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Adelaide could play host to the 2022 S5000 Tasman Series finale in a grand return for open-wheel racing in the South Australian capital.
Adelaide of course was the home of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix from 1985 to 1995 before the world championship event shifted to Melbourne.
It’s been more than eight years since any form of open-wheel category competed in Adelaide, that being Australian Formula 3 in 2014.
The Tasman Series, which takes place after the conclusion of the six-round S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship, was due to take in three events.
Initially, that was announced as Gold Coast (October 28-30, in support of Supercars), Mount Panorama (November 11-13, at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International), and Sydney Motorsport Park (November 18-20, in support of Supercars).
However, the latter event is now off the table, given it was switched to a March slot as the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship opener in place of Newcastle.
In the period since that occurred, the Adelaide 500 has been revived for December 1-4 this year.
Australian Racing Group CEO Matt Braid acknowledged it would be an ideal scenario for S5000 to be on the support card, little more than a month after it looks to mimic the IndyCar tradition of old on the Gold Coast.
However, there are still a number of factors at play, and no certainty whether two or three events will now make up the Tasman Series.
“First and foremost, nothing has been decided. There are various options being considered,” Braid told Speedcafe.com.
“To see the Adelaide event come back onto the calendar is fantastic, that will be great; it’s a great news story for the sport.
“But I guess for us, it’s a case of if Adelaide is confirmed and it goes ahead, then we’d love to have the conversation with the promoters about being there.
“It would certainly be great if that materialised, to have that discussion, but it’s probably too early to say whether that’s realistic or not.
“So in the interim we are keeping our eyes open for other options to see what we can do to either add a final round to the series or conclude early.”
Speaking further to the prospect, Braid continued: “I think everyone will agree that circuit, that event, S5000 cars racing there would be an amazing spectacle.
“So I think there’s no doubt about that opportunity, if it were to materialise, how good it would be.
“It’s just a case of when or if it could actually occur, and if it’s possible we would love to explore it.”
