As expected, steady rain fell on Phillip Island throughout Sunday morning, so racing was delayed in the hope conditions would clear.

Race organisers stated the problem was not the rain itself. Instead, the poor visibility on both Phillip Island and the nearby city of Melbourne prevented the safe arrival and departure of medical helicopters. 

As the visibility failed to improve, MotoGP’s initial race start time of 14:00 AEDT (UTC+11) was pushed back on two occasions before it was eventually decided to cancel the race. 

The decision was tough considering the Phillip Island Circuit had a sold-out attendance for race day before the Australian Grand Prix moves to Adelaide for 2027. 

Hopeful fans had braved the elements throughout the day and, although the race was cancelled, were still treated to a parade lap late in the afternoon. Bastianini and Viñales joined the rest of the MotoGP grid on their KTM RC16s to show their appreciation.

Red Bull KTM Tech3 will now travel north to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix that starts in five days’ time (30 October - 1 November). 

Enea Bastianini: “I’m a bit disappointed, it’s not nice to leave Phillip Island like this, but we still had the chance to say hello to everybody. I want to say thanks to all the fans for coming here on a day like this, with the rain. This track is iconic, and I really enjoy Turn 3, Stoner Corner, so I will miss this. Overall, the weekend was not so bad. On Friday we pushed well in Practice to go directly into Q2, but yesterday’s Sprint was complicated and qualifying was in the wet. I was looking forward to today for my last race at Phillip Island, but we need to forget this day. Now we go to Sepang, which is one of my favourite tracks, and I hope to find the speed we had on Friday here and fight for something important.”

Maverick Viñales: “This is typical Phillip Island weather, to be honest. At most Grands Prix here we have rain, sun and wind on the same day, and in just two hours the weather can change a lot. It’s a shame, because we all love to ride at Phillip Island. At least the fans saw a good show yesterday. Today we were waiting all day, trying to stay focused, but in the end, safety is the most important thing. At least we did some laps on the bike to wave to the fans, which was also important. I’ve always had very successful races here since the beginning, and I’m going to miss the fast corners. I love riding fast through them, and this is one of the tracks where you can really do that. My weekend was conditioned by the shoulder, because most of the corners here are left-handers with a lot of changes of direction, so I struggled a lot. But I think every weekend I’m getting closer to being in shape, so we don’t give up and we keep working. Sepang has always been a good track for me, with very good memories from some victories. We will try to be precise, especially on Friday, because getting into Q2 will be very important. That is the first goal, so we will push as hard as we can.”

Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “Unfortunately, today we had to cancel the race here at Phillip Island. The weather conditions didn’t allow the medical helicopter to attend the event, and safety is one of our main priorities, so as a consequence all the races here at Phillip Island had to be cancelled. This is obviously really unfortunate, and clearly not the farewell we were all expecting for the last race at Phillip Island. It’s a shame, but it is what it is, and we cannot fight against the weather conditions. I know both our riders are disappointed. When everyone is ready to race, it’s always a strange feeling to cancel, but once again, safety comes first. We would like to thank all the fans over all these years, they have been great in Australia. MotoGP will now carry on its programme, and we will head to Sepang for the next race next week.”