Bloody hell, I thought, as I rounded the last corner on the race track at 130 km/h and saw a family of geese waddling their way across the track. I hadn’t considered geese to be a significant concern while I was tearing my way around the Phillip Island circuit. But, as I took evasive action, I thought I might hit one or spin my car off the track.

Hitting a goose at speed can cause some severe damage to your car. The resultant panel or suspension damage could render your vehicle undrivable. Unfortunately, the geese don’t seem to be at all concerned with the high-speed, noisy cars passing them on the track.

The geese always seem to appear on track in January. This is because the track is quieter over Christmas, and the geese roam more freely around the track. However, once the noise of the cars returns, it takes them a few weeks to learn that they are not welcome. 

I should have paid a little more attention to the driver’s briefing when the official announced that there were geese around the circuit and that they had a propensity to wander onto the track. From now on, an encounter with the local wildlife will always be at the back of my mind.