Australian MotoGP leaving Phillip Island

The shize is really hitting the fan on my FB feed. Some of it quite intelligent, some of it giving me little faith in the overall IQ of the human race.

My interest in MotoGP just dissolved.
 
Dorna sold to the same US marketing company that runs F1, these dumb arses think the best way to increase public interest is Street circuits in major cities. Has anyone ever heard of a safe way to run a Moto Gp race on a street circuit? So these same dumb arses saw huge crowds in the centre of Melbourne for F1 at Albert Park and demanded THAT. Never going to happen without lots of trees getting cut down to get enough runoff. So again, these dumb arses flipped to South Australia, who agreed to a Street Circuit. I predict more of this insanity elsewhere around the world as this bunch of marketers pull the same shit on other countries.
 
I agree pretty much with what Vince says but I don’t know anything about Adelaide. I think that Philip Island may be lovely for racers and a privileged few with access to the swanky hospitality and local accommodation, but not so much if you’re spending four hours per day on a bus; wading through ankle-deep mud to move around; wading through ankle deep human excrement in the toilets. Should not have come to this.
 
Just heard a radio interview with whane gardener. His take was they let it wind down amenity wise for years, either the local council or state government were opstrulent to upgrades. So falts on both sides. People have said other Asian rounds had better ameanatys and were cheaper. I have no idea how there going to do a street circuit in Adalade. 50km of air fence.
 
Vince said:
Just heard a radio interview with whane gardener. His take was they let it wind down amenity wise for years, either the local council or state government were opstrulent to upgrades. So falts on both sides. People have said other Asian rounds had better ameanatys and were cheaper. I have no idea how there going to do a street circuit in Adalade. 50km of air fence.
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Rider safety is my biggest question, we’re keen to give it a go but would not go back to Philip Island.
 
Vince said:
Just heard a radio interview with whane gardener. His take was they let it wind down amenity wise for years, either the local council or state government were opstrulent to upgrades.
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I did like his comment when asked about the future of his statue at PI ……. “They can stick it up their arse”
 
Obviously I’m a big fan of pure road racing, and I enjoy watching the carnage during the various car races on street circuits, but I’m not yet convinced this is the way to go with MotoGp.
 
Andy J said:
Obviously I’m a big fan of pure road racing, and I enjoy watching the carnage during the various car races on street circuits, but I’m not yet convinced this is the way to go with MotoGp.
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It’s clear, the South Australian Premier doesn’t understand motorcycle racing. There’s no way a GP could be run on a street circuit. He was flapping his gums about how great it would be watching GP bikes doing 320kph + around Adelaide’s city streets.

Australia is going down the gurgler faster than a GP bike on a city street!
 
They see $ signs, but actual motorcyclists are another thing entirely. It's definitely going to get funny as hell seeing this happen. Whaine and Casey are not happy, but Jack seems to be following the company line. It's going to take a lot of Air Fence to even get close to this working.
 
I agree with most of the above, but will wait and see how they go about making it acceptable for the riders.
There is a state election in March, I see this as a vote getter.
Unless I missed something then all the talk has only been about 2027 so far.
 
Myself and Maxene have been to 12 different MotoGP's around the world including PI, we did the Pole Position VIP tour package every time
Have to comment that compared with overseas tracks PI is embarrassing when it comes to the facilities on offer, just downright 2nd rate
Am not surprised at all that PI has lost the race, 2nd lowest attendance of all of the rounds, only beats Qatar
Cramped pits, narrow Pit lane, Port-A-Loos and Dongas at events, limited spectator seating, limited local accommodation for teams, list goes on

On the other hand we have been racing our bikes at PI in BEAR's since 2017 and just love the track, apart from the variable weather is the best track to race at in Australia
Hidden Valley is a close 2nd, track staff there are exceptional
The Bend is a great track but location, not so much
No chance MotoGP will go to EC, rubbish dump cans that idea
 
At the end of the day the track has to meet safety standards and the riders approval. 45 trees will be lost, shame about that.
Does Lindsey Fox still own PI circuit? Major investment to bring it up to standards and how many race events are held there every year.
Does Dorna own SBK?
Hope it's not the beginning of the end of PI.
 
On the money, Red. It's clear that feedback on the PI facilities has been very negative for quite some time and no real efforts were made to address the issues. Having said that, I'm pretty confident that the new owners of MGP were always going to dump PI in favour of a 'city' track - so Lindsay Fox or whoever owns it would have pumped in shizeloads of l moula to get it up to scratch only to have the rug pulled out from under them anyway. I have zero confidence in these new owners of MGP.
 
Netflix series next. It did wonders for F1 so maybe a positive for MotoGP in raising it's profile.
Personally I'd much prefer to travel to Malaysia or Thailand than go to PI.
Did the Thai GP several years ago, what a fantastic event that was. Really put PI to shame regarding off track entertainment and facilities.
All PI has is the circuit layout and camping.
 
You might say that, and it might not have crossed the new owners' minds. Does anyone remember the race stoppages and delays for either Cyclonic winds or flooding rain decided on by the riders? To your average American Corperation that sounds like UNIONISM. How could that happen? They have TV contracts to fulfil. Bodes well for a reality TV show with lots of Handbag fights, could be better than the actual racing for TV ratings. We had a similar thing happen to our traditional Sport of Rugby League. It was taken over by Marketing types, mainly Merdock and almost destroyed. The first thing they do is wipe out any Historic Legacy, just so dumb, as the historic base is why the sport exists. I guess lots of F1 types probably wish all that noise would stop so their party would be better. It's going to be interesting to see how this ends up.
 
I imagine the powers that be are already taking steps to make sure they can influence rider and manufacturer representation in the appropriate direction. Maybe top riders will have to view it as a demonstration weekend if they deem it too risky.
 
The proposed circuit wouldn’t phase the guys that race at Macau etc, but they are mostly super bike riders. It would only take one serious crash and the event would be history. I can foresee some boycotts on the horizon.
 
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