The Challenge

After cancellation under the previous government, the beloved Adelaide 500 Supercars race returned in 2022. COVID-19 had hit events and interstate tourism hard, and the challenge was to relaunch the event nationally as a must-see motorsport festival, reinvigorating interest and attendance, while also encouraging tourism in SA more broadly.

The Response

Unlike many car races that use for-purpose tracks, the Adelaide 500 transforms everyday streets into a battleground for the world’s best racers. Showpony focused on this street-racing, celebrating the thrill of Supercars tearing through city streets. 

To build a sense of anticipation, the campaign featured Supercars converging on Adelaide, making their way through picturesque South Australian locations and tourism destinations before squaring up on the track. The approach allowed us to balance the adrenaline of the race while featuring many of the locations SA has to offer visitors. 

Putting a supercar on the roads requires permissions, road closures, stunt drivers and of course, access to the cars. Each year the cars are modified slightly in terms of shape, livery and drivers so we couldn’t just borrow a car from a previous year, we were going to have to “fix them in post”.

The campaign launched nationally during the 2022 AFL Grand Final to maximize attention, with a one-minute film that combined new and existing footage, stunt drivers, track cars, and CGI.