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Phillip Island is one of the old school tracks. It wasn't designed with "prime spectator location" in mind, it isn't a Tilke-based safety fest, it's a proper racing track, where proper racing happens and proper racers test themselves. It's a beaut. I'd love to show you an on-board lap, but MotoGP have disabled embedding for their on-board laps. So instead, here's a couple of rewind videos.
That first one includes some of the very best of Dani Pedrosa and Marco Simoncelli, great memories.
Here's a Google map of the circuit.
And yes, that is the sea.
In The News
Our thoughts are with Alex De Angelis, who suffered a big crash at Motegi, and is still in hospital with a cranial bleed, and several broken vertebra. He is stable in intensive care, and has been talking to his family.
As a result of this, the MotoGP riders' council is meeting on Friday to discuss safety at Motegi, as Pol Espargaro also narrowly avoided serious injury after hitting a very close safety barrier in Sunday's race.
Here's a confirmed list of riders for 2016.
MotoGP | ||
---|---|---|
Movistar Yamaha | Jorge Lorenzo | Valentino Rossi |
Repsol Honda | Marc Marquez | Dani Pedrosa |
Ducati | Andrea Dovizioso | Andrea Iannone |
Suzuki | Aleix Espargaro | Maverick Viñales |
Aprilia Gresini | Stefan Bradl | Alvaro Bautista |
Tech 3 Yamaha | Bradley Smith | Pol Espargaro |
LCR Honda | Cal Crutchlow | |
Marc VDS Honda | Tito Rabat | Jack Miller |
Aspar Ducati | Yonny Hernandez | TBA |
Pramac Ducati | Danilo Petrucci | Scott Redding |
Avintia Ducati | Loris Baz | Hector Barbera |
More teams and riders TBC | ||
Moto2 | ||
Sports-Millions-Emwe-SAG | Jesko Raffin | Luis Salom |
Ajo Motorsport | Johann Zarco | |
Forward Racing | Lorenzo Baldassarri | |
Dynavolt Intact GP | Sandro Cortese | Jonas Folger |
Estrella Galicia Marc VDS | Franco Morbidelli | Alex Marquez |
Tech 3 | Xavi Vierge | |
Federal Oil Gresini | Sam Lowes | |
Paginas Amarillas HP40 | Alex Rins | Edgar Pons |
Leopard Racing | Danny Kent | Miguel Oliveira |
More teams and riders TBC | ||
Moto3 | ||
Sky VR46 KTM | Romano Fenati | Andrea Migno |
Nicolo Bulega | ||
Leopard Racing | Fabio Quartararo | Joan Mir |
Andrea Locatelli | ||
Mapfre Mahindra | Francesco Bagnaia | TBA |
TBA | ||
Ongetta-Rivacold | Niccolo Antonelli | TBA |
Red Bull Ajo KTM | Brad Binder | Bo Bendsneyder |
More teams and riders TBC |
Championship Chances
MotoGP can not end this weekend. Even with a Jorge Lorenzo retirement, Rossi could only be 43 points ahead with 50 to play for. The Italian is 18 points ahead, and can finish second to Lorenzo wins in the last three races and still take the title.
Danny Kent CAN win the Moto3 title on Sunday though. He sits 56 points clear of Enea Bastianini, and his far superior win record (six wins to Bastianini's one) means he can finish six points behind the Italian on Sunday and win the world title. So, should Bastianini finish third and Kent sixth, the Brit would take the title. If Kent finishes ahead of him, even by a point, then the trophy is his. Similarly, should Bastianini fail to finish, Kent takes the title.
Bastianini | Kent | Outcome |
---|---|---|
1st | 2nd 3rd+ |
Kent champion Title still open |
2nd | 1st/3rd 4th+ |
Kent champion Title still open |
3rd | 1st/2nd/4th/5th/6th 7th+ |
Kent champion Title still open |
4th | <10th 11th+ |
Kent champion Title still open |
5th | <12th | Kent champion |
6th | <13th | Kent champion |
7th | <14th | Kent champion |
8th | <15th | Kent champion |
9th | DNF/0 points | title still open |
10th+/DNF | Any result | Kent champion |
Last time out
Crashes were the theme of the whole weekend in Motegi. Here's the recap.
Race Times
Another oddly-timed race weekend, good luck if you're attempting to stay up or get up for it.
All Times Given As BST - -5 Hours For EDT | |||
---|---|---|---|
Saturday Qualifying | Sunday Race | ||
MotoGP | Q1 - 05:10-05:25 | Q2 - 05:35-05:50 | 06:00 |
Moto2 | 06:05-06:50 | 04:20 | |
Moto3 | 03:35-04:15 | 03:00 |
We'll have a recap up sometime on Sunday afternoon, work commitments mean I won't be able to watch live.