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Does anybody fancy the Australian Grand Prix returning to Adelaide as a night race?

I don't think that Albert Park is a bad circuit but it's nowhere near as exciting as the Adelaide street circuit, and nowhere near as profitable.

There is a 'Bring the F1 back to Adelaide' Facebook group that put together a little youtube video, that has the whole idea back on my mind again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrndkjFdfiY

I have lived in Adelaide the majority of my life so forgive me for any bias on the matter!

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I have many happy memories of the Adelaide grand prix. While Albert Park is a great event, the grand prix was literally the biggest thing to happen to Adelaide and the whole town buzzed. It is no conincidence that the Adelaide V8 supercar weekend still rivals the AGP (and Bathurst) as the best motor racing weekend in Australia.

Having said that I think it is very unlikely there will be another Adelaide race. F1 sanction fees are much higher than they were 17 years ago and are of course a major reason for the inability of the Melbourne race to stem the red ink. It is hard to see if Melbourne gives up the race the much weaker South Australian economy could bear that cost.

Safety standards have also moved on since the mid 1990s. For example it is hard to see how the fast turn onto the main straight (Brewery Bend - I can't quiet remember) where Mika Hakinnen was very lucky to survive would be acceptable today. Even with the new shortened layout the equivalent turn is borderline for the V8 supercars. Being a street circuit there is little room for run off areas and the like; the most likely result would be a redesign that would emasculate the track anyway. I would rather keep my Adelaide memories.

It would definitely be one of the better street circuits compared to what we have now but there will be a few problems to overcome.

- Bernie's race hosting tax: Melbourne can barely afford it and it would be even harder for Adelaide to find the money upfront. So unless Bernie is willing to lower his costs (which I doubt he is) then there's no way Adelaide will host it.

- Crowd attendances: this is what crippled the Adelaide GP before Melbourne swooped in and nicked it. However I have little doubt that the GP will struggle with attendance figures if they combine the Clipsal 500 with the F1 event, have the V8's during the day with the F1's under lights. It would be the ultimate racing weekend with all the other support categories as well. It would draw in both the bogans and the enthusiasts.

- Adelaide's Image: Compared to Melbourne, Adelaide's image is very poor for marketable purposes. It's not known for it's arts, shopping or cafes, but more so for it's parks, wineries and produce.

Also for anyone who doesn't know, the F1's raced on a different layout than what the V8's do.

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I remember a couple of years ago it was suggested that the Supercars could race on the long form layout. I'm not sure what happened to that suggestion - but it would be unworkable if the Fringe Festival and Supercars still overlap.

I would love for the Grand Prix to return, but I'm resigned to the fact that it won't in the foreseeable future (or ever). What we need is for Formula One to hold non-championship rounds (again) with decent constructor participation. Can you imagine having a whole Australian leg of non-championship rounds capped off by the championship round? I'm thinking Bathurst, Adelaide, Melbourne.. Give all those young aspiring drivers (and possibly ageing edge-of-retirement favourites) a run in actual Formula One cars, rather than languishing for years in feeder series. Replacement for in-season testing? /pipe_dream

I think Adelaide is pretty content at the moment with Clipsal 500. Its pretty damn big. But if they were to make it a night race, they could have Clipsal on during the day and F1 at night.... big weekend.

We can't say it was attendance. Didnt the 95 race have a race day attendance of 200,000. Record attendance I think.

Adelaide was a wonderful circuit, however, as has been posted above, a return is unlikely.

Its hard to see where the GP would go if Melbourne pulled out. NSW and Queensland have both got Conservative governments looking to cut public expenditure, Surfers is unsuitable for F1 really and is probably content with the V8 race like Adelaide.

Maybe Perth? Fits in with Bernies broadcast times, plenty of money with the mining boom. Big drawback is the distance from the Eastern States though. Melbourne is relatively close to Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide. Perth is a long way from anywhere....except blighty

it certainly wasnt attendance issues. .. the last race day had 250,000 ppl there, and 400,000 over the weekend

I would love it to come back home. .. They staged the race of 1000 years under lights ... so why not F1

It would be sad to lose Melbourne, although I don't see why they couldn't ditch Bahrain/Korea and bring back the Pacific Grand Prix. Give Adelaide the Australian GP and alternate the Pacific GP around, Melbourne, Fuji, Mexico.

