Adelaide Street Circuit
GT World Challenge Australia (2007–2013, 2015–2017, 2022–2023) S5000 (2023) S5000 Tasman Series (2022) Stadium Super Trucks (2015–2018, 2020) | |
| Supercars Circuit (1999–2020, 2022–present) | |
|---|---|
| Length | 3.219 km (2.001 miles) |
| Turns | 14 |
| Race lap record | 1:16.0357 ( Aaron Cameron, Rogers AF01/V8, 2023, S5000) |
| Grand Prix Circuit (1985–1995, 2000) | |
| Length | 3.780 km (2.349 miles) |
| Turns | 16 |
| Race lap record | 1:15.381 ( Damon Hill, Williams FW15C, 1993, F1) |
The Adelaide Street Circuit (also known as the Adelaide Parklands Circuit) is a temporary
The 3.780 km (2.349 mi) "Grand Prix" version of the track hosted eleven Formula One Australian Grand Prix events from 1985 to 1995, as well as an American Le Mans Series endurance race on New Year's Eve in 2000 (Race of a Thousand Years). Between 1999 and 2020 and again from 2022, a shortened 3.219 km (2.000 mi) version of the circuit has been used for the Clipsal/ Adelaide 500 touring car race. It is also being used by the Adelaide Motorsport Festival.[1]
Formula 1 Grand Prix
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- Ligier pair Jacques Laffite and Philippe Streiff. Streiff tried to overtake his teammate with just over a lap to go and collided with him. Both carried on; Laffite was undamaged but Streiff's left front wheel was held on only by the suspension mounting points which had not broken all the way through. Only 8 of the 26 starters reached the chequered flag in a race run in 35 °C heat. It was the last Grand Prix for the factory Renault team, the pioneers of turbocharging in F1 bowing out as a constructor (Renault would return to Grand Prix Racing as a constructor in 2002). The Grand Prix won the Formula One Race Promoters' Trophy as the best run Formula One Grand Prix of 1985.[citation needed]
- John Player Special, or run the Renault turbo engine, the turbo pioneers in F1 not supplying their turbocharged engines after the season.
- 1987: Both qualifying and the race were dominated by Ferrari's Gerhard Berger, who won from pole and set the fastest lap, after also having won the previous race in Japan from pole. Ayrton Senna finished 2nd on the road in his Lotus-Honda, but was later disqualified for oversized brake ducts, giving Berger's teammate Michele Alboreto 2nd place and Ferrari's first 1–2 since the 1985 Canadian Grand Prix. Thierry Boutsen finished 3rd in his Benetton-Ford in the last race for the Ford V6 turbo as the company had decided to build an all new V8 engine in readiness for the new naturally aspirated formula to be introduced in 1989.
- Frenchman. Prost then won from Senna, with outgoing World Champion Nelson Piquet in his Lotus-Honda making it an all Honda turbo podium in the last F1 race for turbo powered cars.
- 1989: The first of two wet races in Adelaide. Newly crowned World Champion Alain Prost (McLaren) pulled out after only one lap protesting the conditions. Only eight cars finished, with retirements including former World Champions Nelson Piquet who drove his Lotus into the back of Piercarlo Ghinzani's Osella on lap 19, and Ayrton Senna who drove his McLaren-Honda into the back of Martin Brundle's Brabham-Judd while some 30 seconds in the lead on lap 13. Television commentator Murray Walker described the vision from the rearward-facing camera on Brundle's car as "Senna bearing down on it like Jaws". Thierry Boutsen, who had finished 3rd in 1987, won his second Grand Prix of the season for Williams-Renault (and his second wet race) from the Benetton of the Japanese Grand Prix winner Alessandro Nannini. Satoru Nakajima spun at the chicane on the first lap, but then charged hard through the field, setting the fastest lap of the race (1:38.480 compared to Senna's pole time of 1:16.665) and was rewarded with 4th place, only 4.648 seconds behind the Williams of Riccardo Patrese.
