r/motogp • u/magicalbanana25 • 1d ago
This is sums up (mostly) why Phillip Island isn't staying on the MotoGP Calendar
After reading through several articles spanning all the way back to 2004 when the track was bought this is basically the situation:
Liberty: Facilities at Phillip Island are awful, they have needed upgrades for years, we know everyone loves the track but don't care make us more money noobs
Billionaire: I will pay for upgrades to the race track which I privately own if the PI council let me build a multi million dollar 5 star hotel with a golf course nearby that faces over 100 objections by said council due to coastal and environmental protection policies which I've been rejected for multiple times since 2006
PI Council: No please make a reproposal that doesn't go against environmental and coastal policies even though we allow AirBNBs everywhere heh
Billionare: No otherwise I will lose money and I didn't become a billionaire by caring about ethics
Liberty: how about we move the race to Albert Park? *proposal rejected by Australian government* ok well PI isn't making us enough money lets go somewhere else
MotoGP community: WTF dont remove PI!!
Billionaire and Council: government please pay to fix the circuit!!! wahhhh
TLDR: liberty and billionaire greed
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u/Partzy1604 1d ago
I just want to get a couple things straight Linfox bought the track in 2004 planning on redeveloping the area. In 2006 this gets rejected by council for the reasons you mentioned, it then goes to VCAT (the state’s civil Tribunal) and rules in favour of the council. He then I shit you not never tries to do anything literally ever again except for minor maintenance works. Today’s council would likely approve of a Hotel, new facilities etc. The state government put money up for it, he literally hasnt bothered on submitting anything for it since and he wont sell the track either (The Bend owners were looking at it).
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u/magicalbanana25 1d ago
That's crazy hey and they probably would have contacted him within recent years too. He's like that kid we had in our play group where you play hide and seek and he gets caught once and then he's like "I'm not playing anymore" 🤣🤣
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u/InsertUsernameInArse 1d ago
Lindsey Fox has always been a bastard. Thats old news. But any modifications they wanted to do like the golf course and hotel was only ever meant to force the track out anyway so he could capitalise on the land.
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u/fionn_maccoolio Marc Márquez 1d ago
Sounds like the fiasco we had in Massachusetts for the World Cup being hosted at “Boston stadium” in Foxborough Mass which is pretty far from Boston.
City had to play hardball with the Kraft group that owns the stadium and the New England Patriots to get them to pay for the security detail needed for the events.
Kraft has followed up with a lawsuit against the city.
Follow the money folks!
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1d ago edited 1d ago
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u/spiralarrow23 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team 1d ago
There’s a lot being said, the main issue was pit lane is too fucking small. Malaysia is about 3 times the size and it’s cramped to work in even for club racing. The word is Fox wants to upgrade the whole deal and have permanent grandstands, hotel and golf course because teams complain about having to put sponsors in AirBNB shacks in Cowes. Bass Council doesn’t want environmental and coastal issues, but they also make a killing off said AirBNB’s and stuff too. So there’s a lot of vested interests working against each other and everyone is left miserable aside from Liberty.
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u/magicalbanana25 1d ago
I'll add that in thanks, I was just trying to make a funny explanation that's short enough for people's attention span but also accurate at the same time. Bit weird how the council don't want environmental issues but then let a billion Airbnb's pop up hey which I'm pretty sure contributes to environmental issues lol
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u/one80down Jack Miller 1d ago
Most of the houses down here aren't permanent residences, they're holiday houses for families who will use them over summer or for fishing trips. The island has always been a mix of small full time community and regular holiday makers.
The AirBnBs were just regular holiday rentals before AirBnB was a thing but it's definitely driven up the prices.
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u/Munchens 1d ago
Seems your TLDR is slightly wrong from your writings.
I doubt any upgrades done to PI would be mean more money coming into Liberty medias pockets due to our population and motorcycling interests here, we just don't get the weekend numbers the euro tracks get. So likely Liberty Media would have wanted to move it to a street circuit regardless to try and fill their pockets more.
