Adelaide Motorsport Festival sets back The Bend Goodwood bid

Sam Shahin says the government and The Bend cannot keep cutting each other off after his longstanding plans to lure a major international event were set back.

Tycoon Sam Shahin’s multimillion-dollar plans for an official offshoot of the internationally renowned Goodwood motorsport festival have been set back by a state government-backed rival.

Responding to Premier Peter Malinauskas’s announcement of a revived Adelaide Motorsport Festival being staged next March, Dr Shahin revealed he had been working for years to establish the southern hemisphere franchise of the United Kingdom’s iconic Goodwood event.

Dr Shahin said he had been working for years with Goodwood organisers to establish twin events at The Bend Motorsport Park and in central Adelaide, at Victoria Park.

But he declared surprise at Mr Malinauskas’s announcement on Tuesday that the Adelaide Motorsport Festival would be held between March 24-26 next year as a rival to the Goodwood festival and $1.4m per year had been allocated to expand the event.

Predicting Goodwood organisers would “be as surprised as I am”, Dr Shahin urged much greater collaboration in the future to ensure successful motorsport events.

“The last thing SA needs is for the state government and The Bend to be competing for the same events. There is a plethora of events to get and SA can lead the way, with The Bend by its side,” he told The Advertiser.

Dr Sam Shahin at The Bend Motor Sport Park, near Tailem Bend. Picture Matt Turner.

The Bend supremo is also a director of Peregrine Corporation, the state’s largest private company, which operates the OTR chain of service stations.

Emphasising his surprise at the Premier’s announcement, Dr Shahin revealed the Adelaide Motorsport Festival’s time switch had forced the rescheduling of a major drag racing event set for The Bend.

This was despite Dr Shahin’s series of meetings with state and federal governments, along with Adelaide City Council, about establishing an SA version of the Goodwood. This included a May 4 letter to Mr Malinauskas lobbying for road rule changes related to imported unique vehicles.

Dr Shahin said his aim had always been to establish two franchised events: The Goodwood Festival of Speed at The Bend and The Goodwood Revival in Adelaide, in collaboration with the city council.

The Adelaide Motorsport Festival at Victoria Park, Adelaide. Picture: Supplied

The UK Festival of Speed involves bikes and cars blasting up the renowned Hillclimb track, near Goodwood House, while the Revival is billed as “the world’s greatest historic motor race meeting” and the only sports event staged entirely in a period theme.

Mr Malinauskas on Tuesday said moving the Adelaide Motorsport Festival to late March meant Formula One fans could be targeted, because Melbourne’s Australian Grand Prix was on the next weekend.

The event was cancelled in 2019 after the Liberal state government pulled funding for the festival’s Victoria Park Sprint of rare and classic vehicles