- 1990: The 500th World Championship Grand Prix held was again held in oppressive heat. Newly crowned World Champion Ayrton Senna again dominated qualifying and won the pole in his McLaren-Honda. He then led the race for 61 laps before crashing out when his gearbox failed. Nelson Piquet (Benetton-Ford) won his second F1 GP in a row having won the previous race in Japan. Ferrari's Nigel Mansell set numerous lap records chasing Senna and later Piquet, only to finish 2nd by 3 seconds after a passing move on the last lap at the hairpin at the end of the Brabham Straight just missed taking both cars out. Mansell pulled out to lap the Brabham of Stefano Modena and attempted to take the Benetton as well, but was too far back and only just managed to slow his Ferrari up enough to avoid Piquet as he turned into the corner.
- 1991: Due to the wet conditions, the race was stopped after 14 laps. Race winner Ayrton Senna had waved furiously from his cockpit that the conditions were too wet to race. 1990 winner Nelson Piquet retired from Formula One after the race, having won 24 races and 3 World Championships (1981, 1983 and 1987) in his career which started in 1978. Only half points were awarded for the race, the first time it had happened in F1 since the wet 1984 Monaco Grand Prix.[2] This race held the record for the shortest Grand Prix until that record was broken by the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.
- Indy Car championship, 1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell qualified his Williams-Renault on pole position. He was taken out at the pits hairpin while leading on lap 18 by the McLaren-Honda of outgoing World Champion Ayrton Senna. Senna's teammate Gerhard Berger narrowly won his second Australian Grand Prix, finishing only 0.741 in front of Michael Schumacher's Benetton-Ford. Martin Brundlefinished 3rd in his Benetton, 54 seconds behind Berger and Schumacher. After five years (1988–92), four World Drivers' Championships, four Constructors Championships (1988–91) and 44 wins (15 turbo and 29 non-turbo), it was the last F1 race for McLaren using Honda engines with the Japanese company pulling out of Formula One.
- 1993: Ayrton Senna's 41st and last Grand Prix win in his last race for McLaren, and the 62nd pole position of his career. It was also the last of 199 Grands Prix for four time (1985, 1986, 1989 and 1993) World Champion Alain Prost who finished 2nd in his Williams-Renault. Prost's teammate Damon Hill, the son of twice (1962 and 1968) World Champion Graham Hill (who also won the non-championship 1966 AGP), finished 3rd.
- 1994: In 1994 the World Championship was decided in Adelaide for the second time. Damon Hill (Williams-Renault) and Michael Schumacher (Benetton-Ford) collided on lap 35 at turn 6, and neither was able to complete the race. Schumacher therefore won the drivers' championship, with Hill finishing in second place, one point behind. Making what was thought to be a one off comeback, 1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell, driving for Williams, claimed the pole position for the race which also won Williams their 3rd straight Constructors' Championship and their 7th overall (Mansell had driven for the team in four of their Constructors' title winning years). He went on to score his 31st and last F1 win from the Ferrari of his former Ferrari teammate of 1989 Gerhard Berger, and Martin Brundle in the McLaren-Peugeot.
- 1995: McLaren-Mercedes driver Mika Häkkinen suffered a tyre failure during the first qualifying session on Friday at the high speed Brewery Bend between Jones and Brabham Straights. He crashed heavily into the wall and required an emergency tracheotomy, which was performed by the side of the track by an off-duty local doctor who happened to be spectating where Häkkinen crashed.[citation needed] The Finnish driver was then transported to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, less than 1 km from the point of the circuit where he crashed. He would spend a month recovering in the hospital. Damon Hill won the final Grand Prix held at the circuit, lapping all the finishers by at least two laps. Hill's win saw he and his late father Graham (1966) join Stan (1959) and Alan Jones (1980) as the only father-son combinations to win the Australian Grand Prix (they would later be joined by Keke and Nico Rosberg who won in 1985 and 2014 respectively). The final Grand Prix in Adelaide set a Formula One attendance record of 210,000, which stood until 250,000 attended the 2000 United States Grand Prix held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race was also the third time the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide had won the Formula One Race Promoters' Trophy as the best run Formula One Grand Prix of the season, having also won in 1985 and 1990.[citation needed]
Supercars
During Adelaide's era hosting the Australian Grand Prix, the circuit hosted annual non-championship races for the Australian Touring Car Championship.
