The Mandalika circuit in Indonesia is billed as a street circuit, however its purpose-built nature is a far stretch from the proposed inner-city circuit in Adelaide.
Preliminary circuit designs are already in place with significant changes to be made compared to the layout currently used by Supercars.
Even then, the concept has raised eyebrows about rider safety.
MotoGP uses a dedicated software system, designed by the University of Padua in Italy, to assess and design the safety elements of its circuits.
That is data that Yamaha MotoGP rider Jack Miller is willing to trust, the Aussie adamant that he’ll carry no safety concerns into the debut event next year.
“There won’t be a concrete barrier or an air fence in touching distance,” said Miller.
“I fully trust [MotoGP boss] Carlos [Ezpeleta] and their calculations.
“You know, we sit every Friday afternoon [of a race weekend] and have a meeting with them and discuss queries that we have, whether it be track safety, or run-off area, depth of gravel, gravel consistency, down to literally the size of the rocks.
“They have an incredible array of knowledge when it comes to crashing and how much time you need to stop, and all of the data from the g-force sensors, with the airbag leather suits…
“They’re able to track all of this so much and it’s all been banked and they have all of this data to then look at and basically make their assumptions from there.
“[The] majority of the new tracks that we’ve gone to have been designed with that in mind.
“The worry of hitting a wall is always there, if your brakes [fail] or whatever. But in terms of a normal day-to-day crash, no [safety concerns].”
Miller admitted that the fast, flowing Phillip Island circuit – which features a corner named after him – will be sorely missed by the MotoGP rider group.
However he quickly added that the Bass Coast’s fickle weather won’t be missed.
“Everybody will be deeply disappointed; I mean, Phillip Island has been one of the favourites for a very, very long time in terms of riders,” he said.
“It is sad, extremely sad, but we’re here looking at an extremely exciting project for not only Adelaide, or South Australia, but for Australia in general.
“It’s no secret, the weather in Phillip Island is hit and miss. That wind comes from the south, it gets cold real quick, but I believe here in Adelaide, you get a good experience of the Australian heat, especially in November. It will be beautiful.”
Miller added that removing the logistical challenges of attending Phillip Island, and replacing it with a CBD race close to a major airport and with plenty of accommodation options, will be a positive move for the sport.
“The biggest thing for us is getting people to come and watch,” he said.
“To get to Philip Island, for example, it’s an undertaking for the average punter. As we know, times are getting tougher and tougher.
“To go to Melbourne, to rent a car, to transit your whole family out to the island, rent a house… it’s upwards of six, seven thousand [dollars].
“I know that from my family doing it year in, year out. It’s hard for a young family to get out and take the kids to watch a motorcycle race.
“I mean, you speak to people and it’s cheaper to go to Malaysia, simple as that, because [the Sepang circuit] is right next to the airport.
“To try and get those people that want to come, but they’ve don’t have the means to, when you can come to the city, you can walk around, you can walk and see the track and watch the racing and get on a plane and go back home… I mean, it helps.
“Australians love motorsport, and live sport in general, so to the access like they’re going to get here in Adelaide, I think is phenomenal.”
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