19 replies to this topic

[Gary Davies]

Seems there's a slight - very slight - chance that the Australian Grand Prix could return to South Australia for 2021, but only as a one off. 

 

Here's the background. Victoria, or more specifically Melbourne, has been a total COVID-19 catastrophe (or stuff up if you're politically inclined). Lots of reasons but here's not the place to dive into that. Suffice to say that Victoria declared a state of emergency a week or so ago and greater Melbourne is severely locked down. 

 

The numbers tell the story. Australian has had 653 C-19 deaths, of which 565 have been in the state of Victoria.

 

So unless things improve pretty quickly, you'd have to say Albert Park is looking very unlikely.

 

Enter South Australia. 4 deaths total, no one in hospital and 1 current case, a nurse currently in quarantine, who recently returned from a voluntary stint working in, you guessed it, Melbourne.

 

In South Australia (SA) there is a pretty new world class motor racing facility 100 km from Adelaide. It's in Tailem Bend and you can see more here www.thebend.com.au

 

Here's part of a piece from our daily Murdoch paper: "The Grand Prix could be back in Adelaide next year, with Premier Steven Marshall willing to bid for its SA return, staged at the Bend, if it can’t be held in Melbourne.

Mr Marshall said the State Government was not moving to “poach” back the race, but would investigate the opportunity if Victoria was unable to host the premier sporting event.

His comments follow last week’s promise SA was not about to circle Victoria like “vultures” picking off the state’s premier events now at risk because of the pandemic’s resurgence east of the SA border."

 

So we'll see. I'll be surprised but I will say that each time I've visited the track, I've been impressed with the facility they've built. Lots of circuit options and I noticed right from the start that the widths, run-offs, pits, pit entrance etc are clearly designed to top flight international categories. Seems to me that to get FI accreditation would be close to a cinch.

 

One problem I see it that it gets fierce hot out there at that time of year. 40+ ambient would not be too unusual.

 

 

We'll see.

 

[statman]

already discussed in the calendar topic

[krapmeister]

Never going to happen

[Gary Davies]

already discussed in the calendar topic

Oops. Didn’t check there. Risil and fellow administrative types, move or zap this thread as you choose.

[PayasYouRace]

I’d say this thread is fine. The existing thread is for this season.

[Spillage]

To be honest the number of deaths in Victoria is much, much lower than the numbers in the European countries F1 is racing in this year.

I guess the question will be whether it'll be possible to effectively 'bubble' everyone at a city track. I know that'd be harder than an out-of-town place like Silverstone, but it probably wouldn't be impossible to safely host an event in Melbourne, albeit with no fans present.

[Marklar]

early build-up thread...oh oh wait

[Gary Davies]

I guess the question will be whether it'll be possible to effectively 'bubble' everyone at a city track. I know that'd be harder than an out-of-town place like Silverstone, but it probably wouldn't be impossible to safely host an event in Melbourne, albeit with no fans present.

Right now, everyone in Melbourne is very jumpy. But it also seems that this bug, with its 2-ish weeks incubation period, can be to a large part suppressed fairly quickly if the right steps are taken. A look at te graphs around the world seems to indicate that.Right now, the next Oz GP is half a year away and a lot can change in that time. 

 

I can imagine the Victorian Government and F1 would absolutely hate to contemplate an 2021 GPs sans fans present. So I reckon the big issue regarding Melbourne will revolve around exactly when the go/no go decision needs to be taken. For a city circuit with a fair amount of infrastructure to be put up that will not be a simple decision.

 

Look at the way some countries have seemingly got things more or less under control then it's spiked again. Singapore, Spain and New Zealand come to mind.

 

Tricky!! 

 

If I were a betting man, I'd wager that Melbourne with fans will be on for 2021. But I wouldn't be putting a big bet on. 

[AustinF1]

As I mentioned in the other thread when Adelaide was brought up, the real suspense is over whether Australia (and other countries) will be able to hold a GP at all in 2021. Adelaide and South Australia apparently face the same issues as Melbourne - getting people in and out of the country. I'm not sure they can even travel from state to state at the moment.

[djparky]

This is 6 months away...hopefully the world would have come to its senses and we can live like human beings rather than cattle being herded about by politicians.

[BRG]

Live free, catch the virus, infect your family and friends, possibly kill your grandparents and die yourself.  Let's not be bossed around by politicians, we know better...

[absinthedude]

I hope that CV-19 is brought under control in Victoria. Equally I hope Adelaide gets the race back. I've not ever been impressed with Albert Park. 

[cpbell]

I hope that CV-19 is brought under control in Victoria. Equally I hope Adelaide gets the race back. I've not ever been impressed with Albert Park. 

Same here - I've never really warmed to it.

[balmybaldwin]

As I mentioned in the other thread when Adelaide was brought up, the real suspense is over whether Australia (and other countries) will be able to hold a GP at all in 2021. Adelaide and South Australia apparently face the same issues as Melbourne - getting people in and out of the country. I'm not sure they can even travel from state to state at the moment.

Yep. Girlfriend is trying to fly back to NZ at the moment as her mum is ill over there, and they keep cancelling her flights because there isn't enough room in quarantine when she arrives

[Atreiu]

Same here - I've never really warmed to it.

 

 

It's a fine circuit but it was introduced to F1 by the time refueling and turbulence had found a way to make races much more clinical than ever before.

 

Adelaide was perfect for the time, cars, everything.

[krapmeister]

Seems there's a slight - very slight - chance that the Australian Grand Prix could return to South Australia for 2021, but only as a one off. 

