SA Premier Steven Marshall explains why Superloop 500 will be axed
Premier Steven Marshall has explained the reasons for the demise of the Superloop 500, saying he realises axing the event is “extraordinarily disappointing”.
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Premier Steven Marshall has blamed a mix of rising costs, falling crowds, declining commercial interest and COVID-19 for the demise of the Superloop 500.
As reported on Thursday night by Advertiser.com.au, Mr Marshall said the government had accepted an SATC recommendation to axe the event but that the decision wasn’t taken lightly.
“In fact a huge amount of work went into the analysis for this recommendation,” he said.
“I asked the SATC questions about this, we queried the assumptions that were made but ultimately we are supporting the recommendation of the SATC”, Mr Marshall told a press
conference on Friday Morning.
The Premier said organisers were hoping the race could be run at the end of next year but in the context of COVID-19, “we realised very quickly that this would be unviable in 2021 and quite frankly, unviable going forward”.
The move has caused widespread shock, with Holden racing legend Mark Skaife saying the decision had left him “absolutely gobsmacked”.
Since it started in 1999, more than 5.3 million people have attended V8s in Adelaide.
“We know that his has been an event that has brought much money and many visitors into our state in the past but what we have seen in recent years is a reduction in the number of people who have been attending this event, we’ve seen an increase in costs, we’ve seen a reduction in the amount of corporate support and then when we layer over the top of that the implications of living in this covid environment, this event has become unviable,” Mr Marshall said.
He said the event had been costing SA “well north” of $10m a year to stage and no longer repsented a good return on investment in visitors to the state or jobs.
“I know this is extraordinarily disappointing for the many motorsport fans here in South Australia, they have loved this event”.
“I know that this is a very tough day, it is a tough decision but I’m quite sure it is the right decision for the taxpayers of South Australia.”
Mr Marshall said the budget for the annual car race would be repurposed to fund an extended calendar of events “to create as many jobs as we can”.
“We’ve got an excellent world-class facility at The Bend and what we want to do is to make sure that we can continue to work with Supercars and other formats for motor racing and bring events to South Australia - not just motor events.”
The Premier said SA had “been in this position before” when the Formula 1 race was lost to Melbourne in the 1990s.
He said the state had responded by replacing the Grand Prix with a suite of “new and exciting events”.
“In fact the supercars was one of those new events, so was the Tour Down Under, so was the three day (equestrian) event, so was Tasting Australia”.
Asked how plans for the 2021 Tour Down Under were progressing, Mr Marshall said SA Health had been working on some “fantastic plans” to make the event possible.
The biggest challenge, he said, was not the logistics but whether racing teams from around the world could afford to relocate to Australia for the race.
“They’re under enormous financial pressure,” Mr Marshall said.
“I think it is more to do with the teams’ interest,” he said.
“We’re working with all of those teams; we have asked them to give us an answer as to whether or not they will be here.
“That deadline is looming - it may even be next week”.
