Cartoon farewells MotoGP’s long racing history at Phillip Island

Grown men in leather jackets and steel-capped boots with ZZ Top* style beards were in tears, sobbing uncontrollably at the news. As they dismounted their 10,000cc throbbing V-Twin iron horses* and consoled each other with hugs in their large, tattooed arms, the realisation dawned that this was to be the final MotoGP race at Phillip Island raceway.

The Victorian Government had lost out to South Australia and the race would be moving to Adelaide from 2027, after being held at the island since 1989. (With a brief interruption at Eastern Creek in Sydney for a few years in the 1990s).

Phillip Island is about 120km south east of Melbourne and is famous for several things: its beaches, surfing and its little penguin colonies. Overseas tourists flock to the island in droves at sunset and head down to Summerlands beach to watch the penguins come ashore in their hundreds, where they waddle up the sand dunes looking for their burrows. It resembles Flinders Street station at peak hour.

The other big attraction at the island is the MotoGP at the famous Phillip Island racetrack. The race is part of the World Championship for the premier class of motorcycle road racing and the island circuit is one of the quickest in the world, with a long main straight and big, sweeping, high speed turns.

At this time of the year it looks like the penguin parade but this time it’s motorcycle enthusiasts who are wandering about the sand dunes looking for their tents and campsites.

It is one of the most picturesque racetracks in the world, and the fans love to make the annual pilgrimage from all around the country, a lot of them on two-wheeled transport, to camp at the circuit by the ocean for the four-day event.

Events like this are a great boost for regional economies, and local towns like San Remo and Cowes look forward to hosting the hungry and thirsty motorcycle brigade.

As fans sadly gathered for the final race at the island, it was a chance to look back at some of the fantastic MotoGP races and riders that we have witnessed over the decades. If you have seen footage from the race, you already know it is beyond comprehension. These riders are crazy! Hitting over 300 km/hr down the straight, elbow to elbow, leaning into corners where the bike is literally laying on its side with knees and quite often the rider’s shoulder scraping the ground.

Who could forget the very first race in 1989, when Australia’s own Wayne Gardner on his Honda 500cc won after a neck and neck struggle with American Wayne Rainey on the Yamaha? The crowd went bonkers! Gardner backed up again in 1990.

Australian riders have had much success at their home Grand Prix, with World Champ Gardner winning two, then the legend himself Mick Doohan winning the race three times, and the World Championship five times in a row from 1994-1998. Then there was two time World Champion Casey Stoner in 2007 and 2011 – he looked like a little kid on that big Ducati (which he was!). He won the race an incredible six times in a row from 2007-2012.

Overseas riders loved the track, with one of the greatest of all time, the “Doctor”, Italian Valentino Rossi, a multiple World Champion who holds the record for Phillip Island, taking victory eight times across the 250cc, 500cc and MotoGP. The Italian restaurant Pino’s Trattoria in Cowes, not far from the track, is like a shrine to Rossi, with lots of his racing memorabilia on display.

But all good things must come to an end (and money talks) so the race will be moved to South Australia, a decision made in boardrooms and not by the fans.

The final MotoGP at the island was going to be a big one and it was a sellout. I thought I would pay tribute to the great event with a cartoon saying farewell. It would run in the Sunday paper on the final day.

I wanted to have a rider on a bike that symbolised the history of the race. I love all the livery, being the logos and advertising insignia* that cover the bikes and the riders’ leathers, but instead of advertising, I would have those great Aussie champions’ names: Gardner, Doohan, Stoner as well as Rossi.

The rider had to be on that iconic* 300km/hr plus Gardner Straight* with Bass Strait in the background, and I wanted the fans showing their appreciation and adding a touch of sadness as they waved goodbye. I thought the rider should be pictured from behind, as he gives a final thumbs up then twists the right wrist and blasts off down the track for the last time. I could smell the rubber and racing fuel as I drew it.

In the bottom right hand corner is a little penguin, overcome with grief that the race is moving on. Penguins love MotoGP.

So the stage was set for a great last race. My cartoon was published on race day but we woke on Sunday to heavy clouds and Victoria experiencing a major rain event. The organisers postponed the start due to downpours (motorcycles are tricky in extremely wet conditions as you can probably gather) but in the end they had to cancel the race. The riders did a parade lap for the fans with Aussie Jack Miller doing a mono* down the length of the entire straight … but sadly not a wheel turned in anger that afternoon. It seemed like the motorcycle gods were upset that the race was leaving the island, so they rained tears down all day. Ride on.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• ZZ Top: an American rock band formed in 1969 famous for their long beards
• iron horses: motorbikes
• insignia: a badge or emblem showing membership in an organisation
• iconic: so symbolic it represents the race
• Gardner Straight: the main home straight at the raceway named after Wayne Gardner
• mono: wheelie, riding while balancing on the rear wheel, with the front wheel lifted off the ground

EXTRA READING
Penguin parade turned vax queue
Rams’ FIFO plan a fizzer
MotoGP banished instead of bikies

QUICK QUIZ
1. What are two things Phillip Island is famous for?
2. When was the MotoGP first held at Phillip Island?
3. How did Mark Knight symbolise the history of the race in his cartoon?
4. Why didn’t the race go ahead on its final day as planned?
5. How many times has Casey Stoner won the MotoGP?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What’s it all about?
How would you explain Mark’s cartoon to someone who knows nothing about the sport? Write it!

Time: Spend at least 20 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English

2. Extension
Redraw Mark’s cartoon to show what the penguins might really think about the MotoGP moving away from Phillip Island. Would they really be crying?

Time: Spend at least 30 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Communication Design

VCOP ACTIVITY
Stretch your sentence
Find a “who” in the cartoon – a person or an animal. Write it down.

Add three adjectives to describe them better.

Now add a verb to your list. What are they doing?

Add an adverb about how they are doing the action.

Using all the words listed, create one descriptive sentence.