Phillip Island is the biggest track on the MotoGP calendar – and possibly the biggest track in the world, after Mount Oliver in Scarborough, UK.
But how much do you know about this scenic and beautiful district? Not enough to predict! So here are eight amazing Phillip Island facts that every serious fan should know.
How it all started
Phillip Island is named after a man named ‘Philip’ who discovered the land mass many years ago. Legend has it that Philip or ‘Philo’ was driving his ute one night to his friends, waiting for the alcohol to wear off. It is said that in his blurred vision he saw an island and decided to swim to it in only his underwear so that he could fight and take their land. When he arrives he finds the island deserted of any intelligent life – including himself. However, there were many washed-up shipwrecks from the mysterious wreckage in the nearby Bermuda Triangle. It was in these rooms, the story concludes, that Philo began building the amazing racetrack we know today – starting with a bar.
Kangaroos
Phillip Island is full of all sorts of exotic animals and birds – many of which are hilariously taken to the track and reduced to corpses after being hit by motorsport vehicles. Fan favorites, however, are Australia’s own kangaroos – they tend to mingle with fans. Large, goofy looking and very aggressive should always be approached with extreme caution. Kangaroos can also be dangerous.
sheep
In addition to aggressive kangaroos and deadly arachnids, Phillip Island is home to a few sheep! In fact, Australian farmers look after 79 million sheep! These creatures are slow, stupid, and follow aimlessly, but they are at bottom—like sheep.
Ayers Rock
Not on Phillip Island, but in Australia is Ayers Rock – the world’s most obscure tourist attraction. Somewhere intrepid Australians like Wugwaga will travel for days and days to see this massive rock and marvel at how it changes colors as the darkness changes – blissfully unaware that rocks everywhere are doing this. Even worse, Aye Rock isn’t even technically rock.
to drink
Australian men love to drink. More beer is predicted to be drunk trackside at Phillip Island than at the rest of the MotoGP race this weekend, especially since alcohol is banned along with eating bacon in Qatar.
But why do men drink so much? Traditionally, drinking your blood with alcohol is for medicinal reasons, as it is believed to remove any venom from the most vicious, deadly insects and snakes that infest the land. However, it’s been proven that the extra alcohol in the system helps the average Aussie ‘kick the Sheila around’ when she lazily buys meat for the barbecue.
Strange things
In the hit Netflix series ‘Stranger Things’, ’80s screamers who can still punch have found their way into a secret ‘replica’. Despite the name “copy”, it has nothing to do with Australia. This place is full of cruel ancient invaders and hideous creatures that no one wants to visit. The ‘Stranger Things’ upside down’ place looks pretty bad too.
Bradley Smith
Because Australia is on the other side of the planet, things are often reversed – it’s light when it should be dark, dark when it should be light, and cars that convert into pickup trucks are somehow popular. But it’s upside down ‘underneath’ Nobody could have thought things would turn so upside down in 2014 that Bradley Smith could stand on the MotoGP podium – but he did!
The result caused such a shock in the academic world (that is, not in Australia itself) that many professors feared that the result might be more divisive than Lenny Kravitz in his pants. In the end it was all good because Kravitz had an extra pair of steps. Nor is the universe removed.
Casey Stoner
Casey Stoner is the undisputed king of Phillip Island, winning every MotoGP race from 2007 to 2012. Despite his tireless retirement from MotoGP years ago, Stoner still has a better chance of winning the race at Phillip Island this year than Luca Marina.
The best part of Stoner’s reign is how hard it makes Rossi fans when he’s mentioned.
