{"id":312076,"date":"2026-03-04T05:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/312076\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T05:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:36:15","slug":"supercars-claims-major-act-status-over-new-adelaide-motogp-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/312076\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars claims \u2018major act\u2019 status over new Adelaide MotoGP race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Supercars-AdelaideGrandFinal-1017.jpg\" alt=\"Supercars claims \u2018major act\u2019 status over Adelaide MotoGP\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAction from the 2025 Adelaide Grand Final. Image: Supplied <\/p>\n<p>The Australian championship will this week play second fiddle to Formula 1 at Albert Park, where the shared stage is dominated by the international stars.<\/p>\n<p>Adelaide\u2019s MotoGP and Supercars double will be spread across seperate November weekends, with the new bike race to be held in the weeks leading up to the Grand Final.<\/p>\n<p>The MotoGP deal came largely as a surprise to Supercars but, according to Warburton, shouldn\u2019t be seen as reason for concern.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSupercars is a massive entity in Australia,\u201d Warburton told Speedcafe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got no doubt MotoGP will be impressive in Adelaide, but as a sport, coming off the back of Bathurst and the Gold Coast and the momentum and what we\u2019ve seen in the Finals Series, and our plans to continue to grow, there\u2019s absolutely no doubt in my mind that we\u2019ll continue to be the major act.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the Premier has been at pains to say that in the press conference and certainly the assurances that he gave to us, that this [Grand Final] is the jewel in the crown over the month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/supercars-news-2026-adelaide-motogp-grand-final-track-layout-design-safety-turn-8\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Adelaide makes Supercars track pledge amid MotoGP remodel<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The MotoGP deal came just months after the South Australian Government<a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/supercars-news-2025-adelaide-grand-final-event-contract-2034-deal-warburton\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> signed a contract with Supercars locking in its Grand Final through 2034.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That event is promoted by the South Australian Motorsport Board, which will also take on the responsibility of the MotoGP race.<\/p>\n<p>Last year\u2019s Grand Final attracted a crowd of 285,700 across its four days and a record 102,200 on the Sunday alone.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 Phillip Island MotoGP race claimed an estimated 91,245 over three days \u2013 a number that may greatly increase with the Adelaide city location.<\/p>\n<p>Warburton suggested the events should be promoted together for mutual benefit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s fundamentally different in terms of the core audiences,\u201d Warburton said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat Adelaide has shown and certainly the Premier has shown is that it has built some pretty big events, between the Gather Round, LIV Golf, what we\u2019ve built the Grand Final into, and I think what they\u2019re talking about in terms of that festival across the month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you know, we\u2019ve got the security of tenure, we\u2019ve got an agreement through to 2034.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re the promoter, so they will work, whether it\u2019s combined ticket or I have no idea what is in their mind\u2026 but it\u2019s theirs to work on and make sure it continues to be as big as it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/supercars-news-adelaide-grand-final-motogp-2027-track-layout-changes-event\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">What does Adelaide MotoGP deal mean for Supercars?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>MotoGP\u2019s move from Phillip Island to Adelaide could meanwhile open the door for Supercars to return to the seaside Victorian venue.<\/p>\n<p>Supercars has not raced at Phillip Island since 2019, with its remote location, expensive track hire fee and aging facilities all seen as drawbacks.<\/p>\n<p>A return would only likely occur with Victorian Government backing. Supercars only races in Victoria twice each year, at Albert Park in March and Sandown in November.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve only got a limited number of rounds, and we want to be in their best facilities, and if that opens a door, well we can have that conversation,\u201d he said of Phillip Island.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the past, there\u2019s been certain months where we\u2019ve run at Phillip Island that have been difficult.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNovember is a good time of year for us. It really depends if the calendars line up and if there\u2019s a desire to explore it, but we\u2019re certainly open to talking about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/t.cfjump.com\/92797\/b\/285241\" rel=\"nofollow sponsored noopener\" data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none; vertical-align: middle;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/285241.gif\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Action from the 2025 Adelaide Grand Final. Image: Supplied The Australian championship will this week play second fiddle&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1731,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-312076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-james-warburton","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}