Phillip Island: A very good place to start
The challenging high-speed layout of the circuit, all 4.445 picturesque kilometres of it in the state of Victoria, Australia, offers up a real test to even the best WSBK riders. Consequently it is consistently a top three venue in the minds of the racers and the SBK world in general. It has been the scene of 37 individual races in the Superbike class, and this year is scheduled to host another two, on February 28. Not long to wait now.
Close finishes abound at Phillip Island, with some of the narrowest gaps in the class's history coming there. Even when we pick out a year at random the margin of victory can be tiny.
In 1998, for example, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) beat Aaron Slight (Honda) by only 0.071 seconds in the second race of the day.
In 1999, the intense competition between Ducati factory greats Carl Fogarty and Troy Corser saw Corser win race two by only 0.005 seconds.
Last year Haga (Ducati) held off Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) by only 0.032 seconds, after 22 intense laps of race one.
But it is the Supersport World Championship class that we have to turn to get an idea of just how tight and exciting things can be at Phillip Island.
Last year, Kenan Sofuoglu, Andrew Pitt and Anthony West were separated by only 0.153 seconds, while soon-to-be class leaders Cal Crutchlow and Eugene Laverty were only 1.097 and 1.098 seconds, respectively, behind the race winner. You don't often see races that close do you? Well at Phillip Island in Supersport you can and frequently do, because the top five in the previous year's race were covered by less than one second!
Spectacular action and daring passes are the norm at what is a popular opening round of the season. With race lap averages of around 170 Km/h, when the modern norm is more like 150 to 160 Km/h, Phillip Island is certainly fast and fluid. And now it could be on the cusp of another breakthrough.
Can anyone set a 1'30 second lap, and demote Regis Laconi and his current Superbike track best lap of 1'31.050?
