Retired MotoGP champion Casey Stoner has declared he will “fight” to secure Phillip Island’s return to the Australian Grand Prix schedule, despite plans to move the event to Adelaide from 2027.
Phillip Island is widely regarded as the race’s spiritual home. With the exception of COVID‑19 disruptions and the six meetings held at Eastern Creek in the 1990s, the Victorian circuit has hosted the Australian GP every year since 1989.
However, this year’s Australian GP – just two weeks away – is expected to be the last staged at Phillip Island for the foreseeable future. MotoGP has already added a new Adelaide street circuit to the 2027 calendar, and many believe the track’s days as a MotoGP venue are numbered.
Stoner, an Australian hero who claimed six consecutive victories at the venue from 2007 to 2012, says he will not accept that outcome without a contest.
In a promotional YouTube video with former MotoGP rider Chris Vermeulen, the double world champion said: “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.”
Casey Stoner leads Nicky Hayden on his way to Australian GP glory in 2008
Photo by: Ducati Corse
Stoner acknowledged that the ‘old‑school’ circuit, located some distance from Melbourne, could benefit from upgrades, but he does not believe that justifies abandoning it in favour of a move to South Australia’s capital.
“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 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.”
The exact method by which Stoner could engineer a return to the track remains unclear, but he is not the first MotoGP star to discuss influencing the calendar. Fellow rider Toprak Razgatlioglu said at the Austrian Grand Prix that he is pushing for Turkey to be re‑included on the schedule.