Game developer seeks court injunction over Adelaide MotoGP rider safety concerns

Joshua Hogan walked into Federal Court on Friday with a simple but serious claim: the Adelaide MotoGP circuit being built in South Australia's parklands does not meet the safety standards required to protect the world's fastest motorcycle racers. Hogan is a game developer from Queensland who has spent six months studying the proposed 4.13-kilometre track, and he believes the inconsistencies he found are serious enough to warrant a court order halting construction—including the removal of trees already underway in the parklands.

The Adelaide circuit would be unique in the MotoGP World Championship: the only street circuit on the calendar. It draws on Adelaide's old Formula One layout, reusing the straight down Rundle Road and a corner near the Stag Hotel. The event is scheduled to begin next year. Hogan, representing himself in court, framed his concern not as a technical objection but as a matter of human consequence. "They could possibly be killed in a situation if the track itself is not adequate to a Grade A safety standard in the FIM," he told the judge, referring to the international motorsport federation that sets safety benchmarks.

Hogan is not alone in raising these questions. Wayne Gardner, a former MotoGP world champion, has previously voiced concerns about the circuit's design. Motorsport journalists have done the same. Yet the South Australian government has moved forward with confidence. Its official position, stated on the government website, is that the circuit design emerged from "detailed collaboration" between the SA Motor Sport Board, the FIM, MotoGP itself, and Supercars Australia. The design includes run-off areas, air fences, and marshals positioned to manage risk. "There are no compromises when it comes to rider and driver safety," the government's statement reads.

After Friday's hearing, a government spokesperson reinforced this message. The state has engaged experts in engineering, circuit design, and motorsport safety. More pointedly, the government cited the involvement of Loris Capirossi, a former 125cc and 250cc world champion who now serves as MotoGP's Safety Advisor, and Mark Skaife, a five-time Supercars champion. These names carry weight in the motorsport world. They suggest the circuit has been vetted by people who understand both the sport and its dangers at the highest level.

Hogan's legal strategy rests on federal environmental law. He argues that the MotoGP development should have been referred to the Federal Minister for the Environment under conservation statutes, and that proceeding without that referral breaches federal law. This argument echoes a previous challenge Hogan mounted against the North Adelaide golf course upgrade—a case the Federal Court had already dismissed. Alison Doecke KC, the lawyer representing the SA government, told the court on Friday that the MotoGP development had indeed been referred to the federal minister. She said the state expects a response to the initial referral between October 21 and 23, after which "early works" on the circuit would begin.

Justice Erin Longbottom did not rule on the injunction request during Friday's hearing. Instead, she ordered both Hogan and the SA government to file written submissions later this month. The court will then decide whether to block the project or allow it to proceed. The timeline is tight. If the federal environmental referral comes back as expected in late October, the government plans to start early construction work almost immediately. For Hogan, the next few weeks represent his window to convince a judge that rider safety concerns warrant stopping the project. For the government, the question is whether a self-represented developer's six months of research can outweigh the endorsement of world-class motorsport safety experts and the international bodies that govern the sport.