 

Here's the background. Victoria, or more specifically Melbourne, has been a total COVID-19 catastrophe (or stuff up if you're politically inclined). Lots of reasons but here's not the place to dive into that. Suffice to say that Victoria declared a state of emergency a week or so ago and greater Melbourne is severely locked down. 

 

The numbers tell the story. Australian has had 653 C-19 deaths, of which 565 have been in the state of Victoria.

 

So unless things improve pretty quickly, you'd have to say Albert Park is looking very unlikely.

 

Enter South Australia. 4 deaths total, no one in hospital and 1 current case, a nurse currently in quarantine, who recently returned from a voluntary stint working in, you guessed it, Melbourne.

 

In South Australia (SA) there is a pretty new world class motor racing facility 100 km from Adelaide. It's in Tailem Bend and you can see more here www.thebend.com.au

 

Here's part of a piece from our daily Murdoch paper: "The Grand Prix could be back in Adelaide next year, with Premier Steven Marshall willing to bid for its SA return, staged at the Bend, if it can’t be held in Melbourne.

Mr Marshall said the State Government was not moving to “poach” back the race, but would investigate the opportunity if Victoria was unable to host the premier sporting event.

His comments follow last week’s promise SA was not about to circle Victoria like “vultures” picking off the state’s premier events now at risk because of the pandemic’s resurgence east of the SA border."

 

So we'll see. I'll be surprised but I will say that each time I've visited the track, I've been impressed with the facility they've built. Lots of circuit options and I noticed right from the start that the widths, run-offs, pits, pit entrance etc are clearly designed to top flight international categories. Seems to me that to get FI accreditation would be close to a cinch.

 

One problem I see it that it gets fierce hot out there at that time of year. 40+ ambient would not be too unusual.

 

 

We'll see.

 

Just to clarify, Victoria has officially been in a 'State of Emergency' for almost 6 months now. A 'SoE' allows the government to enact public heath orders determined by the Chief Health Officer (such as ordering people to isolate, wear masks etc amongst many many other things to help fight the covid threat) which is why the state government has been looking to extend the 'SoE' for another 6 months. Melbourne primarily (Stage 4) but also the rest of the state (Stage 3), has been under heavy restrictions for over a month now in order to bring the current covid outbreak under control. From a peak of over 700 cases a day we have got down to 70 cases a day, so the restrictions are doing the job. The hope is that by the end of the Stage 4 restrictions or not long after, the case numbers it will have come down to a point where they can be kept on top of and life can go back to being somewhat more normal.

 

Anyway, assuming Melbourne (and the rest of Australia) can in future stay relatively covid-free the issue will be whether Australia's borders will be open to international visitors - which they are currently not. And if they are open, will they have to quarantine for 2 weeks upon arrival? What will determine that will be the covid situation in other countries - if virus cases continue to increase then there will be little chance of the country's borders opening up. With cases rising in Europe and winter not even here yet, I suspect that it is probably unlikely.

 

As I posted in the calendar thread, this is pretty much a non-story - but it is a good chance for a SA politician to get a kick-in on Melbourne while it's down. They're still pissed about the grand prix being taken from them 

Edited by krapmeister, 01 September 2020 - 23:45.

[AustinF1]

Just to clarify, Victoria has officially been in a 'State of Emergency' for almost 6 months now. A 'SoE' allows the government to enact public heath orders determined by the Chief Health Officer (such as ordering people to isolate, wear masks etc amongst many many other things to help fight the covid threat) which is why the state government has been looking to extend the 'SoE' for another 6 months. Melbourne primarily (Stage 4) but also the rest of the state (Stage 3), has been under heavy restrictions for over a month now in order to bring the current covid outbreak under control. From a peak of over 700 cases a day we have got down to 70 cases a day, so the restrictions are doing the job. The hope is that by the end of the Stage 4 restrictions or not long after, the case numbers it will have come down to a point where they can be kept on top of and life can go back to being somewhat more normal.

 

Anyway, assuming Melbourne (and the rest of Australia) can in future stay relatively covid-free the issue will be whether Australia's borders will be open to international visitors - which they are currently not. And if they are open, will they have to quarantine for 2 weeks upon arrival? What will determine that will be the covid situation in other countries - if virus cases continue to increase then there will be little chance of the country's borders opening up. With cases rising in Europe and winter not even here yet, I suspect that it is probably unlikely.

 

As I posted in the calendar thread, this is pretty much a non-story - but it is a good chance for a SA politician to get a kick-in on Melbourne while it's down. They're still pissed about the grand prix being taken from them 

Thanks for posting. That's perfectly consistent with what I was told. Doesn't seem likely, imho. And not just in Oz, either.

[AustinF1]

Yep. Girlfriend is trying to fly back to NZ at the moment as her mum is ill over there, and they keep cancelling her flights because there isn't enough room in quarantine when she arrives

Tell her mum to get well asap!!

[Beri]

Lets say even if Melbourne cant continue and if Adelaide cant pick up the gloves, then what are really the alternatives? No permanent racing facility in Australia holds a Grade One license.

 

Looking at the Grade Two permanent facilities;

The Bend Motorsport Park (named in the OP)

Sydney Motorsport Park

 

And then there is the Gold Coast as a street circuit.

 

All the other tracks are Grade Three or worse. So its only those three as a possibility. Any new street circuit 

[William Hunt]

They should just put the Australian GP back in it's original slot, as final GP!  (would also give them more time concerning COVID matters)

And at Adelaïde please.