It was a disappointing announcement when the then-South Australian Premier Steven Marshall confirmed the demise of the Adelaide 500 in October 2020, but this led to a resurrection of the event through people power.
Moves to end the event a year before its contract was out were completed due to the global pandemic sweeping the world in 2020.
The South Australian Tourism Commission’s chief executive Rodney Harrex revealed the reason behind the decision to end Adelaide’s marquee race since 1999.
“At the end of the day, with the current set of circumstances we are not in a position to deliver a sustainable, successful future for the event for next year and beyond,” Mr Harrex said.
“Due to the high level of uncertainty around the ability of the event to proceed in 2021, the likely impact on the event for both the consumer and commercial market, and the long-term decline in the core motorsport fan, a decision has been made that it will not be possible to hold the race next year, and to not seek a contract for future years.”
Marshall further emphasised the challenges faced at the time.
“The Superloop Adelaide 500 has been an event icon for over 20 years,” Mr Marshall said.
“COVID-19 has presented significant challenges for the events sector, and the uncertainty and other factors become an unsurmountable hurdle in the plight to deliver a successful race.
“We remain a strong supporter of motorsports and will move swiftly to assess all options for motorsport future events.”
A crowd of 206,000 attended the 2020 event before the pandemic took hold, which was the lowest since 2003.
Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas immediately sparked a resurrection campaign, using this to spearhead his electoral campaign in 2021.
“COVID is an absolute rubbish excuse from Steven Marshall,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“This is a direct decision of Steven Marshall — of cultural elitism — to cut an event that thousands of South Australians enjoy.”
Malinauskas successfully defeated Marshall in the 2022 South Australian State Election and announced the return of the Adelaide 500 a week later.
Instead of taking its traditional season-opener slot, the Adelaide 500 was confirmed as the finale.
“The Adelaide 500 is coming back and it’s coming back in a new and refreshed way in December this year,” Malinauskas announced.
It wasn’t just the race being revived, but the South Australian Motorsport Board was reformed led by Adelaide Oval chief executive Andrew Daniels.
“The Adelaide 500 is more than just a race – it’s actually a festival of motor sport,” he said.
“We have big ambitions to ensure that this festival is at the epicentre of motor sport globally once a year in December.
“We know that motor sport attracts a lot of people to our state.”
The event successfully returned in 2022 and has been a fixture ever since.