Mick Doohan supports MotoGP’s move to Adelaide, where the championship’s new Australian event is expected to debut in 2027. For the five-time world champion, the major advantage is not simply the circuit itself, but the substantially easier journey for spectators compared with Phillip Island.

The change remains controversial. Some MotoGP supporters are unhappy about leaving an iconic circuit for a more commercially focused race in a city, while some Adelaide residents oppose plans to build the track in city parkland, a project linked to the loss of 400 trees.

Adelaide should be much easier to reach than Phillip Island, a difference expected to increase both attendance and visitor spending over the race weekend. Phillip Island regularly draws fewer than 100,000 spectators across the weekend and fewer than 50,000 on race day. The argument for the new location is that a city event simplifies travel, accommodation and access to the circuit, while also supporting spending on tickets, merchandise, food and drinks.

Doohan described an Adelaide event where visitors could fly into the city, reach their hotels and the circuit, and experience a race woven into the life of the city. He also expects the new location to attract a younger generation of fans and make MotoGP more accessible.

His view carries particular weight because of his premier-class record. Doohan won 54 races and five world titles before injury brought his career to a premature end in 1999. He won twice and scored four podiums at Eastern Creek, while his Phillip Island record included one victory, in 1998. The circuit’s first corner now carries his name.