why am I only just finding out theres a racetrack near my house?
Random race-track found on google maps only a few kilometers from my house!
Yes, that does look a lot like a race track... There's even a car going around it!
Though in closer detail it does look less like a race track and more like a typical road, as you can see by the various bits and pieces coming off it. Looking at it in detail on nearmap makes me think it's a driver training centre, going by the various configurations that could be set up. The photo below is from 11 May 2010 on nearmap and you can see that it was under construction.