Australia’s move of its MotoGP round from Phillip Island to Adelaide in 2027 is running into increasing local opposition, according to a new report by Australian Motorcycle News Deputy Editor Hamish Cooper.

Writing in the latest issue of AMCN, widely-respetced Cooper reports that protests over the proposed Victoria Park circuit are growing, while much of the controversy is being fueled by the lack of publicly available details about the final circuit design and its impact on Adelaide’s parklands.

Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith has warned that the new circuit could “irrevocably and permanently” alter the city’s parklands, while protesters have focused particularly on the possible removal of trees. Cooper notes, however, that without a final circuit layout it is impossible to know how many trees—or which ones—would actually be affected.

Meanwhile, South Australia’s government remains firmly committed to staging the race. The South Australian Motorsport Board has recruited former Formula One executive Judith Griggs, who helped establish the Australian GP at Melbourne’s Albert Park, along with experienced personnel from Supercars and Adelaide’s successful LIV Golf event.

The clock is nevertheless ticking. The inaugural Adelaide MotoGP is scheduled for November 2027, leaving organizers a little more than a year to finalize, build and homologate the new circuit.

Cooper concludes that while selling an Adelaide MotoGP to the international racing world has been relatively easy, selling it to Adelaide’s own residents is proving considerably more difficult.

Source: Hamish Cooper, Deputy Editor, Australian Motorcycle News, August 14, 2026.