2026 MotoGP round at Phillip Island than HRC's current sponsor Castrol.)
We had drama and red flags, with high speed crashes and a wallaby on the loose bringing a halt to proceedings. And we had a graphic illustration of the difference between the Ducati and the Aprilia through fast corners.
David Emmett Fri, 23/Oct/2026 - 20:56The final round of the WorldSBK campaign is in the books and Nicolo Bulega's unprecedented campaign is finished. The World Champion dominated the final round of the season, the Spanish Round at Jerez, to win for the 32nd time out of 36. He'll move on to MotoGP next year but he wasn't the only goodbye from last weekend.
Jerez was the final round of Pirelli acting as the tyre supplier to the series. Italian rubber has been the hallmark of over two decades in WorldSBK and we'll have a Patreon show dedicated to them. We've already had an Alvaro Bautista special but will we see him again in WorldSBK? It's definitely the end for Danilo Petrucci and we comment his remarkable career.
David Emmett Fri, 23/Oct/2026 - 14:14Marco Bezzecchi has topped the timesheets in the timed session of practice for the MotoGP class at a gloriously sunny Phillip Island. The factory Aprilia rider was quick throughout, and put in a blistering last run to take top spot on the timesheets. Last year's winner Raul Fernandez ended the session as second quickest on the Trackhouse Aprilia, less than a tenth of a second behind Bezzecchi, and a few hundredths ahead of both Marc Marquez and Ai Ogura, the two riders ending on an identical time.
David Emmett Fri, 23/Oct/2026 - 05:09Results:
David Emmett Fri, 23/Oct/2026 - 03:58Results:
David Emmett Fri, 23/Oct/2026 - 03:56Results:
David Emmett Fri, 23/Oct/2026 - 03:55Results:
David Emmett Fri, 23/Oct/2026 - 03:52Results:
David Emmett Fri, 23/Oct/2026 - 03:51
There are two circuits which can credibly lay claim to be the greatest motorcycle racing track in the world: Mugello and Phillip Island. (Well, maybe four, but we can't count Spa Francorchamps or Suzuka because there's no chance of MotoGP racing there, at least not for the foreseeable future.) Both have spectacular backdrops, enough elevation change to make it interesting, and a lot of really fast, open corners. They challenge machines, but they challenge riders much, much more. At both Mugello and Phillip Island, a great rider on a mediocre motorcycle can beat a good rider on a great motorcycle pretty much every time.
In 2027, there will be no question which is the greatest motorcycle racing track in the world. Phillip Island is to disappear from the MotoGP calendar, to be replaced by a 'street' circuit in a park in Adelaide. The Island's iconic layout is to be swapped for a cookie cutter circuit which has secured the rights to the Australian Grand Prix because of its location.
David Emmett Thu, 22/Oct/2026 - 21:07It's Phillip Island time, for the last time! But before Adam, David, and Neil go through their favourite memories from the track and ask whether circuit deserves to stay on the MotoGP calendar, there's plenty of news to talk through.
Honda have finally made a choice, and selected Diogo Moreira for the factory team, shuffling David Alonso off to LCR. The right choice? The FIM International Court of Appeal cleared Leopard Racing of cheating, but the devil is in the detail. We explain. The Qatar GP is going to go ahead, but is that the right choice? Is fining Marc Marquez for not turning up to promotional events the right thing to do? And we preview the Australian round of MotoGP from the iconic Phillip Island circuit and try not to talk about the weather.
David Emmett Tue, 20/Oct/2026 - 15:41Toprak Razgatlioglu is set to miss the remainder of the 2026 MotoGP season. The Prima Pramac Yamaha rider suffered a massive highside in FP2 at the Mandalika International Circuit nine days ago, and was forced to retire from the Indonesian GP the following day.
On his return home, Razgatlioglu had further medical examinations, and the damage to his shoulder will require surgery to fix. That surgery is scheduled for Monday October 26th, the Monday after Phillip Island, which rules him out of the Australian GP. The recovery time also means he will miss the rest of the 2026 MotoGP season.
A date for his return has not yet been set. He will no doubt be hoping to return for the test to be held on December 1st, the Tuesday after the Valencia round of MotoGP, but it is far from certain he will be fit in time. Otherwise he will have to wait until the Sepang test in February next year.
David Emmett Tue, 20/Oct/2026 - 09:42The 2027 MotoGP rider line up is complete at last. With today's (October 20th) announcement that Diogo Moreira will be getting the seat in the factory Honda team, with David Alonso heading to LCR, that finalizes the 2027 grid.