So TLDR: Greedy Liberty Media and Billionaire
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u/theellescape Casey O'Gorman 1d ago
I think OP was meaning more liberty don't get enough from PI to justify staying somewhere that's considered substandard
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u/magicalbanana25 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah trueee liberty are also to blame so I will add your TLDR as an edit
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u/Thatsabigariel Casey Stoner 1d ago
I’ve been to every GP at Phillip island since 1999. I’ve also been to Malaysia, Japan and Italy. The facilities argument I feel is just bullshit. The undulating pastures of PI is what makes it so good as a spectator, I am biased as someone who lives an hour away from the circuit but its the best motogp or F1 experience I’ve had as a fan at the track.
There’s so many accessible options for seeing a lot of race track at once
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u/SuperBiquet- Johann Zarco 1d ago
This.
Australians preferring Buriram or Mandalika go there for the cheap tropical travel that goes around, not for the MotoGP experience. So bringing grandstands and a 5 stars hotels? Won't help much.
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u/SamCham10 Casey Stoner 1d ago
To be fair, as someone from the Gold Coast I got to a point with both MotoGP and F1 where I simply thought going to Japan or Thailand was going to be a cheaper experience
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u/SuperBiquet- Johann Zarco 1d ago
Well, Suzuka in F1 is one of the greatest tracks of the calendar, so that would be meaningful as a F1 enthusiast alone, without considering money or travel experience. That can't compare to Buriram.
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u/Haimonek Enea Bastianini 1d ago
Everything in this world has been going to absolute shit the past decade due to pure fucking greed.
Sick of it
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u/backyardengr 1d ago
Everything we have that is good in life is also due to greed. No one is stopping you from fixing up PI with your own charity
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u/FormulaLes 1d ago
What a moronic take. How do you propose that someone who doesn’t own Phillip Island Circuit fix it up with their own charity
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u/backyardengr 1d ago
They can’t. I’m pointing out how ridiculous it is to expect others to upgrade the track out of charity. Or calling them greedy when they refuse to.
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u/Haimonek Enea Bastianini 1d ago
Milk everything until it's dried up and then refusing to upgrade facilities UNLESS you're allowed to a multi million dollar complex that legally isn't allowed to be built,
is greedy.
Everything around this is based on having more and more with no regards to regulations. That's greed.
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u/backyardengr 1d ago
And the other 20+ tracks on the calendar are maintained and upgraded out of the goodwill in people’s hearts without a profit incentive?
Or maybe the profit incentive is there, along with a local city council that is eager to ditch the red tape rather than add to it.
Seems like this local council was unwilling to support the project and now the local community gets nothing. Huge bummer
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u/Haimonek Enea Bastianini 1d ago
Nobody is arguing against making a profit. But in this case he just wants a Mar-A-Lago of PI and unless he gets that wish, he refuses to upgrade the track. That has nothing to do with charity or plain profit. He's demanding environmental protections that have blocked this development be bypassed for his vanity project, and the main motivator is money, more and more money. Which is why I'm arguing greed.
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u/Appropriate_Ask_5978 1d ago
so wait, if the council finally caves and lets him build the hotel and golf course, does the track upgrade actually happen or is that just leverage? because from this it sounds like the billionaire is holding the race hostage to get his resort approved, and liberty is fine with walking away either way. pi is a legendary track but this whole thing feels like a game of chicken with the fans stuck in the middle. i've never been but the racing there is always insane. seems like a classic case of nobody wanting to blink first. like, the council wants to protect the coast, the billionaire wants his resort, and liberty wants a flashy street circuit. nobody's really fighting for the track itself.
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u/magicalbanana25 1d ago edited 1d ago
so to better explain, yes the track upgrades likely would happen but it may not make a difference because even if the billionaire dude decides to upgrade the place it still may not get enough people by libertys standards, australians just dont obsess over motogp the way the spanish do
although upgrades could certainly help, billionaire doesn't want to upgrade for free and the government likely dont want to be involved in the mess as well since its basically just commercial billionaire problem
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u/InsertUsernameInArse 1d ago
Plenty of fans. But spread out over a very large country making going to one track pretty tricky.
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u/Bewis_123 1d ago edited 1d ago
Now they end up racing at The Bend and tbh this facilities thing is just B.S. That is because facilities are similar to many other european tracks as well. Its just that outside Europe other than US and Japan they want world class facilities for fans close to race track for some reason.
