ADELAIDE STREET CIRCUIT ‘VERY UNLIKELY’ TO HOST ANYMORE RACING

Adelaide Street Circuit ‘very unlikely’ to host anymore racing – Photo: InSyde Media

In a press conference this morning South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said that it is no longer viable to hold any event on the Adelaide Street Circuit.

By DAN McCARTHY

Marshall admitted that it is no longer workable to fund the Adelaide 500 with taxpayers money particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic.

“The future of a street circuit funded by the taxpayers of South Australia in this COVID environment is completely unviable,” Marshall said.

“We’ve got to respond to the (COVID) environment that we are in at the moment.

“If you think about the environment, having large scale events where you might have 100,000 to 200,000 people at a single one to three-day event, I think are long gone.”

This now also shines severe doubt on any possible discussions about a potential Formula E race in Adelaide which would utilise a street circuit.

“The state government has put some money in together with the Adelaide City Council to look at a business case for Formula E and that hasn’t been completed at this point in time,” Marshall said.

“I haven’t seen the business case, but I think it’s going to fall into a pretty similar category to what we’re talking about here.

“Street circuits have very high infrastructure costs, and the very significantly diminished number of people that can attend make these types of events very difficult at this time.”

When asked if any motorsport event would replace the Adelaide 500 on the streets of the CBD in the future Marshall simply replied: “I think it’s very unlikely.”

“The budget for the Supercars race has been well north of $10 million for an extended period of time and that cost is going up, it no longer represents the best return in terms of visitation to South Australia or jobs,” he said.

“I’ve heard some reports today of the 2019 analysis of the economic impact in the jobs, let me tell you 2020 significantly deteriorated from that position.

“The SATC (South Australian Tourism Commission), I think quite rightly has identified that there are better ways to spend that money to support those businesses in the event sector which are doing really tough.”

Marshall admits that he expects a lot of backlash from the decision, but he feels it is the best decision for the state as a whole.

He is confident that The Bend Motorsport Park will continue to attract national and international events going forwards to fulfil the adrenaline-fuelled passion of any South Australian Motorsport fan.

“Overwhelmingly, I think that people will lament the fact that the street circuit is leaving Adelaide,” he confessed.

“It’s been a fixture since the 1980s here in South Australia, but the current situation makes that just unviable going forward.

“The Bend is a world class facility and we’re looking at a number of formats.

“I think we’re looking at a range of options to attract national and international events out there and I think that the future is positive for motorsport fans in South Australia.

“We have private sector investment in a world class facility, we will get behind that, we want to see motorsport continue.”

Both Marshall and SATC chief executive Rodney Harrex said that they are unsure what motorsport events will be held at The Bend venue going forwards.

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