From
Circuit
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2022) |
Pit Straight
The Adelaide Street Circuit pit straight on Victoria Park is 500 m (550 yd) long and faces northwest. All the buildings and grandstands are temporary and were removed each year due to ongoing campaigning by the Adelaide Parklands Preservation Association Inc.[citation needed]
Senna Chicane (Turns 1, 2 and 3)
At the end of the straight, drivers negotiate the Senna Chicane, so named after triple World Champion Ayrton Senna following his death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.[citation needed] Senna had sat on the pole for the first Adelaide Grand Prix in 1985, and would go on to take the pole in Adelaide 6 times in 9 races, while winning in 1991 (the second shortest race in Formula One history due to torrential rain, after the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix), as well as his last career victory in 1993.[citation needed]
Wakefield Road climb
After the chicane the cars take a fast left turn to go uphill on a short straight on Wakefield Road to East Terrace.
Christian Brothers College (Turn 4)
The first of a series of three 90 degree corners. The first corner was notable for the fortunate vantage point of Christian Brothers College.
Market Chicane (Turns 7 and 8)
Followed by fourth onto Bartels Road back across the parklands. Then the track follows the fast turn 8 sweeper. This corner was re-configured in 2009 and it produced some protests from many of the teams due to its speed and lack of runoff area.[citation needed] Turn 8 has been the site of many crashes in the various categories that have used the shortened version of the circuit.[citation needed]
Stag Corner (Turn 9)
The full Grand Prix circuit bypasses the turn onto Bartels Road and continues with a sweeping left-right-right into Stag Turn (turn 9). This leads onto the 360 m (390 yd) long Jones Straight, known as Rundle Road for the rest of the year and named after Australia's 1980 World Champion Alan Jones.[citation needed]
Brewery Bend (Turn 10)
Brewery Bend is a fast right-hand sweeper named after the Kent Town Brewery that opens onto Dequetteville Terrace.[citation needed]
Dequetteville Terrace
The
Britannia Roundabout / Fosters Corner (Turn 11)
At the end of Brabham Straight is a right hand hairpin turn (at the Britannia Roundabout) that directs the driver back onto Wakefield Road.
Victoria Park (Turns 12, 13, 14 and 15)
After accelerating out of the hairpin the driver faces a left turn and a long sweeping right-hand curve back into Victoria Park behind the pit area. The lap concludes with another right-hand hairpin (Racetrack Hairpin) onto the pit straight.
The track is essentially flat except for a small valley on the Brock Straight, and a slight incline on Jones Straight, while the run-up Wakefield Road from turns 3 to 4 also has a slight incline.[citation needed] All of these sections of the track run in an east–west direction. The elevation ranges from 36–53 m (118–174 ft).[citation needed]
During the Formula One and early V8 Supercar eras the Victoria Park Racecourse, a horse racing track, was located at the park, though has since been removed.[citation needed]
Sprint Circuit
Between 2014 and 2018, an annual Adelaide Motorsport Festival ran on the Victoria Park Sprint Circuit, a shortened 1.4 km (0.87 mi) layout. The layout turned right along Wakefield Street after the Senna Chicane and then rejoined the main circuit for the final corners.[4] The event had attracted older Formula 1 machinery, with Ivan Capelli holding the lap record in a March CG891.[5] The event was returned on March 24–26, 2023; and will be scheduled to held on March 15-17, 2024.[6][7]
Lap records
The fastest ever recorded lap of the original 3.780 km (2.349 mi) Grand Prix Circuit was 1:13.371 by triple World Champion Ayrton Senna driving a McLaren MP4/8 Ford during qualifying for the 1993 Australian Grand Prix.[8] However, as this was in qualifying and not a race, it does not count as the lap record.
