Peter Malinauskas appoints Andrew Daniels to restored South Australian Motorsport Board

The new Premier has taken his first major step in fulfilling his pledge to bring the Adelaide 500 roaring back to life.

THE first major step to reviving the Adelaide 500 V8 Supercar race has been made by Premier Peter Malinauskas, who has appointed the event’s former chief Andrew Daniels to steer the event.

Declaring his commitment to ensure the four-day carnival “is better than ever” at its December return, Mr Malinauskas has appointed the outgoing Adelaide Oval chief and former Adelaide 500 boss as chairman of the reformed South Australian Motorsport Board.

He has already started work on delivering a headline music act for the December 1-4 event – previous performers have included Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams and Cold Chisel.

“The Adelaide 500 is not just a motor race. It is a four-day festival in Adelaide with the best-standard national motorsport, music and all sorts of other attractions and displays and activities,” Mr Daniels said.

“That’s what makes it work. That’s what really gives the extraordinary atmosphere.”

Mr Daniels, who was the Motorsport Board’s chief executive officer from 1998 to 2008, said the time frame for reviving the event was “very short” but was confident of successfully staging the Supercars’ final round.

Final costings for temporary infrastructure deals were yet to be prepared, he said, but Mr Daniels vowed to negotiate long-term arrangements with South Australian and other suppliers. Other board members and executives would be put in place “as soon as possible”.

Another factor was relocating the Covid-19 testing site now occupying the Victoria Park track but Mr Daniels said an adequate solution should be found in the six months before the event.

The Adelaide 500 event, last staged in March, 2020, was scrapped that October by the-then premier Steven Marshall, who said the pandemic’s “uncertainty and other factors became an insurmountable hurdle”.

Andrew Daniels at Adelaide 500 track. Picture: Dean Martin

But the-then opposition leader Mr Malinauskas days later vowed to bring back the event if he won the March, 2022, election, declaring Labor would return “the Adelaide 500 to the streets of our city”.

The Motorsport Board, which had overseen the Adelaide 500 since its 1999 debut, was scrapped in 2014 by the-then Labor premier Jay Weatherill and the event was subsequently organised by Tourism SA.

Mr Daniels said he would examine shortening the time frame for erecting and dismantling the event’s infrastructure to minimise traffic disruption and associated criticism.

Asked if plans for a permanent grandstand at Victoria Park should be revived to shorten this process, Mr Daniels said there was no need as far as he was concerned and temporary facilities would remain.

In 2008, Adelaide City Council defied pressure from the-then Labor state government and rejected a proposal to build a 250m, four-storey permanent grandstand at the centre of Victoria Park to serve horse racing and motorsports.

But Mr Daniels said the event’s shift to December would probably help, particularly with availability of contractors and some facilities.

“That time of year, rather than being alongside the Fringe, the Garden of Unearthly Delights, Gluttony and all these really important events – all of which take infrastructure and that are needed – so in that clear air I think that should definitely help us in getting it up and down faster,” Mr Andrews said.

Premier Peter Malinauskas, as opposition leader, signs an MOU with Supercars CEO Sean Seamer to bring back the Adelaide 500. Picture: Supplied

Mr Malinauskas, who on Tuesday confirmed Mr Daniels as the Motorsport Board chairman repeated Labor’s commitment to bringing back the Adelaide 500 and “ensuring it is better than ever”.

“Andrew Daniels has a strong track record as an administrator when it comes to major events and, in particular, major sporting events,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“I have every confidence he will help deliver a world-class event for South Australians.”

Mr Daniels said he was certain the Adelaide 500 could coexist with another Supercars race at The Bend Motorsport Park, where owner Sam Shahin last December struck a deal to host a round on July 29-31.

“There’s no doubt that South Australia can stage two events and there is the following for V8s,” he said.

“I think it would be the best thing for the sport on a national basis to maintain the two events, so I’ll certainly say that directly to V8 Supercars.”