Aussies Racing Abroad | August 2026

We have Aussies scattered globally, making us proud fans from OZ. Ed has us covered with his monthly Aussies Racing Abroad International road and off road race news for Aussies...

Aussies Racing Abroad August 2026 | With many Australians showcasing their skills abroad in a range of disciplines both on-track and off-road, our latest column focuses on how they’re faring battling it out with the best in their chosen classes….

On-Track
Jack Miller – MotoGP

Jack Miller enjoyed a productive beginning to his August at Silverstone, as the Prima Pramac Yamaha pilot secured ninth in practice to earn direct passage into Q2, with him feeling comfortable despite the windy conditions.

The Australian backed that up with an encouraging Sprint performance, recovering from a slow opening on the medium rear to produce some of the best late‑race pace in the field on his way to 13th, as this offered the team valuable insight for Sunday.

In the main dance, Miller again took 13th, a result that underlined the current limits he faces when fighting inside the front group. The extra workload required to stay in that pack hurt his tyres in the closing laps, leaving him unable to mount a stronger challenge.

“I gave everything I had today, and unfortunately everything I had was enough for 13th position. Fabio and I were riding together for most of the race, and I think that shows the level we‘re at right now. We tried to fight with the other guys, but you can only do that for a certain amount of time. At a certain point, the extra risk you have to take, whether it‘s braking harder or pushing more in the corners, starts to have an effect towards the second half of the race. That‘s something we need to work on,” Miller reflected.

“The track was a little bit more slippery today, whether because of the temperature or the Moto2 race, and with everyone running the medium rear tyre, it was a long and difficult race. Even though we were all managing the tyres carefully, the drop was still significant, especially over the final seven laps. Now we have another two weeks off, so we‘ll use that time to work on improving a little bit more and come back stronger for the next race.”

 

 

Senna Agius – Moto2

Senna Agius carried his speed straight into the British GP by going second‑fastest on Friday. But following P13 in FP3 and a disrupted Q2, he couldn’t improve his lap and lined up P11 on row four for Sunday’s race.

“Qualifying didn’t go quite as we’d hoped. A few mistakes and some unfortunate moments pushed us back a bit further than we’d expected. But I’m confident that we’ll get off to a good start tomorrow, show good race pace, and put up a good fight,” lamented Agius.

Sunday brought more frustration for the young Australian, with a technical issue hampering him severely. Even so, he fought through all 17 laps to take P20 to farewell Great Britain still third in the championship and fully motivated heading into the next round.

“Unfortunately, we had a technical problem today. That made it difficult to keep going, but I decided not to give up, even though the race was more or less over for me. I just tried to stay in the mix, avoid making mistakes and see what we could still achieve to make the best of it. As I said, I decided not to retire, and I’m proud to have finished the race. The weekend at Silverstone was a bit more difficult. We need to understand the problem and make some changes so it doesn’t happen again and then start fresh at Aragon, where we know we’ll be fast. Still, many thanks to the team,” he recalled.

 

 

Joel Kelso – Moto3

Joel Kelso produced a solid body of work at Silverstone, which began with a handy 10th in qualifying, as he felt he made meaningful progress ahead of Sunday, although he was well aware there was plenty of work to do. “Not ideal first day here. Going through Q1 tomorrow, we know what needs to be fixed up,” Kelso said.

Starting from 10th on the grid, the #66 endured a tough opening and slipped to 17th in the early running. He gradually rebuilt his rhythm, closed the gap to the second group and was in the mix by the halfway mark. Kelso’s persistence paid off as he continued to pick riders off in the dying stages, ultimately crossing the line in sixth to clinch his best result of the season so far at the team’s home GP.

“Overall, not a bad job today. We salvaged a decent result after a little bit of a tricky weekend. I’m so happy to bring home P6 for the team’s home GP, and I’m looking forward to building on this and going into the next one with high motivation,” insisted the Aussie.

