The landmark MotoGP deal comes just months after South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas announced an extension of the Supercars contract through 2034.
That includes continuing as Supercars’ Grand Final – a format instigated in 2025 to satisfy the desire of the South Australian Motorsport Board to have a guaranteed title fight at its season-ending event.
Supercars is largely in the dark when it comes to details of the MotoGP plan, which developed quickly amid a stalemate in the motorcycle championship’s negotiations with incumbent host Victoria.
The biggest question hangs over the circuit layout following the unveiling of plans for a major revamp to accomodate MotoGP.
While Supercars is yet to work through that process with Adelaide organisers, wholesale changes to the Victoria Park section are clearly aimed at both events.
That includes moving the pit building and pit lane over to the eastern side of the park, in front of the heritage grandstand.
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“One of the big attractions of this opportunity is to improve the economics of the street event full stop,” said Malinauskas.
“The big cost associated with the BP Grand Final is the setting up and packing down of the temporary infrastructure.
“That’s where the bump in, bump out cost is quite large. We will now have to do that once, and instead of having one event, we’re going to have two.
“Hence the relatively close proximity of the MotoGP event and the BP Grand Final. We will always have them around about two weeks apart.”
Should Supercars utilise the full MotoGP circuit, it will mean losing the Turn 8 sweeper that has become an iconic part of the event.
Supercars will meanwhile make sure its earlier Finals Series rounds do not clash with the Adelaide MotoGP event – a scenario that has the potential to dampen the Grand Final build-up.
Whether the presence of a MotoGP race just weeks before the Grand Final impacts ticket sales for the Supercars round remains to be seen.
Malinauskas suggested the two events will appeal to different audiences, with the former expected to bring international visitors to the city.
“[Supercars] is an event that we believe in, and the grand final concept just draws people in, even if they’re not Supercars fans,” he said.
“This is going to do that at a whole other level, and there will be cross-pollination between the crowds that come, but there’ll also be diversity as well and that’s a good deal.”
Organisers will open the roads to the public between the events to minimise impact on commuter traffic.
Malinauskas noted the MotoGP event will run over three days, rather than the four-day format utilised by Supercars and its support categories.
This year’s Adelaide Grand Final is due to take place from November 26-29.
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