Shade boost for Adelaide 500 fans

Fans in the stands at the 2023 Adelaide 500 will enjoy more shade when the event returns in November this year.

The famous South Australian street race made a memorable comeback in December last year after being cancelled in 2020.

Although the reborn Adelaide 500 smashed event records, one of the most notable areas of improvement established in the aftermath was the amount of shade on offer for fans, with the summer sun not disappearing throughout the action packed weekend won by Broc Feeney.

This has become clearer after event organisers completed a debrief featuring fan feedback following the 2022 season finale.

Due to the previous South Australian Government selling off lots of the existing Adelaide 500 infrastructure, current Premier Peter Malinauskas had to either repurchase it or find new ways to bring the event back to life.

This meant the familiar large blue and red shades that had overlooked the grandstands around the Victoria Park street circuit since 2009 were not present and less seats were covered.

But to improve the experience for fans coming to the 2023 race, there will be more shade on offer with almost 70% of seats to be covered – a major increase from 44% in 2022.

Malinauskas revealed the tight timeframes to make the 2022 Adelaide 500 happen just eight months after he won the state election ensured covering the grandstands was a challenge.

But he is pleased to announce he will deliver on his promise to provide more shade from the summer sun in 2023.

“Our investment to bring back the VALO Adelaide 500 delivered a stunning success in 2022. But we know it can be even better,” Malinauskas said.

“Tight timeframes for last year’s race meant we weren’t able to secure as much shade as we would have liked. 

“In November, I committed to increasing covered seating for this year’s event and now, we are delivering, with 84% of the Pit Lane Grandstand to be covered.”

The 2023 Adelaide 500 wraps up the first Gen3 Supercars season on November 23-26, while grandstand tickets will go on sale in early May.

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