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Warning: The above post may contain sarcasm.

The Pacific GP? I found that circuit extremely boring

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Well I wasn't suggesting going back to Aida necessarily, more doing what the European GP should do and alternate to circuits around the Pacific ring.

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What about this idea, give Australia two grand prix. Keep Melbourne as the Qantas Australian grand prix and call Adelaide the Australasia grand prix, then we will have an excuse to scrap the European grand pix in Vallencia.

I would love to see F1 coming back to Adelaide, its a great track

Adelaide was a good circuit, but I would rather have the GP at Albert Park. I say leave Adelaide in the history books.

Sad to say it but I agree; Adelaide should be left to the history books. I dont think we will be able to afford to make it a success.

I'm with you darksides! Looks like the idea of a night race in Adelaide could gain some traction in months or years to come. Without a change in govt it looks like Melbourne could lose the race given the current Victorian govt's stance. Here's a report from 4 days ago:

Coalition slams brakes on GP night race option
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/coalition-slams-brakes-on-gp-night-race-option-20121020-27yje.html

There is an online petition to bring the race back to Adelaide too: http://www.petitiononline.com/qdfa3213/

Notable signatures and support include:

4 time F1 World Champion Alain Prost (Signed Petition),
Former F1 driver Riccardo Patrese (Twitter),
British Touring Car Championship Tom Coronel (Twitter),
European Le Mans Driver Jack Clarke (Twitter),
Australian Labor Party (Twitter),
Hon. Christopher Pyne MP (Signed Petition),
Triple M Adelaide (Twitter),
Channel 9 Adelaide (Twitter),
Foxsports News Journalist Sarah Widera (Twitter),
Prime Minister of Australia Hon. Ms. Julia Gillard (Twitter),
Leader of the Opposition Hon. Mr. Tony Abbott MP (Twitter),
Ten News Sports Reporter Brendan Shakes (Twitter),
Legendary F1 Commentator Murray Walker!!

C'mon Lewis! Get on Twitter!

I'm not sure how much truth there is in this, but here's an interesting read, posted just a couple of weeks ago: http://anygivenreason.com/2012/10/11/is-formula-1-coming-back-to-adelaide/

"Whilst the idea is still in the very early stages of gestation and nothing is even remotely formal yet, our reliable source informs us that it is planned for Formula One to return to Adelaide as a night race in late October, and be held on the weekend before Bathurst. The Clipsal 500 would then be moved to the weekend before the Grand Prix creating a solid week and a half of motorsport action in the heart of the CBD."

Given it's history, I have a feeling many others around the world would love to see the race back in Adelaide. After all, it was the venue where both Prost and Senna last stood on the podium. Combining it with the Clipsal V8SC race could make it a real money spinner.

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‘Ayrton had taken pole and now Alain said to me: “where the f*** did he find that time? How the hell can he be that quick?” In the corner, Senna…he looked up and winked at me. Ayrton had a look in his eye that said, “I’ve done it.”
Jo Ramírez

Are you kidding?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_Festival_of_Arts

" It also spawned the Adelaide Fringe Festival which has become the largest event of its kind in the world after the Edinburgh Fringe."

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‘Ayrton had taken pole and now Alain said to me: “where the f*** did he find that time? How the hell can he be that quick?” In the corner, Senna…he looked up and winked at me. Ayrton had a look in his eye that said, “I’ve done it.”
Jo Ramírez

I always thought it was an overrated circuit. 1st half just 90 degree corners and the rest is hardly special.

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Oh and Bernie, National flags should be raised not flipped. Sort it!

Love to see it back in Adelaide but it'd have to be in conjunction with the V8 Supercars for it to be cost effective, and on the original long course. A major problem would be the surface of the track, I think it's probably too bumpy for current F1 cars. Safety wise there are some short run off's and as far as a street circuit goes it's not too hard to remove cars from the track, only one problem is the high speed turn 10 in the long and turn 8 in the short where you can go into the wall at very high speed, remove the high kerb and it shouldn't be a problem. Similar to the exit of turn 5 at Singapore I believe.

