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.
.svg) Layout used by Supercars from 1999 until 2026 | |
.svg) Layout used by Formula One from 1985 to 1995 and ALMS in 2000 | |
| Location | Adelaide, South Australia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°55′50″S 138°37′14″E / 34.93056°S 138.62056°E |
| FIA Grade | 3 |
| 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 Grand Final (1999–2020, 2022–present) Supercars Challenge (1985–1995) GT World Challenge Australia (2007–2013, 2015–2017, 2022–2023, 2026) Future: Grand Prix motorcycle racing Australian motorcycle Grand Prix (2027) Former: Formula One Australian Grand Prix (1985–1995) American Le Mans Series Race of a Thousand Years (2000) Stadium Super Trucks (2015–2018, 2020, 2024) S5000 (2023) S5000 Tasman Series (2022) |
| Supercars Circuit (1999–2026) | |
| Length | 3.219 km (2.000 mi) |
| Turns | 14 |
| Race lap record | 1:16.0357 ( Aaron Cameron, Rogers AF01/V8, 2023, S5000) |
| Formula One Grand Prix Circuit (1985–1995, 2000) | |
| Length | 3.780 km (2.349 mi) |
| Turns | 16 |
| Race lap record | 1:15.381 ( Damon Hill, Williams FW15C, 1993, F1) |
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 the Race of a Thousand Years American Le Mans Series race in 2000. 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 Adelaide 500 touring car race. It is also used by the Adelaide Motorsport Festival. A modified layout of the original track will be used for the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix from 2027.
Formula One
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Following Adelaide being awarded a round of the 1985 Formula One World Championship in October 1984, construction of the circuit by Macmahon Holdings.[1][2] The first event was held in 1985 as the final event of the season. The last Formula One race at the circuit was held in 1995 after which the rights were lost to Melbourne and the event moved to the Albert Park Street Circuit.[3]
Supercars
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During Adelaide's era hosting the Australian Grand Prix, the circuit hosted annual non-championship races for the Group A and later Group 3A touring cars.
From 1999 until 2020, the track hosted the Adelaide 500 for Supercars, 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.[4][5] The event returned in 2022 but as the last event of the year, having previously usually been the opening event.[6]
MotoGP
editIn 2027, a round of the MotoGP championship will be held when the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix moves from Phillip Island. It will use a heavily modified version of the Formula One Circuit.[7]
Circuit
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The Adelaide Street Circuit commences pit straight in Victoria Park. It is 500 m (550 yd) long and faces northwest. All the buildings and grandstands are temporary and were removed each year.
At the end of the straight, drivers negotiate the Senna Chicane, named after Ayrton Senna following his death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.[8] After the chicane the cars take a fast left turn to go uphill on a short straight on Wakefield Road to East Terrace before the first of three 90 degree corners. A fourth 90 degree followed onto Bartels Road back across the parklands. Then the track follows the fast turn 8 sweeper.
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 Rundle Road that was named after Alan Jones in 1987.[9]
In 2017, the building and opening of the O-Bahn Busway access and tunnel running off of Grenfell Street and across the circuit where the sweeping left-right-right (turns 7, 8 and 9) were made it necessary to actually move turns 7 and 8 approximately 100 metres to the south. While not affecting the overall length of the full circuit, it would make the run from turn 6 shorter and the run to turn 9 longer. The sweeping bends were also known as Banana Bend due to its location adjacent to the Adelaide Fruit Markets.
