Phillip Island is one of the most picturesque circuits on the calendar. It sits, you'll not be surprised to learn, on a small island just South of Melbourne in Southern Australia, which means that it's still enjoying summer conditions while the rest of us (in Europe anyway) are freezing. Unfortunately, of course, the Southern tropics work the same way as the Northern ones do. And that means that the closer you get to the pole, the more dodgy the weather can become. And while there are plenty of lovely sunny days, there's a reason why one of the corners is called Siberia and the marshals wear thermals. It's been suggested, in fact, that when Crowded House sang "Four seasons in one day" they were talking about a race weekend at Phillip Island. Because that's been known to happen.

But you're not really interested in the weather, are you. Phillip Island is one of the last old time circuits in use. What do I mean? Well, it's staggeringly fast and has a very organic feel. Though there have been massive safety improvements, it still has that natural, real feeling of an older circuit rather than the synthetic, artificial and, dare I say, clinical feel of some of the more recently built tracks. The start/finish has a gentle crest in the middle, heading out to a spectacular vista over the Bass Strait toward Tasmania. Not much time for looking, though, as Doohan Corner is a scarily fast entry right hander leading straight into the fourth gear left of the Southern Loop which seems to go on forever. The Bass Straight (I wonder where they got that from) is a short straight that sees the riders flat out in fifth before braking hard for the first gear right of the imaginatively named Turn Four. There's a road leading back into the pits here, and it's one of the places you'll often see people making desperate and very aggressive passing attempts in the later (or early, actually) stages of a race. It's also a favourite falling off spot. Anyway, Turn Five is just a kink right, leading into Siberia, a long fast left hander which itself leads almost straight into another fast left, the track dropping away as it curves right at Turn Eight, The Hayshed. Watch as the bikes try to wheelie off the edge of the track on their way up the hill to Lukey Heights, the blind, massively late apex left hander that drops steeply away and is a very popular place for setting up late braking block passes. And crashes. MG, the right hander at the bottom of the hill, is the usual location for the second part of the block pass set up earlier, while most of the crashes have finished on the grass before getitng here. Then it's slightly uphill and into Turns Eleven and Twelve, a pair of left handers that lead into each other and are a real test of bottle and edge grip as they lead back onto the start/finish and you really need masses of drive to get a good run at the line. It's not uncommon to see some of the more extravert riders coming out of this completely sideways, especially if they have a decent lead and don't have to fight for position. Search YouTube for Marco Melandri powersliding and you'll see what I mean.

So what does Phillip Island have to offer? Well, it's fast, it's atmospheric and I have never, ever been bored watching a race there. Oh, and the wildlife has been known to throw itself at riders as well, with rabbits and seagulls both doing their fair share of damage in the past. Which adds to the variety if nothing else. It's one of my favourite circuits, and not just because it usually marks the start of the season.

If you want to go there you'll find the nearest international airport is Melbourne, IATA code MEL. It's well served by international flights from Europe and the rest of the World, though it does seem more expensive to fly there than to Sydney. Don't think about flying to Sydney and driving down, though, unless you've got a lot of time. Australia is vast and the distances from city to city make that sort of thing impractical. Plus their speed limits are rigorously enforced. There are plenty of reasonable priced hotels in the area, the locals are a friendly lot and because of the distance from everywhere else the circuit is rarely crowded.

SB