New South Australian Premier announces return of Adelaide 500 supercars race for 2022

Newly elected South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has announced that the Adelaide 500 Supercars race will return to the city later this year.

Cancelled in 2020 and with the last South Australia Government declining to host the race in 2021, reviving the Adelaide 500 was a $15 million pledge Labor took to the recent election.

Speaking yesterday, Premier Malinauskas said his desire to bring back the Adelaide 500 was not just to "satisfy the passion of motor sport enthusiasts", but to create jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors, noting "the very industries that have been doing it tough and paid the biggest sacrifices throughout the COVID crisis - they deserve this event to come back."

Explaining that the race would return "in a new and refreshed way in December this year", Premier Malinauskas stated "the Adelaide 500 is more than just a race - it's actually a festival of motor sport.

"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."

Premier Malinauskas went on to advise that outgoing that Adelaide Oval Chief Executive Andrew Daniels would be chairing the South Australian Motor Sport Board, tasked with planning the event.

He noted that Daniels had turned Adelaide Oval into an "iconic venue" and would do the same for the Adelaide 500.

The newly elected Premier recognised that the Board had a "tight time frame" to get the race organised by December, adding “there will be challenges but we are capable of meeting those challenges.”

Daniels, who will be leaving his position at Adelaide Oval in May, stated that the Adelaide 500 "brings an enormous buzz" to the city, acknowledging how much work would need to go into the four-day festival to get it ready by December.

Daniels advised "South Australia has an international reputation for staging great events, and great motor sport events in particular, going back all the way to 1985.

"We have a huge job in front of us, but the benefits for this state are absolutely enormous."

Previous editions of the Adelaide 500 have been held during March and clashed with many other events around the same time, but would now be held before the annual Test match in December.

Image: Andrew Daniels and South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas announce the return of the Adelaide 500 from the balcony of the Britannia Hotel in Norwood yesterday.