The South Australian Government’s sensational MotoGP coup was announced by Premier Peter Malinauskas and MotoGP boss Carlos Ezpeleta in Adelaide this morning.
That included the presentation of a detailed track map for the planned 4.195 km, 18-turn circuit, which will allow MotoGP bikes to reach 340km/h.
Malinauskas trumpeted that “we’re going back to the old F1 Grand Prix circuit”, noting it will “bring back the romance, it’s a longer track, highest speeds, more overtaking, good racing.”
However, far from being a simple return to the F1 layout, it marks the biggest revamp of the street circuit since its first use in 1985.
Adelaide’s original F1 circuit stretching 3.78km was trimmed to 3.22km when the Adelaide 500 (now Grand Final) was introduced in 1999.
That was achieved simply by cutting out the most northern leg of the circuit and utilising Bartels Road instead of Rundle Road.
Changes revealed today include a total revamp of the permanent loop of tarmac in Victoria Park, including the positioning of the start/finish line and pit building to the Fullarton Road side of the park.
“We’ve taken an opportunity to make a modification to get a far better outcome for Victoria Park itself,” explained Malinauskas.
“With the adjustment to the track, we are taking the opportunity to move the hard stand where the temporary buildings are put up and move it to an area immediately adjacent to the Victoria Park Heritage Grandstand.”
The heritage grandstand dates from the early 1880s and is a legacy of the use of the parklands for horse racing.
Track works will include the removal of an estimated 45 trees, although Malinauskas emphasised it’ll also improve access to Victoria Park during set up and pack down each year.
The new Victoria Park loop as depicted still includes use of a portion of the current pit straight, leading into what appears a tighter version of the famous Senna Chicane that connects to Wakefield Road.
The presented map shows the current circuit’s ‘staircase’ section of Turns 4-5-6 being replaced by a straight line – seemingly to avoid 90-degree turns with minimal run-off.
That’s followed by the return of the F1 section – resurrecting the Banana Bend (albeit with a different approach angle and added chicane), Stag Hotel and Brewery Bend corners.
The return to the Rundle Road/Dequetteville Terrace layout rather than Bartels Road means that the Supercars circuit’s infamous ‘Turn 8’ sweeper is bypassed.
The hairpin at the end of Dequetteville Terrace is a 90-degree corner on the new layout due to an earlier entry back into the reconfigured parklands.
Adelaide’s MotoGP coup was predicated on its willingness to provide a city circuit that the motorcycle championship craves under new ownership of Liberty Media.
While that has brought many questions over safety, MotoGP boss Ezpeleta is adamant the design won’t compromise the wellbeing of riders.
“The way that we’ve done this is to study the area that was available for the track very, very closely, up to the centimetre, I would say, and then build a track with our speed calculations and the possible crash trajectories,” said Ezpeleta.
“It’s very clear where we have to put gravel and I’d say that even without the additional temporary, safety devices, such as air fences, even without that, our calculations say that the circuit’s safe.
“On top of that, all of those devices will be there. So we’re really happy about the work that’s being done.”
Although emphasising the amount of work that has been put in to date, Ezpeleta noted the presented design is not a final layout.
It’s not been made clear if Supercars will utilise the entirety of the rejigged layout, although the announcement noted the two events will be separated by mere weeks.
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