ROAD NEWS

Series will be held on a‘ street circuit’ in Adelaide … maybe. With the tragic demise of the Phillip Island circuit as a venue, Adelaide has done the right thing and put its hand up but not the Adelaidians are ok maaaate with it. There has been a lot of hand-wringing in some quarters and even a petition with 40,000 signatures but hopefully it will all be alright on the night. The circuit was unveiled officially and represents a lot of work and money that has already been put in. With local government and FIM ticking off the must-haves, the 3-D impression at the presentation certainly looks impressive. Calculated top speeds on the straight will be around 343km / h and lap times around the 4.03km, fifteen bend track ought to be in the 1minute 26 second ballpark. The circuit will be part of an initial five year plan on the MotoGP calendar and infrastructure and landscaping will continue to develop as the event looks further into the future for such events. The actual circuit takes in much of the legendary F1 circuit that was used also for V8 races and, who knows, it may again. While much has been said about a streetbased circuit, it is not like they are charging around Paeroa, Nelson or Wanganui, it is more like a high speed jaunt through a park mostly. It looks pretty amazing and all the modern safety aspects have been incorporated into the design. Some trees will need to be removed, hence the protests but that needs to be balanced against bringing a massive financial windfall into town. With easy access to an international airport, public transport, accommodation etc, there are a lot of things in its favour and it keeps the show down under. And hey, Adelaide has more on tap than Phillip Island currently has.

KIWI RIDER 15