MotoGP is preparing for its final appearance at Phillip Island, with the Australian Grand Prix scheduled to move to Adelaide from 2027. Marc Marquez sees the 2026 weekend as an emotional farewell to one of the calendar’s most distinctive venues, a circuit where his record includes both outstanding victories and difficult episodes.

Marquez has collected four wins at Phillip Island. He finished on the podium there with Honda in 2022, then took the 2019 victory after applying pressure that led Maverick Vinales into a last-lap error. His 2024 win came after a poor start and a recovery against Jorge Martin; the race also featured the unusual moment when his rear tyre spun over his own tear-off just after the launch.

The circuit has also produced some of Marquez’s harsher memories. He was involved in a major collision with Johann Zarco on the run to Turn One in 2018, while the 2013 event ended with his disqualification after he waited too long to enter the pits and change motorcycles. Marquez calls the layout unique and breathtaking. He enters the 2026 Australian MotoGP two points behind Jorge Martin in the riders’ standings and recalls Phillip Island as the venue for one of his early Ducati victories.

Francesco Bagnaia, Marquez’s Ducati Lenovo team-mate, is still chasing his first Phillip Island win. The 2022 and 2023 races nevertheless mattered greatly to his title challenges in those seasons. Bagnaia sees a circuit with exceptional character, an extraordinary layout and plenty of adrenaline. His priority is to begin working from Friday and extract the maximum from the Ducati package during MotoGP’s final weekend at the Australian venue.