Planning for the 2021 Superloop Adelaide 500 has already begun according to the event’s General Manager, Alistair McDonald.

An open letter from McDonald stated that planning on next year’s event, the last under the existing contract, began shortly after this year’s had concluded.

Those preparations however had been somewhat different amid the various COVID-19 restrictions.

“As you will appreciate, as a large scale festival taking place in the heart of Adelaide’s event season, there is significant planning required for the event,” McDonald wrote.

“At this stage our event team, operational teams, partners and contractors have enacted protocols to ensure the safe continuation of work at this time.

“We have been able to keep the work going and while we are working from home, are well down the path of preparing for the 2021 event.”

Crowd figures for this year’s Adelaide 500 topped just over 200,000 across its four days, with a total of 66,000 on the Sunday.

The late-February event ran as normal as the global COVID-19 pandemic had not by that stage engulfed Australia.

By contrast, this year’s crowd numbers compared with 254,000 last year and 273,500 the year prior.

It spurred suggestions next year’s event could revert to three days instead of four.

As the world remains gripped by COVID-19, McDonald is conscious that there will likely be an impact on the 2021 event in Adelaide as the world looks to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic.

“We are conscious of the affect COVID-19 will have on household finances and are working to achieve a market-competitive ticket price that is respectful of the challenges being faced,” he stated.

“This includes offering more flexible payment options via our 500 Club membership program.”

This year’s event saw the two races, the only two which have been run in the 2020 Supercars season, won by Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin.