Accor Stadium to transform from asphalt racetrack to NRL field in 19 days

It hosts the biggest and best events in sport and entertainment but the metamorphosis that Sydney’s Accor Stadium will undergo in March is the most radical in its history. Here’s how it will work.

David Coulthard (GBR) and Petter Solberg (NOR) competing in the Race of Champions in Saudi Arabia.

Sydney’s Accor Stadium will undergo the most radical transformation in its history when an asphalt racetrack is laid for a world renowned motorsport event just 19 days before the venue hosts its first NRL game of the season.

The Sydney Olympic stadium will host the Race of Champions (ROC) on March 7-8, an event billed as the ultimate showdown between competitors from all motorsport formats to determine the world’s top driver.

A two-lane 1km tarmac racetrack will be laid over the famous stadium’s turf to allow stars from Formula 1, IndyCar, Supercars and more including Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher, Jamie Whincup and Sebastien Loeb to battle for the Champion of Champions title.

Race of Champions track being built at London's Wembley Stadium. Photo: Supplied, ROC

More than 100 people will work around the clock in an eight-day bump-in to transform the surface in a process that will cost more than $2 million.

And in a stunning display of the venue’s versatility, officials are more than comfortable newly laid turf will be pristine less than three weeks later when South Sydney and Penrith meet in an NRL blockbuster.

Venues NSW Group General Manager event acquisition and partnerships Stephen Saunders said the ROC had been held at some of the most high-profile stadiums in the world, including London’s Wembley Stadium and the Stade de France, in Paris.

“I think sometimes we forget that Accor Stadium is up there on a world scale, at the same level as those venues,” Saunders said.

As discussion continues to rage north of the border about key venues for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, Saunders said Accor Stadium, which also hosted more than 300,000 people at four Coldplay concerts in November and will hold major concerts for US country act Luke Combs and high-profile Asian band Mayday before the ROC, was an “awesome legacy from the (Sydney) Olympics”.

Race Of Champions president and co-founder Fredrik Johnsson with Jamie Whincup, who will represent Australia in the event at Accor Stadium in March. Photo: Richard Gresham, ROC

“The government at the time invested well and built, built something that’s really stood the test of time and is continuing to deliver full houses and attract world class events such as this,” he said.

With more than 50 semi-trailer loads of road base and 200 truck loads of hot mix asphalt, as well as 350 concrete blocks to be brought in to transform the surface into a custom built racetrack though, Saunders said this was the stadium’s most radical makeover.

ROC Australian construction head John Modystach said the track build was a technical and precise process that had been perfected over the past couple of decades.

“While it is stressful, there is a great sense of satisfaction for everyone involved as it evolves on almost an hourly basis (in an operation) including the track simulation testing by the ROC driver test team,” he said.

For Venues NSW staff though, the event will not finish when the chequered flag is waved on March 8.

Curators are confident new turf will have plenty of time to take at Accor Stadium ahead of the next clash between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Penrith Panthers on March 27. Photo: Getty Images

Within hours, a team will start the bump out before about 14,000 square metres of turf is laid ahead of the Rabbitohs-Panthers clash.

Head curator Adam Lewis will oversee the process that will include a power harrow and laser levelling of the underlying soil before specially prepared turf is laid.

In a turnaround his team has perfected over the years – and can be ready to play on in as little as six days – thick rolls of turf with grass rooted in a “matrix layer” will be precision laid and watered in with Lewis adamant he has plenty of time to ensure a lush surface ahead of the NRL season.

“It comes in in big roles of around eight to 10 metres long and they weigh about a ton so you can’t actually move them (again) but once they’re put into position, the field’s actually like ready to play on,” Lewis said.

Originally published as Accor Stadium to transform from asphalt racetrack to NRL field in 19 days