David Emmett Tue, 20/Oct/2026 - 07:30 Manufacturers Aprilia Ducati Honda KTM Yamaha People Ai Ogura Alex Marquez Diogo Moreira Enea Bastianini Fabio Di Giannantonio Fabio Quartararo Fermín Aldeguer Francesco Bagnaia Joan Mir Johann Zarco Jorge Martin Luca Marini Marc Marquez Marco Bezzecchi Pedro Acosta Raul Fernandez Toprak Razgatlioglu Dani Holgado David Alonso Izan Guevara Senna Agius Nicolo Bulega Race Series MotoGPDiogo Moreira has won the battle for promotion to the factory Honda team. In press statements today, Honda announced that it would be Brazilian rider Diogo Moreira who gets the seat in the factory team, while rookie David Alonso will take Moreira's seat in the LCR Honda squad.
The decision comes after a disappointing season for Alonso in Moto2, and a strong rookie year for Moreira in MotoGP. When Honda announced they had signed Alonso, the press release did not state which team he would be racing in, but sources indicated that Alonso's deal was to race in the factory Honda team. As the season progressed, however, and Alonso struggled, HRC pushed to move Moreira into the factory team and have Alonso start life in the satellite LCR Honda squad.
David Emmett Tue, 20/Oct/2026 - 07:08A bombshell dropped on the Friday of the Hungarian round of MotoGP at Balaton Park. The FIM Stewards announced that irregularities had been found during the technical inspection of the engines used by Leopard Racing Moto3 rider Adrian Fernandez in the first six rounds of the season. The seals used to ensure that teams do not touch the engine internals had shown signs of tampering, and after further inspection by experts from both IRTA and Honda showed signs the engine had been stripped and reassembled.
That is a clear breach of the regulations (Article 2.6.3.3), which state that engines must remain sealed and that any parts behind seals may not be replaced or refreshed. As a result, Fernandez was disqualified from the first six rounds of Moto3, where he had used the two engines which had shown signs of tampering. Instead of the 77 points he scored in those first six rounds, he had zero, and so he dropped from third in the championship to 20th.
David Emmett Mon, 19/Oct/2026 - 21:22Should MotoGP travel to the Lusail International Circuit for the Qatar GP? My answer to this is the same as every other year: of course not. Qatar is an authoritarian autocracy with an appalling human rights record, using MotoGP for the purpose of sportswashing its horrendous abuses of migrant workers and non-citizens. It operates the Kafala system, a system akin to indentured servitude, which allows for physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of foreign workers, with exploitation and wage theft rife. There are plenty of questionable places where MotoGP races but probably shouldn't, but Qatar is arguably the worst.
But that wasn't why the question was being asked, of course. When fans ask "should MotoGP race in Qatar" what they mean is "should MotoGP race in Qatar, given the current political situation in the Persian Gulf?" Leaving aside the rampant human rights abuses, the question is really, is it safe to race in Qatar?
The answer to that depends on who you listen to. At Mandalika, MotoGP Group Deputy CEO Carlos Ezpeleta told reporters that as it stands, Qatar would be going ahead as planned. "We're planning towards going to Qatar, but obviously the safety and well-being of all staff and fans is the number one priority, so we'll continue to closely monitor the situation," he said.
Ezpeleta acknowledged that the situation was still fluid. "There could always be unforeseen circumstances, so again, I think we have to work together with the teams and the promoter to make sure that everything is safe and that there's also contingency plans."
A lack of enthusiasm
David Emmett Mon, 19/Oct/2026 - 08:15Championship standings for the World Superbike class after the final race of the 2026 season at Jerez:
David Emmett Sun, 18/Oct/2026 - 14:37 Round Number 12 Year 2026After a season-closing Fani Munoz Flamenco performance on the grid ahead of the last race of the year, with a weekend attendance of 40,824, we say goodbye to Pirelli tyres as World Champion Nicolo Bulega takes them all with him to MotoGP for 2027. Ducati put their factory riders on silver machines for the last race of the year while Bimota had menacing black bikes with a hint of gold. A cloudy 24ºC day didn't promise rain, leading to predictions of a predictable race, but the weather is never that predictable.