Love to see a Pacific GP back, Mexico, Thailand, Japan (Fuji) are all options for alternating GPs.

I'm with you.

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The end is near

I don't see F1 going there without some safety changes unfortunately, but I would love to see a night race there.

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I'd be in favour but i love Melbourne too so i'm kinda conflicted, i agree with the poster above, swap Valencia for Adelaide

There is no way Adelaide would be suitable for modern F1, there is only 1 overtaking spot on the track, not to mention turn 1 would be a nightmare at the start of the race.

It produced some magnificant races in the past, but in my opinion it's time has passed. Even Imola would be a more suitable track to bring back to the calendar.

Unfortunately Melbourne wont give up on being the 'events capital' of Australia.

Those in the know (like those without the title 'lord mayor', or the occupation of journalist) realise that, while it costs the taxpayer $50mil, it earns well over double that. Also the race has attracted crowds of 300,000 on race day. Both of these statements are enough to re-sign as soon as bernie gives us the pen.

The only thing that strikes me is the history that goes with the Adelaide circuit-the schoom and hill in '94 most memorably. Bringing back that circuit doesnt re-ignite that drama, and even though the melb circuit is boring, ruining the history of adelaides track would be worse.

hold up-take 2. The track is 3.7k?? thats waay too short!?

Was my favourite circuit in the original PS F1 game from 1996ish. Wouldn't want to lose Albert Park and it's obviously not ideal for modern F1, but then nor are other circuits we visit.

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I wouldn't suit modern day F1 at all. Too angley in the corners and probably too narrow as well. Leave it at Melbourne, there's always a half decent race there anyway.

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i honestly would love to see them race at Phillip island, that is a world class circuit

A new proposal. Total length 5km:

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‘Ayrton had taken pole and now Alain said to me: “where the f*** did he find that time? How the hell can he be that quick?” In the corner, Senna…he looked up and winked at me. Ayrton had a look in his eye that said, “I’ve done it.”
Jo Ramírez

I love the Melbourne circuit, many overtaking opportunities and the race is rarely dull.

For those talking about Aida, I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist any more

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Hasn't it just been renmed Okayama circuit?

Yeah it does still exist, the touring cars raced there a few years ago.

As for Adelaide it is very dangerous. But then so is Valencia.

My bad, not sure which circuit I'm thinking of!

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Nigel Roebuck includes it in the F1 calendar that he would choose, were he in charge of such things, in an article in Motorsport magazine this month. Imola, Magny Cours and Indianapolis also included in that list. Having had a quick look on Google maps, I don't think the issues with the track layout at Adelaide would be insurmountable, ideas have moved on a lot since 1995 and certainly Singapore is far tighter. Resurfacing would undoubtedly be a pre-requisite, but then that's had to be done in Singapore and Valencia. I personally don't feel any great passion for Melbourne, it's never produced a truly classic race. The one thing that I hope for is that the Aussie GP - wherever it's held - doesn't become a night race. IMO, Singapore should be a unique night race to keep it special, and to keep the environmental lobby off F1's back. Besides, getting up early to watch the start (or end) of the championship makes it feel special!

Here's a report for expanding Barbagallo raceway in perth to be up to F1 standard

http://www.dsr.wa.gov.au//assets/files/ ... ge%203.pdf

Where are the overtaking points?

I can't remember a track with so many constant radius corners... don't like it

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‘Ayrton had taken pole and now Alain said to me: “where the f*** did he find that time? How the hell can he be that quick?” In the corner, Senna…he looked up and winked at me. Ayrton had a look in his eye that said, “I’ve done it.”
Jo Ramírez

Need more Tilke chicanes?

I would prefer to see it in Sydney. Run around The Rocks and North Sydney, and use the Harbour Bridge and the front and back stretch

For those who reside in Adelaide, wouldn't it be a great excuse to get rid of the Britannia Roundabout?! "Oh, we needed the space for run off at the end of Dequetteville... Grosjean will cause an accident there, no doubt!"

I like it.

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