Top 10 fastest MotoGP tracks

IT TAKES more than pure speed to make for a good race track but there’s no denying that there’s a raw appeal to the places where you can see bikes travelling faster than anywhere else.

Sure, there might be immense skill in tackling slow hairpins or awkward chicanes, but the fast, flowing tracks will tend to be favourites among both riders and spectators.

So which are the fastest of all? We’ve sifted the stats of the current crop of MotoGP circuits to bring you the top 10.

10. Sepang, Malaysia

With an average lap speed of 166.5km/h (103.46mph), Marc Marquez’s 2014 pole position qualifying lap just squeezes Sepang onto this list. In terms of out-and-out top speed, its peak of 329.6km/h (204.8mph), set the same year by Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati, is ninth quickest on the calendar.

9. Motegi, Japan

Surprisingly, the average speed at Motegi is identical to Sepang’s – 166.5kmh (103.46mph). That average was set by Jorge Lorenzo on his way to pole position in 2015. The same year, Andrea Iannoni set a record Motegi top speed of 314.3km/h (195.3mph).

8. Brno, Czech Republic

Lorenzo was again responsible for the fastest time ever set at Brno, 169.1km/h (105.07mph), during his pole lap in qualifying last year. The circuit’s overall peak speed is another fairly low one, at 316.4kmh (196.6mph).

7. Losail, Qatar

While most tracks have had recent records for their fastest laps, Qatar’s dates back to 2008, although it was again Lorenzo responsible. He reached an average of exactly 170km/h (105.63mph) on his way to pole position that year. The overall top speed record was achieved this year at an amazing 351.2km/h (218.23mph), and as usual it was one of the Ducatis that achieved it – Andrea Iannone’s in this case.

6. Aragon, Spain

Just half a km/h separates Aragon from Losail, with a fastest average lap speed of 170.5km/h (105.94.mph). It was set in 2014 by Marc Marquez. Unusually, it’s a circuit where Ducati doesn’t hold the outright speed record on the straight. Instead it was Stefan Bradl’s LCR Honda in 2013 that managed the highest peak – 341.6km/h (212.26mph).

5. Assen, Netherlands

It’s a bigger jump to Assen’s fastest average speed of 176.5km/h (109.67mph), set by Valentino Rossi in qualifying last year. While his Yamaha clearly dealt with the circuit best overall, it was a Ducati, as usual, that was fastest on the straight, with Andrea Iannone reaching 319.8km/h (198.71mph).

4. Silverstone, Great Britain

Silverstone has a reputation as one of the fastest circuits in the world, and despite modifications over the years that have added more twists and turns, it’s still one of the quickest. Marc Marquez managed 176.6km/h (109.73mph) as an average on his way to pole last year. Top speeds are surprisingly low, peaking with Iannone (again) at 332.4km/h (206.54mph).

3. Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina

Newly-built tracks are often relatively slow and tight, but that’s not the case with Argentina’s Termas de Rio Hondo. It’s flowing enough to allow Marc Marquez to achieve a record average of 177.1km/h (110.04mph) there during his 2014 pole position lap. Bradl, on the LCR Honda, achieved the top speed-trap pace there the same year, at 334.1km/h (207.6mph).

2. Mugello, Italy

It’s fitting that an Italian rider on an Italian bike holds both the fastest lap and the highest average speed at Mugello, the country’s cathedral to bike racing. It’s not Valentino Rossi but Andrea Iannone that has a clean sweep there, setting an average speed of 177.3km/h (110.17mph) on his pole lap last year and a peak speed of 350.8km/h (217.98mph) on the Ducati at the same event.

1. Phillip Island, Australia

It’s a long way to go but if you want to see the fastest MotoGP laps of all you’ve got to trek to Australia and Phillip Island. The average pole speed set back in 2013 by Jorge Lorenzo was an amazing 182.1km/h (113.15mph). The highest peak speed recorded was near the top of the overall table, too, with Andrea Dovizioso reaching exactly 348km/h (216.24mph) at last year’s event on the Ducati.