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]
Sprint Circuit
editBetween 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.[10] The event had attracted older Formula One machinery, with Ivan Capelli holding the lap record in a March CG891.[11] The event was returned on March 24–26, 2023; and was also held on March 15–17, 2024.[12][13]
Events
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- Current
- November: Supercars Championship Adelaide 500, GT World Challenge Australia, Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship, SuperUtes Series, Super2 Series
- Future
- Former
- American Le Mans Series
- Race of a Thousand Years (2000)
- Audi R8 LMS Cup (2018–2019)
- Aussie Racing Cars (2004–2007, 2009–2014, 2016–2017, 2019, 2025)
- Australian Drivers' Championship (1987, 1990, 1999–2001)
- Australian Formula 3 Championship (2002–2004, 2008–2009, 2012, 2014)
- Australian Formula Ford Championship (1987, 2005–2007, 2011)
- Australian GT Production Car Championship (2000, 2002)
- Australian Mini Challenge (2010)
- Australian National Trans-Am Series (2020, 2024–2025)
- Australian Nations Cup Championship (2000–2004)
- Australian Performance Car Championship (2001–2005)
- Australian Production Car Championship (2003–2004)
- Formula One
- Australian Grand Prix (1985–1995)
- S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship (2023)
- S5000 Tasman Series (2022)
- Sports Racer Series (2010)
- Stadium Super Trucks (2015–2018, 2020, 2024)
- Supercars Championship
- Supercars Challenge (1985–1995)
- Touring Car Masters (2005–2012, 2014–2020, 2022–2023)
- V8 Ute Racing Series (2002–2016)
Lap records
editThe 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.[14] 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.[15] As of November 2025, the fastest official race lap records at Adelaide Street Circuit are listed as:[14][16][17]
Sprint circuit
editThe 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 |
Other information
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ↑ Grand prix for Adelaide Canberra Times 29 October 1984 page 2
- ↑ Adeaide prepares for Grand Prix Engineers Australia 17 May 1985 page 11
- ↑ Grand prix date set, but opponents not giving up Canberra Times 23 June 1995 page 25
- ↑ "Hall of fame". Supercars. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ↑ 25 years of Adelaide 500 moments Auto Action 13 November 2024
- ↑ State Government and Supercars lock in Adelaide 500 Government of South Australia
- ↑ Adelaide to host first ever MotoGP street race Auto Action 19 February 2026
- ↑ Throwback Thursday: the 1994 Australian Grand Prix National Motor Museum
- ↑ Jones gets it straight Auto Action issue 419 27 March 1987 page 1
- ↑ "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. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ↑ "Adelaide Motorsport Festival". Adelaide Motorsport Festival. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Austin 7 Club (S.A.) Inc. - Lap Records". www.austin7clubsa.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- 1 2 "Cameron Cruises to Opening Adelaide Win". S5000. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "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.
- ↑ "2025 BP Adelaide Grand Final - Adelaide Parklands Circuit - 2025 Repco Supercars Championship - Race 34 - Provisional Classification". 30 November 2025. Archived from the original on 30 November 2025. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ↑ "Round 8, 2023: VAILO Adelaide 500". 24 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ↑ "CLEANEVENTS NATIONS CUP - RACE 3". 21 March 2004. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ↑ "2025 BP Adelaide Grand Final - Adelaide Parklands Circuit - 2025 Trico Trans Am Series - Race 1 - Final Classification". 28 November 2025. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
- ↑ "Australian GT Championship Adelaide 2007". Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ↑ "2025 BP Adelaide Grand Final - Adelaide Parklands Circuit - 2025 Battery World Aussie Racing Cars - Race 1 - Final Classification". 28 November 2025. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
- ↑ "2024 VAILO Adelaide 500 - Adelaide Parklands Circuit - 2024 Tyrepower V8 SuperUte Series - Race 1". 15 November 2024. Archived from the original on 14 June 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- ↑ "2024 VAILO Adelaide 500 - Adelaide Parklands Circuit - Boost Mobile Australian Stadium Super Trucks - Race 2". 17 November 2024. Archived from the original on 14 June 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- 1 2 3 "Asia Pacific Le Mans Series 2000". 31 December 2000. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ↑ "1990 Ansett Air Freight Challenge, Formula 1 support race". 4 November 1990. Retrieved 21 December 2022.