Jeff Kennett praises SA Premier for snatching motorcycle grand prix from Vics
Straight from “the Jeff Kennett bible” â former Victorian Liberal Premier doffs his hat as Premier snatches MotoGP from Phillip Island. The event will be held on the Adelaide Street Circuit in the city centre.
South Australia has pinched the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix from Victoria â and the former Premier who stole the Formula One Grand Prix from Adelaide in the 1990s has praise for its execution.
Premier Peter Malinauskas announced on Thursday morning that the event would be held on the cityâs street circuit from 2027.
âIâm crying and Iâm laughingâ, Jeff Kennett told ABC Radio this morning, saying Malinauskasâ audacious move to take the grand prix from Victoria was âa stroke of geniusâ.
âIâve got a feeling in my bones that weâll get it back,â Kennett said, adding that he knew the SA media and public âwill love itâ as payback from his governmentâs taking Adelaideâs race in the â90s.
âWe never stole the grand prix, we borrowed it and forgot to give it back,â he said.
Malinauskas announced the deal alongside MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group sporting director Carlos Ezpeleta â who flew into Adelaide late on Wednesday night.
You might like
It would be held at the city circuit that is currently used for the BP Adelaide Grand Final supercars event â and was once used by the Formula One Grand Prix.
Kennett saying it would have cost âmillions upon millions upon millionsâ of taxpayersâ dollars to lure the event to SA but guaranteed the Premier would not share the dollar figure.
Victoriaâs government wanted to keep the grand prix at Phillip Island, where it has been held since 1997, having previously played host in 1989 and 1990.
The Allan government opposed a demand from race organisers, the MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group, formerly known as Dorna Sports, for a shift to Melbourneâs Albert Park to boost mainstream appeal.
Malinauskas said the deal was a âmajor coupâ saying âwe are now competing with the rest of the nation for the worldâs best events âand winningâ.
Any move to Albert Park â the venue of Melbourneâs Formula One grand prix â would have required track expansion and likely removal of trees to cater for motorcyclingâs larger run-off areas.
Stay informed, daily
âThe foreign private owners of the MotoGP have demanded that we move the MotoGP to Albert Park. We said no,â Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos told the ABC.
âWe were never willing to sell out Phillip Island.â
Phillip Islandâs final Australian MotoGP will be held from October 23-25 this year, with the loss of the event a major blow for the islandâs tourism and economy.
Last yearâs event at Phillip Island attracted 93,000 spectators. The grand prix was estimated to generate more than $54 million a year in economic benefit to Victoria.
The island has become synonymous with the MotoGP world championship round, particularly given a sustained stretch of local and big-name success.
Australiaâs Casey Stoner won the MotoGP race at Phillip Island in six consecutive years from 2007, while Italian legend Valentino Rossi has the most wins on the track â six in the premier class (500cc then MotoGP) and two in 250cc.
Fellow Aussie greats Mick Doohan (1998) and Wayne Gardner (1989, 1990) were also 500cc race winners at the circuit.
The island struck a 10-year deal to host the grand prix in 2016, intended to underwrite investment that never fully materialised which left infrastructure lagging behind MotoGPâs ambitions.
As the Victorian governmentâs impasse with organisers over Phillip Island continued, SAâs government swooped, seemingly with a promise to stage the grand prix on an Adelaide street circuit.
Malinauskas was instrumental in Adelaide and surrounds being given hosting rights for the AFLâs Gather Round, when all 18 clubs play in SA, and also LIV Golf, which has held an Australian tournament in Adelaide for the past four years.
SA hosted the Formula One grand prix at an Adelaide street circuit from 1985 to 1995 before losing the race to Melbourneâs Albert Park.
Click here for more stories about controversial Adelaide Park Lands DevelopmentsÂ
-with AAP
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