Jared Earle Sun, 18/Oct/2026 - 14:13Standings for the World Supersport class after the final race of the 2026 season at Jerez:
David Emmett Sun, 18/Oct/2026 - 13:39 Round Number 12 Year 2026World Superbike standings after the Superpole Race at Jerez:
David Emmett Sun, 18/Oct/2026 - 12:40 Round Number 12 Year 2026The last World Supersport race of the year was a cloudy but dry 24ºC with nothing left to decide beyond third place between Can Oncu, Jeremy Alcoba with an outside chance for Tom Booth-Amos to be decided in this seventeen lap race.
Jared Earle Sun, 18/Oct/2026 - 12:31The last World Superbike Superpole race of the year would determine the grid of the last race of the year. Everyone started the race on the outgoing Pirelli SCX tyre with the SC1 front under a cooler 20ºC sky with weather threatening to make things interesting.
Jared Earle Sun, 18/Oct/2026 - 09:43World Superbike standings after Race 1 at Jerez:
David Emmett Sat, 17/Oct/2026 - 14:53 Round Number 12 Year 2026Championship standings for the World Supersport class after Race 1 at Jerez
David Emmett Sat, 17/Oct/2026 - 14:51 Round Number 12 Year 2026World Superbike ended its season in Andalucia with Ducati liming up in most of the top spots. Yari Montella is aiming to secure the third place in the championship today. The temperature dropped to 25ºC under a grey sky.
Jared Earle Sat, 17/Oct/2026 - 14:07The penultimate World Supersport race of the year and, while the top two places in the championship are decided, third place behind champion Albert Arenas and runner-up Valentin Debise is still up for grabs. Can Oncu, Jaume Masia, Jeremy Alcoba and Tom Booth-Amos are all with a shout at third place, covered by seventeen points. Jaume Masia is missing this weekend through injury while Oli Bayliss has been replaced by Jorge Navarro on the Triumph as Bayliss contests the last round of the British Supersport championship. Cloudy, 27ºC weather greets the riders.
Jared Earle Sat, 17/Oct/2026 - 12:43World Superbike Superpole qualifying was the last of the year, on a warm Spanish morning.
Iker Lecuona opened the session the first to cross the line with a 1'37.492 but Nicolo Bulega was cooking a fast lap further back. Sam Lowes posted a 1'37.492 but shortly after, Bulega set a 1'36.948, almost half a second quicker. Alex Lowes was fourth quickest as riders pitted in for a fresh tyre.
Jared Earle Sat, 17/Oct/2026 - 09:32The top ten on Saturday morning all improved on their times from yesterday in the twenty-two minute session with Alex Lowes quickest ahead of Nicolo Bulega.
Results:
Jared Earle Sat, 17/Oct/2026 - 09:03Albert Arenas took pole position ahead of Jorge Navarro, Can Oncu and Dominique Aegerter with four tenths of a second covering the top four.
Results:
Jared Earle Fri, 16/Oct/2026 - 15:15Even with none of the top eight riders able to improve on their morning's times, the top three in the afternoon's session matched the morning's result, with Nicolo Bulega quicker than Sam Lowes and Iker Lecuona. A red flag in the first half of the session was brought out by Jake Dixon catapulting his Honda over an air fence at turn nine.
Ducati locked out the top six places this session.
Results:
Jared Earle Fri, 16/Oct/2026 - 14:28Matteo Ferrari was quickest on the Ducati ahead of Jorge Navarro on the Triumph as Oli Bayliss's weekend replacement while Bayliss chases a British Supersport championship top three. 2026 World Supersport champion Albert Arenas was third quickest ahead of this afternoon's Superpole session. The top five was covered by just over a quarter of a second.
Results:
Jared Earle Fri, 16/Oct/2026 - 11:50In his last weekend as a World Superbike rider, the newly-crowned champion Nicolo Bulega opened qualifying a quarter of a second ahead of Sam Lowes and at the head of five Ducatis fending off Alex Lowes on the Bimota.
Results:
Jared Earle Fri, 16/Oct/2026 - 11:43
Was this a good weekend for Aprilia? Two bikes in the top four in the sprint race (after two Aprilias crashed out at the start) and then the top four places on Sunday, plus pole position and second on the grid, a new outright pole record, a new lap record, and beating the fastest race duration by 18 seconds. That was a pretty crushing display of superiority.
On the other hand, Jorge Martin entered the Indonesian GP leading Marc Márquez in the championship by just 2 points. Yet after Aprilia crushing the opposition in almost every respect at Mandalika, Martin leaves Indonesia with that lead unchanged. On a weekend when he had a golden opportunity to extend the lead and put pressure on Marc Márquez heading into a couple of the Ducati Lenovo rider's least favorite tracks, Jorge Martin's lead over Marc Marquez remains just 2 points.
