Phakisa near Welkom was designed for Grand Prix motorcycle racing; it's a superb circuit, easy to learn but hard to lap quickly, with some very technical sections that really test the handling of a sport bike.
Which is why Yamaha decided it was the right place for the South African launch of its 2008 R6.
For many years the 600cc Supersport class has been the most hotly contested in Production-bike racing and has produced some of the most narrowly focused sports machines yet offered to the public -leading the charge has been the R6, winning a number of National and World titles.
The R6 has been heavily revised for 2008, starting with extra compression - up from 12.8 to 13:1 - new pistons, beefed-up con rods and a revised air box.
Maximum power is up to a claimed 99.6kw at 14 500rpm - which would normally make a 600 so peaky it would be almost unrideable. In this case, however, Yamaha has fitted the chip control induction system from the 2007 R1, a form of variable induction manifold.
Each plastic intake tract is made in two pieces; together they are longer than usual to boost low and mid-range power. At high revs and large throttle openings, however, a servo-motor lifts the top sections away, leaving short intake tracts carefully tuned for top-end power.
The effect is remarkable; the new R6 pulls well from anywhere above 3000rpm, comes on seriously strong from 8000 and hits you with a final kick at just under 14 000 when the intake roar changes completely, becoming noticeably louder and harder-edged.
It's an amazing spread of power for a sport bike - for any bike, in fact - and makes the 2008 R6 more rideable on street to track.
Phakisa has three very slow turns; I was able to let the revs drop below 8000 on these and the R6 would haul itself out and come back onto the power curve at eight without upsetting the chassis.
The transfer from overrun to drive is also remarkably smooth, given this engine's radical state of tune; the "fly-by-wire" throttle is at the same time incredibly responsive and very accurately modulated - although I found it needed two handfuls coming out of the very long, fast turn one to get it wide open for the flick-flack across the oval track and down to Turn 2.
Mind you, a number of journalists with previous racing experience at Phakisa were going through turn one much faster than I was and may not have experienced the same problem.
Yamaha says the R6 is fitted with a slipper clutch but, rather than preventing rear-wheel lock-up under heavy engine braking, the back wheel slid around quite extravagantly if I changed down too early for turn two, the only downhill corner at Phakisa, and the rear-end felt a little twitchy on downshifts at other places around the circuit as well.
Whether it's been set up a little too tight at the factory or whether it's intended to help you "steer with the rear" into fast corners I don't know, but I found it a little unsettling.
Notchy but positive gearbox
The gearbox is vertically stacked as on all Yamaha sport bikes and is as grittily notchy as those of previous R series machines I've ridden but it's also very positive; I didn't miss a shift during the more than 30 laps I put in at the launch.
The cast-alloy deltabox frame has thicker walls in some critical areas - notably the steering head - and the rear cross-member has been deleted so the frame is stiffer in the vertical plane but has more lateral flex.
The 41mm upside-down front forks have more offset and the ribbing under the lower triple clamp has been revised to increase the effect, making the bike very stable under braking (until you change down too quickly or too far!) and giving it a marvellously quick and very accurate turn-in, even when braking deep into a turn.
Yamaha has shifted the R6's weight distribution forward to 52.5:47.5 front to rear; the rider's hip point has been moved 5mm forward and the handlebars 5mm forward and further downs to emphasise the bike's forward weight bias.
The slight lateral flex Yamaha has engineered into the frame lets the bike "go to sleep" through a long curve and you can start turning on the power hard, right at the apex.
Accelerating
Or, as in the infamous Turn 6 at the end of the back straight, you close the throttle, hook fifth gear, turn it in and turn it on, all in one smooth move; that's the first time I've ever accelerated into a corner!
The front wheel stays reassuringly planted no matter how twitchy the rear suspension feels; at once the R6's strength and weakness.
The forward seating position feels fine on the circuit but may throw too much weight on the rider's wrists for comfort on the road. Certainly my wrists were complaining during my final track session.
The seat is hard, the mirrors are useless and the rear suspension may patter on South Africa's unkempt roads - but as a track day and racing tool it is still without peer in its class.
Whether it's as good a road bike as the previous model we'll tell you when we've ridden one for a week on the road.