The Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island was cancelled last Sunday after heavy rain reduced visibility and made it impossible for the medical helicopter to fly safely. The riders still completed a parade lap behind the safety car as a farewell to the fans, but there was no race to follow.

The event is expected to move to Adelaide next season, leaving Raul Fernandez as the final Australian Grand Prix winner at Phillip Island after his 2025 victory. The Trackhouse Aprilia rider interpreted the weather as something more than a sporting inconvenience. Fernandez said the circuit appeared to be asking MotoGP not to leave and to return in the future. In his view, a track of Phillip Island’s stature deserved a proper racing finale rather than a procession behind the safety car.

Fernandez had already withdrawn from the Grand Prix because of an injury suffered a few weeks earlier in Indonesia. He raced through it at Mandalika and finished second, but Phillip Island’s fast layout and repeated direction changes proved even harder to manage. Fernandez qualified sixth in the wet, then pulled out of the sprint before withdrawing from the Grand Prix. He explained that the circuit forced him to alter his riding style so extensively that he could no longer deal with the changes of direction. Aprilia could therefore line up at Sepang with only 50% of its rider line-up, while Jorge Martin’s participation remains uncertain after a wrist injury.