With less than 50 days to go, organisers for this year's Clipsal 500 are working to complete the track that will greet hundreds of thousands of visitors due to flock to the premier racing event between February 27 and March 2.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
More than 10,000 tonnes of material will be used in the build to create 45,000 square metres of grandstand platform structures, 35,000 linear metres of fencing and an elaborate race-pit structure equivalent in size to a 20 story building standing on its side.
Clipsal 500 chief executive officer Mark Warren referred to the task ahead as his "midlife crisis job".
"I get to build the equivalent of a small village each year for 95,000 people," he said.
"If I am not happy with the end result, I get to pull it all down and do it again next year."
More than 80 per cent of those attending this small village come from within the state, with the balance made up of interstate and overseas visitors.
According to Warren, 68 per cent of visitors flock from metropolitan Adelaide and 14 per cent make the trip from South Australia's regional areas.
The largest proportion of regional patronage coming from the Barossa, McLaren Vale, Mount Gambier, Roxby Downs, Port Pirie and Murray Bridge.
The popularity of the event which attracted 250,000 last year can be seen in the advance ticket purchase of two-thirds of the available 35,000 seats.
Warren said many people want to save their seats so they can spend the following year's race with friends they've made track-side.
"Some people have had the same seats since the Grand Prix days," he said.
"It is about the relationships they have made and the community that forms in the grandstand."
But it seems the race itself is not the only draw card.
"The DNA of the event is the concert with 25 per cent of attendees coming just for the party.
"Its a fact that some people just love events and the atmosphere – its not even the racing but they get a bit of racing along the way."
This year's crowd should not be disappointed with Warren and the Clipsal 500 team working to "shake things up" to meet patrons' expectations of a bigger and better event each year.
The 2014 event, running from February 27 until March 2, features a new format with two 125-kilometre races to be held at twilight on Saturday March 1.
The flag will fall on the first of the 39 lap V8 Supercars events about 4pm with the second set to take off about 7pm to finish as the sun sets over the Adelaide Parkland's circuit.
Sunday's race format will see the V8 supercars line up for qualifying, the top ten shoot out and the final 250 kilometre decider race.
And of course there is the entertainment with International and Australian artists on hand to close each night's racing.
Bliss N Eso and Horrorshow kicking off the entertainment on Friday night while Empire of the Sun and Kimbra will entertain audiences on Saturday night.
The big closing night concert will see Keith Urban, Guy Sebastian and Boom Crash Opera on the main stage.
"The response to Keith Urban has been big and we have doubled the sales, so far, for the Sunday concert," Warren said.