1994 - The first race of the season in the 500cc World Championship of 1994 was held at the Australian circuit of Eastern Creek. The defending champion, American star Kevin Schwantz (Suzuki), Australian hero Mick Doohan (Honda) and Italian speedster Luca Cadalora (Yamaha) were looking to fight for the title. Meanwhile, in an era dominated by Japanese manufacturers in the 500cc class, one small European firm was also in the mix: Italian brand Cagiva.
The factory owned by the passionate Castiglioni brothers had achieved a 500cc podium with Randy Mamola in 1988, and their first victory had come in 1992 courtesy of four-time 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson. Cagiva wanted to fight for the title and in 1994 that was precisely the aim of American rider John Kocinski (Cagiva). Could the seemingly limitless raw talent of the youngster from Arkansas put him in the fight for victory from the first race of the year and could he finally challenge for the 500cc title against the best Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha riders?
2003 - In the 2003 season the Australian MotoGP™ round was held at the end of the season. With Valentino Rossi (Honda) having mathematically won the title, the Italian had little to prove. However, none of Rossi’s rivals would relent in the fight for victory at Phillip Island, a track thoroughly enjoyed by most riders.
Thigs became more complicated for Rossi when he received a penalty from Race Direction, which would make his race in Australia even more frantic. Furthermore, there was a lot more going on once the race got underway, including a demonstration of Ducati power and a tough battle for third place on the podium.
2015 – The Australian round of the 2015 season came at a critical moment in the fight for the MotoGP™ world title between Valentino Rossi and his Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo. After the Italian increased his lead in the standings to 18 points in the previous race at Motegi (Japan), the superb Phillip Island circuit was to be the scene of what many consider to be the best race ever in the MotoGP™ era, since its inception in 2002.
As the Yamaha riders fought for the title there were plenty of other heavyweight names running at the front in this intriguing battle also involving Marc Marquez (Honda), Andrea Iannone (Ducati), Maverick Viñales (Suzuki) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda). Who would end up winning the best race of all time?