Marco Bezzecchi
Wayne Gardner has hit out at the Victorian government and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation for the cost-cutting errors that have cost Phillip Island its MotoGP race.
MotoGP confirmed on Thursday that the Australian GP will move from the iconic, much-adored Phillip Island to a new city-centre street circuit in Adelaide in 2027. Phillip Island has held the Australian GP since 1997, but its contract with MotoGP expires after the 2026 race.
The Government of South Australia has signed a six-year contract with MotoGP to move the Australian GP to Adelaide, and it has not ruled out pursuing further changes. Adelaide chiefs do not rule out making the Australian GP a night race to better suit MotoGP fans in Europe.
Would you boycott the 2027 Australian Grand Prix after MotoGP confirmed it will be a street race in Adelaide?
Wayne Gardner blames the Victorian government for Phillip Island losing the Australian Grand Prix
A lot of MotoGP fans believe leaving Phillip Island is a “horrible” mistake, given the circuit is one of the best on the calendar. But 1987 500cc world champion Gardner believes the AGP Corp and the Victorian government have themselves to blame for losing the Australian GP.
READ MORE: All to know about the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix, including past winners
Wollongong, New South Wales native Gardner believes the recent “antics” of the Victorian government and the AGP Corp are to blame, having tried to “cut costs” wherever possible. Now, their mistakes have led to the “sad’ news that Phillip Island has lost the Australian GP.
Gardner told ABC Radio: “Everything changed when the new AGP board got in. I could see they started cutting people, and bringing in teenagers to run the events.
“They were trying to cut costs as much as possible, and then [they] came to me and they said, ‘We’re not offering you any money anymore. It’s your mandatory duty to come down and join the event’. I said, ‘But I live in Europe. I have to bring all my family over there. It’s hideously expensive’.
“The main straight is called [the] Gardner Straight, after I had two huge victories there and got the event going. There’s also hospitality units called ‘Gardner hospitality units’, and I don’t get one cent from the government or from the AGP Corp for any of this.
“They’ve got my name everywhere, which is an honour, but you would think they would get me down there to go and talk to people. But they are just abusing my history there, and they don’t want to pay for it.”
Wayne Gardner won the first-ever Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island in 1989
MotoGP is moving the Australian GP to Adelaide’s streets in 2027, so what street tracks do you want to see return?
Phillip Island staged the very first world championship Australian Grand Prix during the 1989 500cc season, which Gardner won for the first of his two premier class victories at home. He also won it in 1990, before Eastern Creek staged the Australian GP for the first time in 1991.
The 500cc championship returned to Phillip Island and made the track near Melbourne the permanent home of the Australian GP in 1997. But the track’s run on the MotoGP calendar is now coming to a close with a farewell event in 2026, before the series moves to Adelaide.
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