From surfing and car racing to cycling and tennis, Australia has an impressive lineup of major and international sporting events which draw millions to it shores each year. It is home to the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the Santos Tour Downunder, and the Australian Open tennis grand slam to name a few, and this weekend one of the world’s most glamorous sporting events, The Formula 1® Rolex Australian Grand Prix, hits Melbourne. If you love sport, or just want to be part of the action, here’s our top pick of events to choose from.
March To May
The world’s racing’s elite will descend upon Albert Park in Melbourne this weekend from March 22 to 25 in the opening round of the 2018 Formula 1® season. One of only five street circuits featured on the Formula One calendar, each March the inner-city park is transformed into a high-octane, high-speed racetrack for four days. Meanwhile west of Melbourne, one of surfing’s iconic competitions, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, begins March 28. Moving into April, and Queensland’s sunny Gold Coast will come under the spotlight as the 2018 Commonwealth Games get underway on April 4. For 11 days various venues across the region will host athletes from countries across the Commonwealth, as they compete in 18 sports and seven para-sports during the event. And if you want to check out Australia’s version of the English Premier League, the A-League 2018 Grand Final is expected to take place on May 5, on a Saturday for the first time in the league’s history.
June To August
Winter in Australia has a focus on rugby league and rugby union, with the hotly contested State of Origin games played in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, beginning on June 6. In the world of rugby union, newly crowned Six Nations champions, Ireland, will visit Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney for three test matches starting on June 9, while the first of the three Bledisloe Cup matches between Australia and New Zealand will take place in Sydney on August 18. Still with football, and English Premier League giants, Chelsea Football Club, are set to return to Australia in late winter to play a match against Perth Glory at the city’s brand new 65,000 seater Perth Stadium.
September To November
As the temperature across Australia begins to rise a number of key grand finals take place, including the Australian rules football AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 29, while rugby league’s NRL Grand Final will grip the nation the following day on September 30 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Meanwhile, motorsports fans have much to cheer starting with the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 beginning on October 4, a 1000 kilometre touring car race around the famous Mount Panorama circuit in New South Wales, followed by the Gold Coast 600 in Surfers Paradise beginning on October 19. And fans of two-wheel racing will head to Victoria’s Phillip Island a week later for the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix on October 28. The quarter wraps up with racing’s Spring Carnival at Melbourne’s Flemington racecourse, culminating with Lexus Melbourne Cup Day on November 6, aka the “race that stops a nation”.
December To February
Summer is ruled by cricket, with the ever popular Big Bash League Twenty20 tournament starting in December, and international one-day, test and T20 matches taking place all summer. On Boxing Day spectators flock to Sydney Harbour vantage points to watch the beginning of the spectacular Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, while in Adelaide, the Santos Tour Down Under takes place in January. Tennis also takes centre stage in the Australian summer with the Australian Open spanning two weeks from January 14.
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