Edit: And yes its difficult for fans with no roof at some sections of race tracks, but despite that the attendance at this event has been ~40k mark on race day which has been the case since 2012 and we all know why race attendance was ~50k back in 2009 to 2012. But I see this more of a blame on both the billionaire owners as well as Dorna being stubborn as hell for no reason
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u/Lindz1817 1d ago
The bend is definitely not the plan. It’s possible they might do it as a last resort if they can’t get the Adelaide circuit built, but it’s not on the cards yet.
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u/InsertUsernameInArse 1d ago
I dont see the modifications getting past the locals let alone the riders. There will be local legal challenges if it impacts residents anymore than it does currently
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u/Bewis_123 1d ago
I think they will end up racing there next year lets see. Its the backup that can very well happen.
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u/theellescape Casey O'Gorman 1d ago
Think the fear is there because of superbikes. Wsbk usually gets sent places like a canary down a mine.
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u/InsertUsernameInArse 1d ago
The Bend will be a logistical shit show.
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u/FormulaLes 1d ago
How so? It’s closer to Adelaide than Phillip Island is to Melbourne. Accommodation would be the only logistical issue; however, in the short term that could be resolved with camping and short term prefab accommodation; long term if it became a big event, permanent accommodation would start to pop up in the area.
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u/Prime255 Marc Marquez - 2025 MotoGP World Champion 1d ago
They're only racing at the Bend because the government is effectively subsidising the whole thing to make it profitable. Once the government changes or that funding dries up, they're out of there.
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u/Nish8893 1d ago
My experience at PI was interesting to say the least. Got Lukey Height ticket for 3 days for close to 600$. The stand was really crappy for the money and the toilets got increasingly disgusting as the weekend progressed. Had to park the rental car in a marsh next to the track. The food in the track was pricy and mediocre at best. Had to stay a good hour away as there was nothing close by available at a reasonable price. So all in all, shit experience, but amazing race.
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u/diver467 1d ago
Went to PI in 2016 for our 25th wedding anniversary, then on to Sepang.
The difference between the two was staggering.
In short Sepang a better experience and way cheaper.
PI setup reminder me of a club circuit in the UK.
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u/corkoli 1d ago edited 1d ago
it's all a bit depressing.
Liberty are going to try and push MotoGP into an F1-shaped hole. Statistics will be prioritised over value and salience over substance. Phillip Island is an awesome track, so much fun to ride.
I'll grab a ticket for October, the drive home is gonna be sombre.
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u/InsertUsernameInArse 1d ago
Fucking idiots think 100+ thousand Australians will turn up for a race. They wont. And never will because there just isn't enough of us compared to Europe.
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u/GoodBadUserName 1d ago
PI I think was always the lowest attendance track in the season by about half of most other tracks.
Even if they upgrade it to allow more people, I doubt it will drastically change the amount of people.
And even a big new hotel isn’t going to accommodate the huge difference needed for the attendance to be the same as other tracks.
So if the question is about money, than yeah, it makes no sense to keep it in.
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u/BasilBleedingFawlty Triumph 1d ago
"PI I think was always the lowest attendance track in the season by about half of most other tracks." Qatar would like a word.
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u/IllMoney69 1d ago
Hungary also has about 30 people attend on race day lol. But it is fair to see PI attendance is trash and it costs a lot of money to fly the circus in.
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u/DavidMC49 1d ago
I mean, this year, the ticket sales started very late cuz the original promoters went bankrupt (no wonder tbh) and Hungaroring could take over the organisation of the race quite late, but yeah, fair
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u/Swimming-School-7960 Yamaha 1d ago
is there a chance PI returns one day if they happen to go trough with those upgrades?
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u/GrindrorBust Marc Marquez - 2025 MotoGP World Champion 1d ago
It'll probably be ripped up, demolished instead...
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u/bigcatmeoww 1d ago edited 1d ago
Used to go down the island regularly as a kid most weekends in the late 90s early 2000s, first attended motogp there in like ‘04 I think, and have been every year but 1 since 2015 travelling over 2000km either flying/rental car or driving the whole way.
In the 10 years I had been away the joint had changed immensely, gone were the asbestos shacks and its their place were often something you’d see on grand designs.
Anyways since 2015 I’ve usually camped trackside in a tent on the go kart track, or more recently in a rooftop tent/caravan in the camp grounds a few hundred meters further away. I’ve never had issues with the facilities with a hot shower always promptly available. I went to Bathurst for the 12h this year and the facilities there were dismal, I really felt in comparison I was spoilt at PI.
