Rain Cancels Final MotoGP Race at Phillip Island Before Circuit's Farewell

The last Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island has been cancelled because of heavy rain, denying one of the championship's best-loved circuits the send-off it had hoped for. The sold-out crowd on Sunday saw no race, with the Australian Grand Prix set to move to the streets of Adelaide next year.

Organisers first scrapped the Moto2 and Moto3 races. The MotoGP event was then pushed back by two hours before officials abandoned it entirely at 3:40pm local time (04:40 GMT). In a statement, MotoGP said the decision was made because "limited visibility affecting the operation of the medical helicopter" made racing unsafe.

The helicopter matters because, in an emergency, it would need 45 minutes to fly from mainland Melbourne to the seaside track. Dark clouds and pelting rain cut visibility around the circuit and left the aircraft unable to operate reliably.

Fans who stayed through the downpour in raincoats were given a consolation. The MotoGP riders completed a lap behind the safety car, then stopped on the main straight to greet the crowd. They waved as they rolled slowly around the soaked track.

Home favourite Jack Miller tried to lift the mood with a series of tricks, including a stand-up wheelie across the finish line. He then went to the grandstand and tossed his gloves and boots to supporters. Even so, the Pramac Racing rider looked downcast in his interview afterwards. "This is a tough pill to swallow," said the 31-year-old, who leaves MotoGP at the end of the season after more than a decade to join Pata Maxus Yamaha in World Superbike.

Miller said he had been "praying for rain all weekend" as a strong wet-weather performer, but that organisers had not managed to get racing under way. "You guys deserve better," he told the fans, thanking them for turning out in such numbers.

Rain had been forecast for the weekend. Even so, MotoGP did not repeat its 2023 approach at the venue, when the Grand Prix was brought forward to Saturday and the sprint was scheduled for Sunday. That sprint was eventually cancelled as well.

Apart from two years lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the track south of Melbourne had been on the world championship calendar for 30 years. Australian two-time world champion Casey Stoner won there six times in a row from 2007 to 2012, and compatriot Mick Doohan clinched his fifth and final world title with victory in the 1998 race.

The cancellation also affects the title fight. Seven-time champion Marc Marquez lost the chance to extend his lead, though his rival Jorge Martin had already been declared unfit to race after fracturing his wrist. Martin led the standings going into the weekend but now trails Marquez by 10 points following a gruesome crash that ended his Saturday sprint.

On Sunday, Martin's Aprilia team said he would not return to Spain for treatment. That keeps alive the 2024 champion's hopes of racing at next week's Malaysian Grand Prix and staying in the championship battle.