Mick Doohan points out MotoGP’s key selling point for controversial Adelaide race

MotoGP’s new Adelaide race has sparked controversy since its announcement, but five-time world champion Mick Doohan has spoken positively of the event that is due to debut in 2027.

Doohan had a patchy record at Phillip Island. When MotoGP raced at Eastern Creek he was twice a winner and four times on the podium, but Phillip Island saw only one Doohan victory (1998), an eighth in 1989, and a retirement in 1997.

The Australian was in any case given a corner in his name, the fearsome turn one, for his substantial achievements in the premier class with 54 victories and five world titles to his name before injury cut his career short in 1999.

The removal of Phillip Island from the 2027 MotoGP calendar has sparked controversy in multiple ways. Purist fans, for example, are disappointed that the championship has abandoned an iconic circuit for a commercially lucrative race in a city; while some Adelaide residents are opposed to the South Australia state government going ahead with plans for a race track to be built at the cost of 400 trees in the city’s parkland area.

The upside for MotoGP is that a race in Adelaide is much easier to get to than the Phillip Island, which regularly attracts less than 100,000 fans over a race weekend and less than 50,000 on a race day.

Making the Australian Grand Prix more accessible to fans means, theoretically, more will attend and therefore more will spend money at the event: you buy a ticket to turn up, you buy merch, food, drinks once you’re there.

It’s the accessibility that Doohan sees as the event’s main positive.

“Adelaide will be an amazing event as a whole," Mick Doohan told MotoGP.com.

“Visitors will be able to fly in, head straight to their hotels and the circuit, and immerse themselves in an atmosphere where the event becomes part of the city itself.”

He added: “There is no doubt that the event will help attract a new generation of fans while making the championship more accessible than ever before.

“For the town, it's going to be amazing. Every event they hold the whole city and state gets behind it to make it an incredible occasion.”