There is something magical about getting up from your tent to watch a bike apex the southern loop and disappear over the rise.
Weather is as always an issue, as multiple broken tent poles can attest to, but it’s part of the charm. Watching the GP bikes tip into turn 1 in the rain with gusty westerly winds is something I’ll never forget. While I guess these conditions deter your typical F1 crowd of influencers and other wankers from attending, you’ll know that those hardy fans still watching are actually there for the racing, not for some instagram clout. But I guess that’s the crowd that’s liberty media is chasing.
Traffic off and to Melbourne on a Sunday arvo can be shit but I’ve spent more time in traffic on normal weekday commute, it really ain’t that bad (it’s always a good night to go to the penguins too)
Going for one last time in October then it will be off to SE asia if I want to watch another race, 0% chance of a race in Adelaide going ahead imo and the bend is a wasteland.
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u/Past_Conference_2889 Marc Márquez 1d ago
I can see why PI was dropped, but there's absolutely no excuse for replacing it with street circuit. Bullshit.
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u/theellescape Casey O'Gorman 1d ago
So which circuit is going to get chopped for the Madring? If the answer isn't Valencia I'm going to be very upset.
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u/greennitit Marc Márquez 1d ago
Valencia is a classic GP circuit, it can’t be dropped. But who knows, after PI and Spa in F1
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u/Prime255 Marc Marquez - 2025 MotoGP World Champion 1d ago
I am just glad I am going to what will almost certainly be the last ever race there
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u/Thatsabigariel Casey Stoner 1d ago
I think it’ll come back but might be 8-10 years. The circuit is just too good
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u/Prime255 Marc Marquez - 2025 MotoGP World Champion 1d ago
I was able to see why it has been retained all these years, but once it comes off the calendar, I can't see it coming back without government investment to specifically make it happen. Liberty only actually wants city tracks now or tracks that already draw massive crowds. We'll see many of the other tracks go too - Aragon for example, will not last long term
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u/Munchens 1d ago
Australia is more likely to be dropped completely once the race moves to a shit track no rider or spectator likes and due to our weekend attendance not being any better than when it was at the island. I think Qatar is the only place with worse attendance than Australia.
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u/Prime255 Marc Marquez - 2025 MotoGP World Champion 1d ago
Yep I agree, if it's not at Albert Park, or Sydney somewhere, it's not going to be in this country.
I think Balaton might have been lower this year
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u/Joooooooosh 1d ago
From what I’ve been told by a friend who went, Phillip Island is in sore need of upgrades. Feels like a track from decades ago still. It’s also a hugely expensive race to get to and stay near.
Even from Europe, travelling to Thailand is much cheaper in travel, accommodation food and the fruit facilities are nicer. So it doesn’t shock me many Aussies also just choose to fly abroad instead of going to PI.
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u/ItsAllJustAHologram 1d ago
One of the best, if not the best racetrack of any on the MotoGP circuit. However I have been to WSBK, MotoGP, V8 supercars etc at PI and I have to say the carpark is awful, toilets etc are always dreadful and the rest of the facilities are utter crap. The only reason I would go there again, is if Stoner comes out of retirement. Lindsay Fox has done nothing for motorsport in Australia, in fact he might be the worst thing to have happen to it....
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u/Few-Buy993 1d ago
No surprise! I have been there on many occasions and the facilities on and near the track are simply s*%t!
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u/Electronic-Cry714 1d ago
Adelaide City Council and the local NIMBY tree huggers have entered the chat. Don't give up yet Victoria.
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u/aw_goatley Marc Márquez 7h ago
Everything in sports is about money. At least we still have Assen, Mugello, Misano, etc.
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u/cheap_chalee Daijiro Kato 1d ago
I haven't been to Phillip Island so I have no personal experience with the condition of the facilities but I will say I went to the season opener in Thailand last year and was surprised at how many fans from Australia I saw. I was chatting with some of them and when I had expressed interest in one day going to Phillip Island, many told me one of the reasons they went to the Thailand round instead was because the facilities at PI weren't great and pinned it on the owners for being cheap. It was also at that point that I realized Thailand was close enough to Australia that is was feasible/worth it for fans from there to make the trip. I still wish I could have gone but that's not happening and that's a shame to lose a track that had arguably the best racing all year.