Phillip Island

The circuit is splendid, laid out in the 1950s to emulate the long and sweeping tracks of Europe. All but a few of them have been shortened, slowed, and otherwise sanitised. Although there are two hairpins, the rest of the 4.448 km (2.764-mile) lap comprises fast and challenging corners, as it sweeps rapidly round the green fields of a farmland site dramatically overlooking the ocean.

The technical difficulties of the track mean that riding skill plays a bigger part in the lap time than outright power, and this in turn leads to very close racing.