Phillip Island had long been on the line to continue hosting the Australian GP. Despite being one of the most spectacular tracks in the championship, there are several factors that have complicated its survival. And, finally, the threat of losing the Australian GP once the current contract ended has become a reality.
Starting next season, Adelaide will not be Phillip Island but will be the venue for the GP. And this decision, announced by MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group), the name that Dorna Sports has become after the latest business movements), has generated different opinions and many doubts.
At the moment, most of the talk about the new home of the Australian GP has more to do with losing a track as special and different as Phillip Island, which always has great races in store but has notable drawbacks. In reality, the points against have more to do with the promoter than with the track itself, and that is that the bad weather (it is run in early spring), the location of the track far from large cities and the lack of public for both reasons, have served as arguments for the move.
Stoner and Gardner the most critical of the change of venue for the Australian GP
Casey Stoner and Wayne Gardner, two of Australia’s three most important drivers of the last three decades, have disagreed. Without mentioning Adelaide, Casey was critical and asked a question: “Why would MotoGP remove perhaps its best circuit from the calendar? Let everyone draw their own conclusions.”
While Gardner did not bite his tongue, he left MotoGP aside and charged directly against the local government: “I just heard the news and the truth is that it doesn’t surprise me. This has been brewing for years.” To add: “I’m a little sad and disappointed but I’m not surprised by the antics of the Victorian Government and AGP Corp.”
Valentino Rossi was not enthusiastic about the possibility either, although he did not comment on the accomplished facts, when asked: «It’s a fantastic track. I hope they continue racing at Phillip Island.”
The active MotoGP riders, however, have all been quite convinced, at least publicly. All of them assume that security is going to be the organization’s priority. Jack Miller, who was at the event, summed it up like this: “There will be no concrete barrier or airfence within a distance that we can touch. I completely trust Carlos and his calculations.”
Also, in this case through X, Aleix Espargaró expressed his opinion on the matter, recalling that Phillip Island is also one of the most dangerous routes on the calendar. The Catalan was analyzing a tweet from Alex Hofmann who also looked in a more open way at the possibilities and security that the Adelaide route may have.
Finally someone with common sense and an open mind, who actually analyzes things instead of criticizing for stepping away from (yes, very fun) one of the most dangerous circuits on the calendar! Can’t wait to know more about this new chapter for MotoGP! ✊ https://t.co/03hGocIIuc
— Aleix Espargaró (@AleixEspargaro) February 19, 2026
In any case, there is no doubt that MotoGP is going to get closer to the city and that can change the rules of the game. Security must be the maximum but, unfortunately, we have already seen on different occasions in recent years how it has not always been the priority, and hence doubts are on the table. That is why we cannot blame the skepticism with which many have received the news although, at the end of the day, it will be the pilots who risk their lives. If it’s okay with them, who are the rest of us to judge?
