MotoGP's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island last weekend once again produced good racing and a well-run event at one of the paddock's favourite circuits.
But it took place amid a backdrop of fresh rumours about the track's future on the calendar and doubts over whether the historic circuit will get a new contract when its current deal expires in 12 months' time.
There's been speculation for some time about what exactly the future holds for Phillip Island given both its somewhat chronic lack of investment and a relatively isolated location that does limit the number of possible spectators.
It was given an unusual 10-year deal in 2016 on the proviso that such long-term security would allow big-picture investment into the circuit's facilities. But it's hard to argue that has happened.
It's still very much one of the most old-fashioned tracks on the calendar in terms of paddock facilities, with no sign of significant changes in the 10 years since it got that MotoGP deal.
That is believed to be in large part due to something of a stalemate between circuit owners the Fox family (Australia's largest trucking magnates) and the race promotor, the Victorian state government (through subsidiary the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, which also organises Formula 1's Australian GP at Albert Park in Melbourne).
The issue is compounded by the physical location of the Phillip Island track, two hours away from Melbourne and accessible only via a single-carriageway bridge that causes traffic chaos on race weekends.
Combined with a lack of accommodation on the relatively small island means that the race is routinely one of the most expensive on the calendar. The race-day crowd was regularly only 50,000 even during the height of home hero Casey Stoner's reign - and with this year's attracting fewer people than every other race bar Qatar and the inaugural visit to Balaton Park in Hungary.
The cost issue has been further impacted by the addition in recent years of the Indonesian Grand Prix on Lombok. Located geographically closer to some of Australia's major population centres than Phillip Island and connected by low-cost flights thanks to neighbour Bali's long-time position as Australia's budget holiday destination, it has joined the Malaysian Grand Prix in further taking Australian audiences away from their home MotoGP race.
As a result, it's been something of an open secret for some time that both the AGPC and series promoter Dorna have been looking at alternative locations for the Australian GP.
One believed by The Race's sources to have at least provisionally been looked at is the home of F1 in Australia: the Albert Park street circuit right in the heart of Melbourne.
It's set to undergo a significant £200million investment in the coming months to improve its facilities for F1 (work that is already under way), and it's believed that AGPC has spoken to Dorna about whether it would be possible to run both MotoGP and F1 at the venue, something theoretically made easier by the bike series' acquisition by F1 owner Liberty Media.
However, even with significant cash on hand to try to make it work, it seems all but impossible that we could see MotoGP machines racing through Melbourne's city centre streets.
Even though the roads that make up the track run through a city park, the venue isn't too short of space. But the big issue is instead the road furniture that surrounds it, with a significant number of trees likely needing to be felled to make the track's run-off areas safe for motorcycle racing - something that is unlikely to pass local scrutiny given Albert Park's shared-space usage.
There is another option under consideration within the state of Victoria, though. A new purpose-built FIA and FIM top grade circuit project near the Avalon airport (30 miles south west of Melbourne city centre) has also been in provisional planning stages for some time now, with the state government recently funding £1m in consultation work on the initial stages.
Also seemingly involving the Fox family, it is nonetheless still a long way from reality, with construction yet to start and any possibility of hosting a race likely multiple years away.
What happens in the interim, then, remains to be seen. Australia remains a key market for motorcycle racing, given both its history in the sport, the audience it draws, and strong progression through the ranks (with locals Joel Kelso and Senna Agius finishing on the podium in Moto3 and Moto2 respectively last weekend).
It's possible that, should the Avalon project receive the go-ahead, that Phillip Island receives a brief stay of execution before falling off the calendar - but it unfortunately does feel like only a matter of time before MotoGP no longer visits one of the sport's most iconic and beloved venues.
