As Phillip Island prepares to host a record 25th round of the FIM Superbike World Championship next week (February 20-22), there's never been a better time to reflect on why Victoria‰Ûªs Grand Prix circuit is universally admired by riders, teams and fans.
The 4.445km piece of beautifully sculptured bitumen, adjacent to Bass Strait, continues to be a central hub for world championship-level road racing in Australia, hosting the Superbike World Championship and MotoGP rounds every year.
Heroic performances by Aussie champions like Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner at Phillip Island have not only helped them become Australian motorcycling legends, but parts of the venerated track have been named in their honour. Gardner's win in the very first Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in 1989 will probably forever remain etched as the circuit‰Ûªs most memorable hour, while Stoner's run of six consecutive victories is a golden era that's unlikely to be ever matched again.
In world superbike guise, Phillip Island history dates way back to 1990, and since then plenty of Australian riders have tasted victory, led by the Troy Boys - when Wollongong‰Ûªs Troy Corser won seven races over more than a decade and Troy Bayliss bagged six spectacular wins.
Javier Alonso, WSBK Executive Director of DORNA, sums it up simply. ‰ÛÏPhillip Island is a great motorcycle circuit and the teams and riders love going there every year.‰Û
