Casey Stoner “fighting” to get Phillip Island back on MotoGP calendar after Adelaide switch

Casey Stoner says he will fight to get Phillip Island back on the MotoGP calendar after revealing his disappointment at the Australian Grand Prix’s move to Adelaide.

Stoner, who won his home MotoGP race at Phillip Island for six years in succession from 2007-2012, told fellow former Australian MotoGP rider Chris Vermeulen in a YouTube interview previewing this year’s event:

“Everybody goes down to Phillip Island for the weekend. It's not just the racing itself. It's an experience.

“It's a beautiful part of the world, which I only really got to fully experience when we went there [a] few years ago. You look out over the ocean and go, ‘Wow, this place is a bit mind-blowing’. It's a phenomenal part of the world.

"The world's greatest motorcycle track"

“The Aussie [fans] travel a huge distance. In Europe [a MotoGP is] normally a few hours trip on a bike. Whereas in Australia, if you go from Queensland down to there, it's 20 plus hours of riding.

“So the amount of people that all sort of congregate down to Phillip Island to watch that spectacle, around in my opinion the world's greatest motorcycle track is fantastic to see and I love the commitment from them all.”

That prompted Vermeulen to ask how Stoner felt about 2026 being Phillip Island’s final season:

“Disappointment, massively. I honestly never thought that Phillip Island would be taken off the calendar.

“I understand that some things need to change in Phillip Island. It needs a bit of a revamp of the pits and this sort of area. And we need to sort of make the event, a little different, I suppose, to add a bit more of a spruce to it.

“But year after year, it produces some of the greatest racing you'll ever see. And to take that sort of thing off the calendar is very, very surprising for me and to replace it with a street circuit isn't something I really agree with.”

"I'll be fighting to get [Phillip Island] back"

Although MotoGP insists no corners will be cut in terms of run-off for the new Adelaide track, set in parklands, Stoner still has concerns.

“We're pretty forward-spoken about the safety of sport and things that get overlooked for a spectacle. And these guys lives are on the line.

“We don't have four walls around us [like a car]. We don’t have a cockpit. As soon as something goes wrong, you lock a brake, generally you go down and it can get horribly nasty.

“[Or] you get a bit of an oil spill guys don't expect it. Then you've got the wet, which when you hit the ground it’s almost like you speed up, there's nothing to really slow you down. There's plenty to look at in that sort of space.

“For Phillip Island to be off the calendar is just extremely disappointing for me and it's something I'll be fighting to get back on the calendar.”

While Stoner believes electronics and aero have robbed the current riders of the ‘full’ Phillip Island experience, it remains unique.

“They’ve got aero that pushes it onto the ground. They've got all these electronics and everything that basically doesn't let them really experience Phillip Island for what it is. I would love for those [current MotoGP] guys to get the most out of it.

“But considering the tracks that they're riding these days, computer-generated things they just plonk down on a piece of land, without a doubt, they still enjoy this one.

“They still enjoy Mugello, going back to Brno is fantastic... But I think they're definitely going to enjoy something around Phillip Island compared to other circuits.”

Of Stoner’s six consecutive victories at Phillip Island,  the last two are most special.

“2011 is hard to beat," he said. "I had so many things align on that day. To win a championship with my fifth [win] in a row at home, on my birthday. 

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do it against Jorge [Lorenzo] who crashed and missed the race, but the weather threw everything! It was sunny, windy, got cool, started raining… It was pretty unforgettable.”

"The crowd was something I won't ever forget"

Then came a farewell win in 2012.

“That came off the back of damaging my ankle pretty badly in Indianapolis and unfortunately ruining my championship. I'd come back for the races beforehand just to get myself up to speed so that when I hit Phillip Island I could at least have a decent send-off.

“It was pretty tricky to ride, my ankle wasn't doing things it should do… luckily I still had the speed once we got to Phillip Island and managed a good send-off.

“The crowd was something I won't ever forget. The next day, it still took three hours to get off the island. So that was massive for me, and I still appreciate everyone that came down for that last one.”

The final Phillip Island MotoGP is scheduled for October 23-25, with Adelaide set to host its first event on 12-14 November, 2027.