Phillip Island and the Moto GP Circuit HOT LAPS!!

Whilst we were staying in Melbourne, we wanted to motor down to Phillip Island, just off the south-eastern tip of the Mornington Peninsula.  The island is famous for two things – firstly, the penguin parade (which we have seen on a previous visit) when the little Fairy penguins who have been out in the ocean all day, waddle back up the beaches each evening to their nests;  and secondly….and much more interesting to us “petrol heads”, the Grand Prix circuit where the Moto GP of Australia is held.

No contest…sorry penguins!! 

We wanted to take a guided tour of the circuit, but when we arrived we had just missed the morning tour.   We booked for the early afternoon tour and then left the circuit to have a look around the island for the rest of the morning.

At the far end of Phillip Island is a place known as The Nobbies Centre, which is part of the Phillip Island Nature Parks. Amazingly, over 20,000 Australian Fur Seals live approximately one and a half kilometres offshore on Seal Rocks.  During the early 1800s this seal colony was almost hunted to extinction, with the numbers decimated to just over 100. Today, the seals are a protected species and thrive in this very special place. There are some amazing boarded walkways with terrific views towards Seal Rocks and along the coastline. It was such a beautiful day and the sunshine was sparkling on the deep blue ocean water.

We had a picnic lunch overlooking Shelley’s Beach before making our way back to the Grand Prix circuit for our guided tour. We were very pleased that there were only four of us taking the tour, so we were able to ask all of the questions we wanted! We were taken over to the infield, up the control tower, down the pit lane and briefly onto the track at the start/finish line, so Edward took the opportunity to pose on the pole position spot!

We also visited the corporate facilities which were being prepared for the next round of the World Surperbike Series which were taking place on the next weekend, and, impressively, were allowed onto the podium where the winners receive their trophies!   

**loud cheering**

We discovered that there was an opportunity to take four “hot laps” with Australian racing driver, Garth Rainsbury in his V8 R8 Holden Commodore, around the actual Grand Prix Circuit….and, WE JUST HAD TO DO IT!!

After we had securely fastened our racing crash-helmets and seat belts we set off with such G-force our heads crashed backwards into the headrests! Garth gave us a commentary all the time, explaining what he was doing at each corner….how fast we were going….where the braking points were….where and how to overtake…as well as power-sliding around the corners…all at the same time!! The braking forces were tremendous as we approached some of the corners, and so too was the acceleration out of the corners.

During the first lap, he kept asking us if we were OK….but we egged him on to go faster and faster, whilst hanging on for dear life to the ceiling handles and bracing ourselves for each power slide. He soon got the idea that we were  OK with the speed, so he really let rip.

The braking, acceleration and cornering could only be described as brutal, and afterwards he told us that the tyres on the vehicle are replaced after every 10 “hot lap” sessions as they are worn out!!

He also mentioned after our drive, that he had crashed during races at just about every corner on the circuit!! Gulp!!

Each time we passed the start/finish line there were people cheering us on from the open-top roof of the pit garages!  All too soon, it was time for the cool-down lap, during which time I grabbed a photo of Edward and Garth.

Garth Rainsbury is a really friendly guy who is, as you might expect, very knowledgeable about cars, racing and speed in general. He was very interested to hear that we live only a couple of hours drive from Jerez in Spain….home of the Spanish Moto GP and where the out of season F1 testing takes place. We agreed that if he was ever in Europe, racing…he could come and visit us. We ended up chatting so much that by the time we made our way back to the visitor centre, all the staff had gone home, except for one girl who had to stay behind to let us back in.

We were presented with certificates to say how fast we had travelled during our hot laps..and suddenly it was all over.

This was not a day to forget in a hurry.   Absolutely brilliant – Woohoo!