Layout used by Supercars from 1999 Layout used by Formula 1 from 1985 to 1995 and ALMS in 2000 | |
Location | Adelaide, South Australia |
---|---|
Time zone | UTC+09:30 ( UTC+10:30 DST) |
Coordinates | 34°55′38″S 138°37′2″E / 34.92722°S 138.61722°E |
FIA Grade | 3 [a] |
Owner | Adelaide City Council |
Opened | 31 October 1985 Re-opened in 8 April 1999 |
Closed | 12 November 1995 |
Former names | Adelaide Parklands Circuit |
Major events | Current: Supercars Championship Adelaide 500 (1999–2020, 2022–present) Supercars Challenge (1993–1995) Former: Formula One Australian Grand Prix (1985–1995) American Le Mans Series Race of a Thousand Years (2000) 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 street circuit in the East Parklands adjacent to the Adelaide central business district in South Australia, Australia.
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]
This section needs additional citations for
verification. (December 2022) |
During Adelaide's era hosting the Australian Grand Prix, the circuit hosted annual non-championship races for the Australian Touring Car Championship.
From 1999 until 2020, the track hosted an annual Supercars race, the Adelaide 500, (in most years a 2 x 250 km race) on a shorter, 3.219 km (2.000 mi) variant of the track. The event became one of the most acclaimed on the Supercars calendar, and is the only event added to the Supercars Hall of Fame. [3] The event returned in 2022.
This section needs additional citations for
verification. (December 2022) |
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]
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]
After the chicane the cars take a fast left turn to go uphill on a short straight on Wakefield Road to East Terrace.
The first of a series of three 90 degree corners. The first corner was notable for the fortunate vantage point of Christian Brothers College.
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]
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 is a fast right-hand sweeper named after the Kent Town Brewery that opens onto Dequetteville Terrace.[ citation needed]
The Dequetteville Terrace straight (named after Jack Brabham for Formula One and Peter Brock for the Adelaide 500) was a 900 m (980 yd) stretch where the over 1,000 bhp (746 kW; 1,014 PS) Formula One cars in the turbo era (1985–88) were reaching speeds in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h) making Adelaide easily the fastest street circuit of the time as the only others were the much tighter Monaco, Detroit and Phoenix circuits.[ citation needed] The short form of the track rejoins Brabham Straight two-thirds of the way down, so the 640 m (700 yd) long Bartels Road straight is longest on that layout. In 2007 this section of track was renamed Brock Straight after touring car driver Peter Brock.[ citation needed]
At the end of Brabham Straight is a right hand hairpin turn (at the Britannia Roundabout) that directs the driver back onto Wakefield Road.
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]
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]
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]
The fastest recorded lap of the 1.4 km (0.87 mi) Victoria Park Sprint circuit is 0:42.5753 set by Ivan Capelli on 2 December 2018 driving a March CG891 car from the 1989 Formula One season.
Class | Driver | Vehicle | Time | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Outright | Ivan Capelli | March CG891 Ilmor | 0:42.5753 | 2 December 2018 |
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 birds and possums living in them. There is no larger wildlife in the parklands, as they are heavily developed. These concerns seem to have been proven unfounded, as spectators often watch magpies and rosellas when there is nothing happening on the track. Indeed, the total road traffic during race weekend is significantly less than there is any other day of the year.
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 Pedal Prix and a prologue stage of the Classic Adelaide Rally and the replacement Targa Adelaide Rally.
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.
Layout used by Supercars from 1999 Layout used by Formula 1 from 1985 to 1995 and ALMS in 2000 | |
Location | Adelaide, South Australia |
---|---|
Time zone | UTC+09:30 ( UTC+10:30 DST) |
Coordinates | 34°55′38″S 138°37′2″E / 34.92722°S 138.61722°E |
FIA Grade | 3 [a] |
Owner | Adelaide City Council |
Opened | 31 October 1985 Re-opened in 8 April 1999 |
Closed | 12 November 1995 |
Former names | Adelaide Parklands Circuit |
Major events | Current: Supercars Championship Adelaide 500 (1999–2020, 2022–present) Supercars Challenge (1993–1995) Former: Formula One Australian Grand Prix (1985–1995) American Le Mans Series Race of a Thousand Years (2000) 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 street circuit in the East Parklands adjacent to the Adelaide central business district in South Australia, Australia.
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]
This section needs additional citations for
verification. (December 2022) |
During Adelaide's era hosting the Australian Grand Prix, the circuit hosted annual non-championship races for the Australian Touring Car Championship.
From 1999 until 2020, the track hosted an annual Supercars race, the Adelaide 500, (in most years a 2 x 250 km race) on a shorter, 3.219 km (2.000 mi) variant of the track. The event became one of the most acclaimed on the Supercars calendar, and is the only event added to the Supercars Hall of Fame. [3] The event returned in 2022.
This section needs additional citations for
verification. (December 2022) |
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]
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]
After the chicane the cars take a fast left turn to go uphill on a short straight on Wakefield Road to East Terrace.
The first of a series of three 90 degree corners. The first corner was notable for the fortunate vantage point of Christian Brothers College.
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]
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 is a fast right-hand sweeper named after the Kent Town Brewery that opens onto Dequetteville Terrace.[ citation needed]
The Dequetteville Terrace straight (named after Jack Brabham for Formula One and Peter Brock for the Adelaide 500) was a 900 m (980 yd) stretch where the over 1,000 bhp (746 kW; 1,014 PS) Formula One cars in the turbo era (1985–88) were reaching speeds in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h) making Adelaide easily the fastest street circuit of the time as the only others were the much tighter Monaco, Detroit and Phoenix circuits.[ citation needed] The short form of the track rejoins Brabham Straight two-thirds of the way down, so the 640 m (700 yd) long Bartels Road straight is longest on that layout. In 2007 this section of track was renamed Brock Straight after touring car driver Peter Brock.[ citation needed]
At the end of Brabham Straight is a right hand hairpin turn (at the Britannia Roundabout) that directs the driver back onto Wakefield Road.
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]
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]
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]
The fastest recorded lap of the 1.4 km (0.87 mi) Victoria Park Sprint circuit is 0:42.5753 set by Ivan Capelli on 2 December 2018 driving a March CG891 car from the 1989 Formula One season.
Class | Driver | Vehicle | Time | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Outright | Ivan Capelli | March CG891 Ilmor | 0:42.5753 | 2 December 2018 |
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 birds and possums living in them. There is no larger wildlife in the parklands, as they are heavily developed. These concerns seem to have been proven unfounded, as spectators often watch magpies and rosellas when there is nothing happening on the track. Indeed, the total road traffic during race weekend is significantly less than there is any other day of the year.
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 Pedal Prix and a prologue stage of the Classic Adelaide Rally and the replacement Targa Adelaide Rally.
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.