Ahead of the impending arrival of MotoGP to the Adelaide Parklands in 2027, the South Australian Government and South Australian Motor Sport Board have revealed the new layout for the circuit.
First raced on in 1985 as the introductory venue of Formula 1 in Australia, the Adelaide Parklands soon became a favourite of drivers and a must attend event for a decade before the race went to Melbourne’s Albert Park for 1996.
Supercars then made the circuit its own in 1999 by introducing the Sensational Adelaide 500 (later Clipsal 500 and now Adelaide Grand Final) featuring twin-250km races spread across Saturday and Sunday using a shortened version of the original configuration.
Mixed in among the Supercars rounds was the last event to use the Formula 1 course in 1999 when the Race of a Million Years was contested by the American Le Mans Series.
The event has experienced a rocky recent history having been consigned to the scrapheap after the 2020 running after the South Australian Tourism Commission terminated its contract with Supercars one year early.
When the Peter Malinauskas-led Labor Government came into power in 2022, the event made a return and has since been the last round of the Repco Supercars Championship where it has assumed Grand Final status due to the new Finals system.
It was this same Labor Government, which will bring MotoGP to the streets of Adelaide next year and a new circuit to further dramatise the Supercars Finals.
Speeds have been claimed to hit 265km/h in a Supercar on the new configuration set to cost $96 million and use minimal sections of the previous layout.
Featuring 15 turns, corners during its Formula 1 peak including Stag Corner, Rundle Road, Brewery Bend and Dequetteville Terrace will once again be utilised, in addition to a re-profiled Senna Chicane.
The staircase will be completely bypassed, as will the infamous Turn 8 alongside much of the back part of the circuit to enable a closer run in front of the Victoria Park Grandstand.
Pit lane will also be re-located alongside the back sector of the current track parallel with Fullerton Road.
Construction of the new facility is due to start following this year’s Adelaide Grand Final ahead of MotoGP’s debut in November 2027.