 

 

Oli Bayliss – World Supersport/British Supersport

Oli Bayliss delivered another standout weekend for Macadam Triumph Factory Racing at Oulton Park to extend his winning streak to five with a superb double victory aboard the Triumph Street Triple 765 RS. Despite it being his race debut at the circuit, the Australian rapidly found his groove and carried the momentum from his previous round into qualifying, with him taking pole with a lap under the existing record.

Bayliss translated that speed into a hard‑fought Sprint Race win by outduelling Luke Stapleford in a race-long battle to seal the result with a new Supersport lap record. The 22-year-old backed it up on Sunday with another commanding display, reclaiming the lead after Jack Kennedy’s mid‑race challenge and pulling clear to secure his second win of the weekend.

“We’ve had five wins on the trot now with the Macadam Triumph Factory Racing team; a huge thanks to all my sponsors, the team, Triumph, my family, my girlfriend and all the girls and boys involved. We now have Thruxton in two weeks’ time, where hopefully we can have another good weekend. It’ll be my first time there, but I’m feeling comfortable on the bike, so hopefully we can get there with a free mind and get to grips with it quite quickly and continue what we’ve been doing, that’s the main goal,” Bayliss expressed.

Bayliss kept his podium streak going at Thruxton to earn a terrific pair of podiums, as he yet again adapted seamlessly to another new circuit, for he charged through a frantic Sprint Race to take third to get the ball rolling.

A heap of upside could then be extracted from how he converted pole into a fine Sunday showing, staying in the thick of a four‑rider scuffle before a late Safety Car reset things. Making a decisive move for second in the closing laps to secure his second podium of the weekend to leave Thruxton third in the championship and firmly in the hunt, this punctuated an outstanding effort in style.

“Overall it’s been a good weekend. I didn’t really gel with Thruxton from the get-go, but we made good progress over the weekend. I was happy with the third place in the Sprint Race. I tried to manage the tyre throughout and felt like I did a pretty good job with it. As I came out of church on the last lap, I ended up on the left of Luke and couldn’t really squeeze over to the right so I could be on the inside of the chicane, but I had a go and tried to go round the outside. Today, we just missed out on the win. I tried my best to get in a good position to make a pass, but maybe went into Church a bit hot, and that cost me the race, so we finished second. A huge thanks to the Macadam Triumph Factory Racing team and to all my sponsors,” he asserted.

 

 

Off-Road
Jett Lawrence – AMA Pro Motocross

The AMA Pro Motocross 450 title fight is going right down to the wire between brothers Jett and Hunter Lawrence, with just one point separating the star duo heading into the finale at Ironman. Since action resumed at Unadilla, Jett has mixed highs with lows, for he dominated at the famed New York venue to reclaim the series lead after Hunter’s rough outing, but Budds Creek proved a far more difficult test.

Jett Lawrence’s Budds Creek first moto started poorly following a bad jump, and first‑turn contact dropped him deep into the top 20 and briefly outside the points. From there he mounted a determined recovery, charging into the top 15 within the opening 10 minutes and matching the leaders as he worked forward. Past halfway he pushed into the top 10 and kept picking off riders, eventually elevating to fifth to limit the damage.

Although he started the second moto just inside the top 10 after some early chaos, he quickly settled into a measured surge forward. Within five minutes he’d climbed to fourth, then pulled off a sharp move on Mikkel Haarup to take third as the frontrunners set the tone.

As Hunter Lawrence controlled the moto and Jorge Prado gave chase, Jett Lawrence continued reducing the gap. In the closing stages, he reeled Prado in and, on the last lap, used a lapped rider perfectly as a pick to force his way into second to cap a strong fightback in the best conditions of the day.

“It’s going to be exciting [next weekend]. [Hunter and I] have been going back and forth with the red plate. Now it’s one point and winner-take-all at the next one. I need to get better on the starts; those have been terrible. If I can fix that, I think we’ll be in good shape,” noted Jett Lawrence.