David Emmett Tue, 13/Oct/2026 - 21:56The weekend started with a ride out to the circuit led by the home hero Miguel Oliveira. The Portuguese star was born just 30 minutes from the Estoril Circuit and while he had a hat-trick of podiums at Portimao in Round 2 this was a special occassion for the BMW man. Having a corner named after him and being the star attraction for the weekend wasn't enough for Miguel; he enjoyed his best weekend since the Hungarian Round. The circuit was busier this year than previous years, more than 5000 extra tickets were sold in advance of the weekend, but unfortunately for Oliveira it was another weekend of Ducati domination.
David Emmett Mon, 12/Oct/2026 - 20:31Mandalika was a suburb of Noale this weekend, with four Aprilias taking the top four spots on Sunday. And yet Jorge Martin leaves Indonesia with exactly the same 2-point gap over Marc Marquez as he arrived with. So was this a good weekend or a bad weekend for Aprilia and Martin? Neil, David, and Adam discuss this, plus Marco Bezzecchi's pepper pot, Raul Fernandez' broken finger, tyre pressures getting in the way of the racing, Pedro Acosta finishing first non-Aprilia, and Max Quiles getting the job done to take the 2026 Moto3 crown. Plus our winners, losers, and grades for an eventful Indonesian GP.
David Emmett Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 17:24World Superbike standings after Race 2 at Estoril:
David Emmett Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 17:11 Round Number 11 Year 2026World Supersport standings after Race 2 at Estoril:
David Emmett Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 17:09 Round Number 11 Year 2026World Superbike standings after the Superpole race at Estoril:
David Emmett Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 17:07 Round Number 11 Year 2026The Portuguese national anthem was performed ahead of the World Superbike race by Miguel Gameiro of Pólo Norte with a brace of jets flying overhead. After a smattering of rain in the World Supersport race earlier, a hint of unpredictability hung over the grid, and the wind was still present, at 15kmh for the twenty-one lap race.
The recorded attendance was 36,257 over the weekend.
Jared Earle Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 15:11World Supersport has little left to determine beyond personal goals and the third place in the championship, but they still lined up under the grey sky for eighteen laps on a cooler 20ºC windy day.
Jared Earle Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 13:57After spots of rain this morning, light clouds gathered over a windy Estoril in advance of the morning's ten lap Superpole race with the temperature down to 19ºC.
Jared Earle Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 10:361. LeeroyJenkins - 1693 M. Mar - 353 M. Bez - 309 A. Mar - 172 J. Mar - 355 P. Aco - 258 A. Mar - 172 D. Mor - 74
2. nh_painter - 1688 M. Mar - 353 M. Bez - 309 F. Bag - 166 A. Mar - 172 J. Mar - 355 A. Ogu - 259 D. Mor - 74
3. onsight512 - 1636 M. Bez - 309 M. Mar - 353 A. Mar - 172 J. Mar - 355 spongedaddy Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 08:53
MotoGP standings after Mandalika:
Zara Daniela Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 08:21 Round Number 17 Year 2026Results and summary of the MotoGP race at Mandalika:
Zara Daniela Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 08:14Moto2 standings after Mandalika:
Zara Daniela Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 06:28 Round Number 17 Year 2026Results and summary of the Moto2 race at Mandalika:
Zara Daniela Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 06:26Moto3 standings after Mandalika:
Zara Daniela Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 05:12 Round Number 17 Year 2026Results and summary of the Moto3 race at Mandalika:
Zara Daniela Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 05:10- Read more about 2026 Mandalika Moto3 Race Result: That's All Folks
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Results:
Zara Daniela Sun, 11/Oct/2026 - 03:20
As my friend and colleague Neil Morrison pointed out to me after the sprint race at the Mandalika International Circuit, Mandalika is just one of those places where weird things happen. Jorge Martin crashing out of the lead in the sprint race in 2024. Or indeed Jorge Martin crashing out of the lead of the GP in 2023. Marc Márquez' Gresini Ducati catching fire in 2024. Pecco Bagnaia going from winning at Motegi to being dead last in the sprint race in 2025. The first race in 2022, when riders were being peppered with stones from the asphalt tearing up. The organizers calling in a shaman to help chase away the rain that drenched the circuit that year.
David Emmett Sat, 10/Oct/2026 - 21:10
