It is that time of year when suitcases are packed with all kinds of clothing for all kinds of weather because MotoGP is heading for the flyaways. Year after year, the championship shuts up shop in Europe for a month and heads east. This leg of special Grands Prix gives us champions, battles, unexpected results, and unpredictable weather. So get your alarm clocks set and coffees lined up for your early morning adrenaline hit.
Phillip Island 2025 gave Justin Marks and the entire Trackhouse squad a dream weekend thanks to Raul Fernandez. Having never stood on a MotoGP podium before, the stars aligned as Fernandez launched from P4 on the grid and hit the front on Lap 5 when Marco Bezzecchi served his double Long Lap. Extending his margin and playing his cards perfectly, Fernandez and Trackhouse were MotoGP winners. Then at Mandalika 2025, rookie Fermin Aldeguer shocked the field, backing up his front-row start and P2 finish in Saturday's Sprint. The #54 showed incredible early race pace, setting the fastest lap before launching an attack on Lap 7 to claim his first MotoGP win.
Looking back further, Phillip Island 2023 brought a tyre-wear thriller for Johann Zarco's first win. Zarco had previously notched 19 podiums, 11 fastest laps, 8 poles, and a total of 91 laps led, but in 2023 he only led one single lap—the one that welcomed him back to the top step for his first premier-class victory. Mandalika 2022 marked the first trip to Indonesia since 1997 on the island of Lombok, bringing a delayed and wet Grand Prix where Miguel Oliveira burst through from the third row of the grid to take a famous wet victory ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco, a feat the Portuguese rider later repeated at Buriram.
At Phillip Island 2016, Marc Marquez had a nightmare, crashing out of the lead at Turn 4. While Valentino Rossi had benefited when Marquez did the same in 2014, Cal Crutchlow was the one in the right place at the right time in 2016 to take a second win of the season. Sepang 2015 delivered one of the most iconic sporting events of all time featuring passing, re-passing, hand gestures, and eventual contact between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez in front of a shocked crowd.
Malaysia's tropical climate and high humidity have also sparked numerous wet races to remember at Sepang. The 2009 event saw Rossi take his final crown in a delayed wet Grand Prix, while in 2012 the rain got heavier until a red flag with five laps to go declared Dani Pedrosa the winner. The 2016 Malaysian round also brought rain and gave Andrea Dovizioso a first win with Ducati. With MotoGP delivering a record-breaking title fight featuring eight race winners and 10 podium finishers, the upcoming flyaways are ready to write the next chapter.
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