The fastest officially recorded lap of the 3.219 km (2.000 mi) Supercars circuit is 1:16.0357 set by Aaron Cameron on 24 November 2023 driving a Rogers AF01/V8 in 2023 S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship.[9] As of November 2023, the fastest official race lap records at Adelaide Street Circuit are listed as:[8][10][11]
Sprint circuit
The fastest recorded lap of the 1.4 km (0.87 mi) Victoria Park Sprint circuit is 0:42.5753 set by
| Class | Driver | Vehicle | Time | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outright |  Ivan Capelli
|
March CG891 Ilmor | 0:42.5753 | 2 December 2018 |
Other information
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2022) |
When the idea of holding a Grand Prix in the parklands was first raised, there was some opposition from people concerned about environmental damage, as the parks have a number of mature trees with
The race meetings have the feature race, but also a number of races for "lesser" categories, making four days of entertainment for the crowds of spectators, without long periods of boredom that could occur if only practice and qualifying for the main event preceded it. Many of the events also have after-race concerts on a stage erected for the purpose on a playing field in the middle of the track. Some of the artists who have performed the concerts either at the Grand Prix or the Clipsal 500 include Cher, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Daryl Braithwaite, INXS and Kiss. During her concert following the 1993 AGP, Tina Turner had an impromptu visitor in the form of the race winner and triple World Champion Ayrton Senna. Although she had already performed the song earlier, as a tribute to Senna, Turner again sung her hit song "The Best".
The stadium section also hosted the
The pit straight is used each November for the Sporting Car Club of South Australia's annual John Blanden's Climb to the Eagle. This event commenced as part of the 1985 Formula One with many well known racing identities taking part. The event sees up to 600 sports and exotic cars lined up on the starting grid before leaving to drive to Eagle on the Hill in the Adelaide Hills on the Friday of the weekend when the F1 Grand Prix was traditionally held in Adelaide. Another event held in November is the annual Toy Run which features over 1,000 motorcycle riders donating toys for under privileged children. The Toy Run moved to using the pit straight as its starting point in 2012 after previously starting from Glenelg.
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Shorter route used by V8 Supercars -
Longer route used by Formula 1 and ALMS
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Gallery
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Pole position for the Adelaide 500 -
Adelaide GP circuit pole position
See also
- Supercars Championship
- Formula One
- American Le Mans Series
- Australian Grand Prix
- Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
Notes
References
- ^ "Classic Formula 1 cars will return to town at the 2023 Adelaide Motorsport Festival this March • Glam Adelaide". 8 March 2023.
- ^ 1991 Formula One telecast of the Australian Grand Prix 1991, BBC. Commentary by Murray Walker.
- ^ "Hall of fame". Supercars. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ "Ivan Capelli Targets Lap Record at Adelaide Motorsport Festival". Auto Action. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ Howard, Tom (2 December 2018). "Capelli smashes Adelaide Motorsport Festival lap record". Speedcafe. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ Iwan Jones (16 August 2022). "Adelaide Motorsport Festival return locked in". Speedcafe.
- ^ "Adelaide Motorsport Festival". Adelaide Motorsport Festival. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Austin 7 Club (S.A.) Inc. - Lap Records". www.austin7clubsa.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Cameron Cruises to Opening Adelaide Win". S5000. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Adelaide Fastest Lap Comparison". Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ^ "Natsoft Race Timing & Results Archives". Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^ "2023 VAILO Adelaide 500 - Adelaide Parklands Circuit - 2023 S5000 Australian Drivers Championship - Race 1 - Classification". 24 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ "2023 VAILO Adelaide 500 - Adelaide Parklands Circuit - 2023 Repco Supercars Championship - Race 27 - Classification". 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ "Round 8, 2023: VAILO Adelaide 500". Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ "CLEANEVENTS NATIONS CUP - RACE 3". 21 March 2004. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ "2020 Adelaide Superloop Race 3". Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "Australian GT Championship Adelaide 2007". Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ a b c "Asia Pacific Le Mans Series 2000". Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "1990 Ansett Air Freight Challenge, Formula 1 support race". Retrieved 21 December 2022.
External links
- Clipsal 500
- Adelaide Street Circuit race results at Racing-Reference
- Grandprix.com GP Encyclopedia: Circuits: Adelaide
- Satellite picture by Google Maps