 

 

Hunter Lawrence – AMA Pro Motocross

Having relinquished the lead due to a disastrous end to Unadilla, where a nasty crash left him with a DNF in Moto 2 after winning the opener, Hunter Lawrence headed to Budds Creek needing to bounce back and chip into the 10‑point advantage Jett Lawrence held over him. He responded tremendously and duly delivered an exceptional 1‑1 performance to regain the ascendancy by a solitary point heading into the final stanza.

Wasting no time in Moto 1 at Budds Creek, he slipped past Haiden Deegan on the opening lap to take control, having started second. Once out front he generated a comfortable buffer, managed lapped traffic and any late pressure to stretch his ascendancy back out beyond three seconds in the last minutes.

He closed the moto with authority, taking his 11th win of the campaign by 5.6 seconds and lapping up to 11th place to put in exactly the performance he needed in the championship duel.

Hunter Lawrence sealed the day by flexing his muscles with a wire‑to‑wire Moto 2 win, where he grabbed the holeshot, immediately dropped a blistering opening lap and built a 3.4-second lead to control the proceedings.

Even though Prado applied the heat, the #96 replied emphatically by stretching the gap back out to nearly six seconds, in a contest where he hardly put a wheel wrong, as he ended up with another sizeable margin to complete a dominant 1‑1 sweep and make it a dozen moto wins for the season.

“Anything can happen, so I just focused on myself. I tried to get around the first turn the best I could and then just ride my own race. I haven’t felt great all week [physically], so it feels great to get this done,” he commented.

 

 

Kayden Minear – AMA Pro Motocross

Kayden Minear never found his rhythm at a trying Unadilla. After qualifying 10th, he was buried in 17th off the gate in Moto 1 but pushed doggedly to salvage 14th. Moto 2 began far better as he slotted into second behind teammate Cole Davies, yet early battles relegated him to sixth, then ninth, before he ultimately logged 14th again. His 14‑14 left him 15th overall on a challenging day.

“That’s a wrap on Unadilla. I struggled all day, but in the second moto, I made the best of it. I pulled a really good start on the inside gate. The first few laps weren’t too bad, and then other than that, I was just struggling to find a flow around this track. It’s tricky. But we’re going to go back, do some testing and rebound for next weekend,” Minear told the Yamaha website.

Wanting to rebound at Budds Creek, the gifted youngster did precisely that by banking a quality sixth overall in the mud, with 5‑10 moto scores marking a solid return. Departing this one content, expect him to come out swinging at Ironman as he chases sixth in the championship.

“Budds Creek is done and dusted. In the first moto, there were a lot of positives. I put myself in a good position off the start and found a flow. In the second moto, I spun off the gate and struggled to find a rhythm. Overall, there were a lot of positives to take away from the weekend and a great turnaround after struggling the last few rounds,” Minear declared.

 

 

Jake Cannon – EMX250

Jake Cannon kicked off August by rebounding brilliantly in EMX250 Sweden, for he put Saturday’s disappointing spill behind him with an excellent ride in Moto 2. Having ripped a clear holeshot, Cannon settled into third following heavy pressure from teammate Francisco Garcia. Keeping patient, he regrouped and made a key pass to claim second with three to go.

13th in the opening moto limited him to sixth overall for the weekend, but he remains an admirable third in the championship.

“I could turn it around today, but I’m still a little frustrated with myself because I’ve been making a lot of mistakes during the last few rounds, and it’s been beating me up. I’ve been working a lot on my starts the last few weeks, and it paid off today, so I’m really happy with that, but my first few laps were not the best again. I found my rhythm again later in the race to come back to second, so let’s hope I can carry that into next weekend,” he posted.

Switching his focus to Arnhem, and the Aussie dynamo had to grind out a tough moto due to an average start, as he climbed to 15th in what was a demanding bout. Letting his fitness shine through in the final embers as he kept pushing while others faded, how he entered the last lap in 11th before digging deep to make two crucial passes for ninth demonstrated his staying power.

He now heads to the final round in Turkey with a 52-point lead over fourth and needs just a single point to lock down the bronze medal.

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Read our previous Aussies Racing Abroad columns here…

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