Adelaide 500 status as first race of the season could be lost
THE state’s flagship motorsport event will lose either its prized status as the Supercars opening race or its iconic timeslot in “Mad March” under a proposed shake-up of the series format.
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THE state’s flagship motorsport event will lose either its prized status as the Supercars opening race or its iconic timeslot in “Mad March” under a proposed shake-up of the series format.
The Adelaide 500 has forged an enviable reputation and attracted enormous crowds — and national and international television viewers — as the first round of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.
But owners plan a change from 2020 to give teams a winter break from the gruelling schedule of 15 weekends of racing. Instead of the first round’s traditional March running, the 2020 first round would be held in January.
Supercars chief executive Sean Seamer said the planned “summer series” would take advantage of race fans’ preferences for warm weather and school holidays.
The move leaves the State Government with a decision to make as to whether it wants to move the event to January to stay as the series opener, or lose that mantle but retain a “Mad March” timeslot.
Mr Seamer said these options would be negotiated with various stakeholders.
Talks would also be held with The Bend owners over the future of the OTR SuperSprint held at that venue in August.
“We’re still working through those conversations with teams and, obviously, the proprietors of the tracks,” he said.
A South Australian Tourism Commission spokesman said they were aware of very early discussions around the series format change.
“We’ve had no formal communication on this, and if it was something that was to be looked at we would work with Supercars to get the best result for the state,” he said.
The format change is problematic for the Adelaide 500. A January running could affect ticket sales because of school holidays. It could also potentially clash with another of the state’s premier sporting events, the Tour Down Under, which runs through mid-January.
But to lose status as the first race of the season would also decrease attendance and the national and international interest that comes with hosting the opener.
It is Australia’s largest domestic motorsport event and is regularly voted as the best round on the Supercars calendar. A spokesman for The Bend said they were in talks with Supercars management about the changes.
“As you can imagine, our shared objective is to schedule the SuperSprint wherever we think we can get the best attendance possible,” he said.
Touring car racing in Australia has traditionally been run through a calendar year, with summer effectively the off-season.
The new model, which will not disrupt next year’s series, would have the championship effectively run in two parts either side of an extended winter break. A move away from racing during the winter months would help reduce clashes with AFL and NRL fixtures, and even the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
The 2019 Supercars calendar will include the running of the Adelaide 500 from February 28 to March 3, and The Bend Super Sprint from August 23 to 25.
Mr Seamer did not nominate the start date for the 2020 season, which is believed to be in late January, but said they hoped to have a schedule by early next year.
“I’ve been really upfront for a while that we want to try and get the sport into the best-possible weather window, making sure that we’re giving our events the maximum opportunity to drive attendance through good weather and also finding clear air from a broadcast point of view,” he said.