SA Want to Pinch the Grand Prix, As If VIC Losing the AFL Grand Final Wasn't Enough

Prying more sports from Victorians’ hands.

South Australia Premier Steven Marshall has announced his state is keen to host the Grand Prix if Melbourne isn’t up for it because y’know… ‘rona.

Mr Marshall has stated that South Australia didn’t want to 'poach' the event from Victorians; instead they just want to be ready in the event that Melbourne was ruled out.

Adelaide’s Supercar tracks aren’t right for the event and the city doesn’t have the ability to build a street circuit, but what they do have is The Bend.

The Bend is Adelaide’s multi-purpose motorsport facility. At just two years old, the 7.7km track located 100km southeast of Adelaide gets the thumbs up from Mr Marshall as "world class".

Mr Marshall said that due to The Bend’s state of the art technology, Adelaide would be in a very strong position to host the event.

For those of us who aren’t motorsport fans, you might be surprised to hear that the Australian leg of the F1 used to be held in Adelaide from 1985 and 1995 before it was moved to Victoria.

Ordinarily, the race is held at Albert Park in Melbourne, but this year, due to the pandemic, the Australian event was cancelled just before first practice, which left motorsport fans outraged.

F1 just cancelled Australian Grand Prix. pic.twitter.com/KVKOoN23v8

— Brandon Wagner (@Bwagner131) March 12, 2020

Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix cancelled over coronavirus concerns. SO THEY WAIT FOR ALL THE TEAMS TO GET HERE AT A COST OF MILLIONS & THEN CANCEL THE BLOODY THING? DON'T THEY REALISE THE BILLION THAT WATCH CAN'T CATCH THE VIRUS FROM TV? via @ABCNews

— Rik Shepherd (@riktheozfrog) March 13, 2020

Following this, Formula 1 promptly cancelled its 2020 races in the Netherlands; Monaco; all events in the Americas’ including Brazil, Mexico and Canada; and several others in Europe and Asia.

This new discussion around the motorsport's proposed venue comes after heaps of debate around where the AFL grand final will be held this year.

Because there is no chance Melbourne will get their hands on the game, it has been considered at South Australia’s Adelaide Oval, Western Australia’s Optus Stadium, New South Wales’ Sydney Cricket Ground and Queensland’s Gabba.

As expected, this debate caused a lot of controversy online as Australians cross their fingers for the event to be hosted in their state.

QLD is a rugby state. YOU CAN'T SPELL RUGBY WITH AFL. #bringittoWA #AFLgrandfinal

— Ashleigh Wykes (née Byrne) (@CaptainAsh_) September 1, 2020

After seeing Sydney put on the A-League Grand Final, perhaps the @AFL Grand Final should be in Sydney. The atmosphere at the @scg would be 10 times better than Gabba.

— Paul (@pcpinme) August 30, 2020

The debate on where the AFL Grand Final should be held this year, just proves it should actually be rotated around all the capital cities year to year. Ah well. By 2057 talkback will have debated this topic to death 💀

— GS (@gsmiths_s) August 27, 2020

With the final fast approaching, it is likely that we will have a definite answer on a venue sometime this week, with The Gabba looking the most likely.

In the meantime, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that ‘rona leaves the sports for 2021 alone.

Header Image: Pool via Getty Images