There was an air of uncertainty at the Adelaide 500 in February 2020. GM’s axing of the Holden brand, just days old, had cast significant doubt over the future of Supercars. The full brunt of COVID-19 was yet to be felt in Australia, but there were ominous signs overseas. And the Adelaide circuit precinct itself, once the pride of South Australia’s events industry, felt flat and empty.
In the days following the event it was revealed that just 206,000 people had come through the gate, the lowest tally since the move to a four-day format back in 2004. The Sunday numbers slumped from 91,500 in 2019 to 66,000 in 2020.
