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Three to go: MotoGP Round 16 - Phillip Island Preview

The changeable weather of the Australian Grand Prix could throw another spanner in the works for Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, while Danny Kent can take the Moto3 title.

Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images

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.