My Favourite Street Circuits in the World

Scott McLaughlin’s scary crash exemplified motorsport safety last week, when his car was all but destroyed but he was unharmed by a 43g impact and rollover. The Gold Coast is one of Australia’s most loved street tracks, but what are some of the top street tracks in the world? Well, I’ll be rating them most likely in a future episode of Saturday Top 10s but in this list I’ll talk about my favourites.

Adelaide (Australia)

This list features both the first and last track on the Supercars calendar. Adelaide, the ex-F1 track as well, is an action-packed track with two excellent overtaking opportunities (Turn 4 and Turn 9), a action zone in Turn 8 and some bumps and slower bends as well. While the circuit is open just once a year following the collapse of the Adelaide Revival, it’s worth a visit as the Supercars, Super2, TCM and other series kick off there in March as well as a guest appearance of Stadium Super Trucks.

Newcastle (Australia)

Newcastle has proven to be an excellent addition to the Supercars calendar. With a long straight into Turn 2, a right-left sequence that is more open to overtaking than in most other similar sequences and a opportunity under brakes at the hairpin, the icing on the cake is that it’s the season finale. The drama was evident in 2017 when on debut, Scott McLaughlin won and ran out of fuel, all but sealing the championship, on Saturday. He then sped in pit lane, spun Simona de Silvestro and on the second-to-final lap, put Craig Lowndes in the barriers to earn his third penalty of the race and lose the title.

Long Beach (USA)

Long Beach is a perennial favourite not just in real life, where it is a mainstay feature of the

IMSA series and the Indycar series, but also in Forza where it’s renowned for launching cars from the roundabout. The circuit features several overtaking opportunities plus the slowest corner in America in the final hairpin.

Monaco (MON)

Monaco is the grand old lady of the F1 calendar. There are scant few overtaking opportunities but there are some world-renowned corners- Sainte-Devote, Rascasse, Portier, Mirabeau, the pool… all iconic names for F1 enthusiasts. Legends such as Ayrton Senna and Jim Clark have made their mark on the track, as has some surprise winners- in 1996, Olivier Panis won and only three cars finished in a good contender for oddest F1 race in history.

Le Mans (FRA)

Did you know that only the first section of Le Mans is permanent? The Mulsanne straight is actually public road! Le Mans Bugatti Circuit is used for everything except the 24 Hours and the Classic. The Le Mans track itself needs no introduction, with the iconic Mulsanne Straight, Arnage bend and Porsche Curves featuring in the most important race track for any endurance racer.