This weekend marks MotoGP’s long-overdue return to the iconic Phillip Island, as the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix returns to the calendar for the first time since 2019 thanks to the COVID pandemic and the southern hemisphere country’s stringent border security controls that kept them isolated for the best part of two full years.
But, with that now hopefully very much in the rearview mirror and the calendar finally back to normal, it means that the series can return to a track that ranks among the top two or three of nearly every single rider on the grid thanks to it’s fast and flowing nature, steep elevation changes and absolutely glorious seaside location right on Australia’s southern coast.
And with a return to the Island now only days away, there’s no better time to look back on some of the most iconic individual performances from the race’s modern history: rides that have as much been a key part of the circuit’s charm as the beautiful Bass Straight scenery and turbulent weather that always shows it’s hand throughout race weekends there.
Not just our contributions but yours too after our social media call-out, there’s plenty to enjoy – and hopefully, this weekend’s return to the Island adds one or two more as well!
1990: Gardner wins despite all the odds
The only race that wasn’t on our list before we asked for suggestions, it’s very telling about the performance delivered by home hero Gardner that it’s also the only 500cc race from the two-stroke era that anyone suggested.
weight and wait of a nation chapeau WG @TheWayneGardner pic.twitter.com/gmqgAl6bxI
— Pauly Fat Boy Smith (@jps057) October 11, 2022
Going into Phillip Island in 1990, Australian motorcycle racing was at its peak, with not one but two absolute superstars in the shape of Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner, with the pair battling for wins and podiums all season long against the might of the latest generation of Americans who dominated the sport in previous years: Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz.
Coming into the race, 1987 champion Gardner hadn’t enjoyed a good season, a distant third behind the two US riders – and hadn’t won a race since the third round of the championship, a very long time in racing terms.
If I remember correctly, he had several injections in his hand for pain (this race is covered by a documentary from ITV, I think). After the race, Doohan asked how he did that and his response was "No idea" or something to that effect.
Otherworldly performance.
— Karl Thomson (@KarlThomson17) October 11, 2022
And the odds were up against him at Phillip Island, too, after a crash left him with a broken wrist that meant he was starting the race only with the benefit of plenty of painkilling injections. It didn’t get any easier when the lights went out, either, after a near-highside damaged the bike and meant that the latter stages of the race saw the fairing hanging half off it.
That didn’t slow him down though, as he hunted down first Rainey and then Doohan, forcing his way past his countryman with only a few laps to go to secure arguably the single-best win of his whole career.
2003: Rossi just goes faster after penalty
Absolutely the most commonly-suggested entry on this list, it’s perhaps no surprise at all that plenty of people have good memories of one of the finest results of Valentino Rossi’s career, with about 20% of all the replies we received referencing that one in particular!
It always seemed in the early part of the 990cc era that the utterly dominant Valentino Rossi had something extra in the bag – and at Phillip Island in 2003, he demonstrated just how much he was a cat playing with the mice by delivering what may be the single strongest race performance of his entire career.
VR46, from the back of the field with 10 seconds penalty. Never seen such a talent show. That race established he's reputation as the GOAT.
— Nimitz (@Nimitz77508534) October 11, 2022
Typically windy and cold (but, crucially, dry after rain earlier in the day) as the riders lined up on the grid, the start of the race saw a six-rider group of Rossi, Marco Melandri, Troy Bayliss, Nicky Hayden, Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau attempt to make a break – until Bayliss hit a white line, still damp from the rain, and went down heavily, bringing out the yellow flags.
On the next lap, Rossi slid past Melandri just as they reached the spot, handing him a 10-second penalty.
At that point, he was already leading and three seconds clear of Bayliss’ Ducati team-mate Capirossi when he got the information on his pit board, the Italian did what he did best: he just went faster.
He eventually extended his lead to over 15 seconds and it meant that even with the time added, he won by five seconds for his 21st consecutive podium.
2006: Marco Melandri drifts to dominance
Sometimes, pictures speak louder than words, and while not many might have remembered this race for its historical significance, plenty of you certainly do remember it for the absolutely spectacular final corner images!
Perhaps the first wide-open season of the new four-stroke era in MotoGP, and still one of the benchmark championship years for the series, by the time Phillip Island came around, the title battle between former team-mates Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden was well and truly underway and an impressive five riders had already stood on the top step of the podium.
There’d also been a change in the rules for the season, though: one that hadn’t come into play until the championship headed to Phillip Island. Starting in dry conditions, the rain started to come down as the rain progressed – and double race winner Marco Melandri was the first man to dive into the pitstops for the first-ever flag-to-flag pitstop.
Launching himself into the second half of the race on wet tyres, he was quickly two seconds faster than anyone else on track, and managed to pull out a whopping 10-second lead over nearest rival and home favourite Chris Vermeulen in second.
That slide… ✌🏻 pic.twitter.com/sxIOMIznal
— Jogi Karl (@Jogi_SlowMo) October 11, 2022
However, what the victory is most remembered for is perhaps not the ride itself but the celebration: an absolutely beautiful two-wheel slide around the gloriously fast final corner with one hand extended above his head in a victory salute!
Sometimes, pictures speak louder than words, and while not many might have remembered this race for its historical significance, plenty of you certainly do remember it for the absolutely spectacular final corner images!
2012: Stoner says goodbye with six in a row
Something wouldn’t be right in the world if the King of Phillip Island, Casey Stoner, hadn’t featured very prominently in the suggestions, and while his six consecutive victories mean there’s plenty to choose from, it’s also clear that there’s one that stands out above all others.
By 2012 and his final race at Phillip Island (having announced his retirement a few months earlier), Casey Stoner had very much stamped his absolute authority on his home race by winning a rather exceptional five races in a row from his very first win in his championship-winning 2007 season.
However, going into his final outing, the prospects of signing off in style seemed somewhat diminished by the fact that he’d been through the wars prior to that, crashing at the Indianapolis Grand Prix and doing such severe damage to the ligaments of his right ankle that he required reconstructive surgery that meant he was forced to sit out the following three races.
Casey, his last Phillip Island race, broken ankle. Epic.
— Sunny Soral (@sunnysoral) October 11, 2022
Determined to make his return at full race fitness for his final home round, he came back two races prior at Motegi – and was able to find his form pretty quickly, finishing fifth before securing a podium spot at the next round in Malaysia.
And from that point on, yet another victory at Phillip Island was basically a foregone conclusion. Starting from pole position and making an escape from title rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa (whose subsequent crash would hand Lorenzo the crown at the end of the race), the Aussie eventually crossed the line 10 seconds ahead of the new world champion to secure the final MotoGP win of his illustrious career.
2015: Marquez shows he has something more in the bag
Perhaps not necessarily remembered because of who won (or how dominantly he did so in the end), the epic racing of 2015 means it lives in plenty of peoples’ memories – something not hurt by the fact that Andrea Iannone also managed to headbutt a very unfortunate seagull in the process.
In 2015 the sport won and delivered one of its best individual performances. What. A. Race. Iannone’s double overtake also deserves a special mention. As does the seagull that gave his life that race, may he rest in peace.
— Shaarleclair16 (@CharleneClair) October 11, 2022
There’s never been any doubt about Marc Marquez’s ability to double down and really deliver the goods when it’s necessary – and that’s exactly what he did in 2015 when he was able to put his head down and deliver a truly spectacular final lap performance that went on to play an absolutely crucial role in setting up a championship finale a few rounds later at Valencia, as well as framing much of his career.
Spending much of the race embroiled in a typical Phillip Island scrap with a bunch of others while his main rival Jorge Lorenzo made his escape, Marquez finally realised what he needed to be doing – and put the hammer down to deliver one of the most incredible last laps ever seen. Starting the lap a second behind the Yamaha rider, he finished it exactly where he needed to be: 0.2s ahead of him.
However, there was more to the race than the result. Accused afterwards by then-championship leader Valentino Rossi of purposely slowing down to disrupt his race and work against him in his fight against his teammate Lorenzo, it directly led to the infamous events of the next round at Sepang – and all the drama that followed both Rossi and Marquez for years afterwards.
2016: Crutchlow makes it two wins in a season
It’s actually a little surprising given our British audience that there wasn’t more love for this win, given that it was historic for multiple reasons – but a few people did remember the manic year when it genuinely seemed like anyone could win a race!
The 2016 MotoGP season was something exceptional, as the championship exploded and saw an incredible nine different winners in a row. One of those wins went to LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow at Brno, becoming the first British rider to win a premier class race in over 35 years in the process.
Cal Crutchlow 2016 ? you did say best 'individual' performance, this has got to be one of the best for an underdog.
— causticky (@causticchris) October 11, 2022
Come Phillip Island, a circuit where the former World Supersport champion was always rapid, he once again looked to be on track for another good result, especially as the dry race start came after a weekend of damp practice that meant that the grid was always set for something of a lottery result.
However, things very much got off to the sort of start that’s usual in tricky conditions: a Marquez rout, as he rode away to a two-second lead with Crutchlow in second.
It’s not often that constant pressure from an opponent is enough to see Marquez falter, though – but that’s exactly what the British racer was able to do, forcing a rare error from the Spaniard as he continued to apply the pressure on him from behind. Come the chequered flag, no one was anywhere near him as he became the first satellite rider in a decade to win two in a season.
2018: Alvaro Bautista gets promoted, nearly podiums
Another ride that’s seemingly gone quite forgotten since, it shouldn’t be the case given that Alvaro Bautista has demonstrated in World Superbikes since just how good he is at Phillip Island – but some of you definitely do remember!
The end of the 2018 MotoGP season was a complicated one for Ducati. Fighting for race wins on a semi-regular basis with both Andrea Dovizioso and the soon-to-depart Jorge Lorenzo, it wasn’t a bad time for the team – at least until a mechanical problem during practice at the Thai Grand Prix saw him spat off the bike and left unfit to ride with ankle injuries.
Yeah i was impressed with Alvaro bautista. I used to see him on the back of the grid and suddenly with newer bike he could fight in the front.
— sagung mas (@Anna87Gek) October 11, 2022
In something of a predicament as MotoGP remained in Asia without much time to find a replacement, it meant a sudden reshuffling of their line-up, as Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista got moved into factory colours for one round only, with Australian Superbike rider ‘Mad’ Mike Jones coming into the Spanish team to in turn replace him.
And the end result was a truly impressive ride from Bautista, set to leave MotoGP for World Superbikes in two races’ time, his promotion showed his talent, as he battled for the podium right until the final lap, only just losing out to temporary team-mate Dovizioso thanks to a last lap mistake.
