.svg) | |
| Race Information | |
| Venue | Adelaide Street Circuit |
| Number of times held | 24 |
| First held | 1999 |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| Laps | 78 |
| Distance | 250 km |
| Race 2 | |
| Laps | 78 |
| Distance | 250 km |
| Last Event (2024) | |
| Overall Winner | |
 Will Brown | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| Race Winners | |
| Broc Feeney | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
 Will Brown | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
TheAdelaide 500, since 2023 known asVAILO Adelaide 500 after its chief sponsor, and from 2025 known as theAdelaide Grand Final, is an annual motor racing event forSupercars held on the streets of the east end ofAdelaide,South Australia between1999 and2020 and again from2022. The event uses a shortened form of theAdelaide Street Circuit, the formerAustralian Grand Prix track. The event is still colloquially known as theClipsal 500 or simply"Clipsal" after its former longtime sponsor. With attendance at around 250,000 in 2023, the Adelaide 500 is the most attendedSupercars Championship race.
The event previously took place in February and March, contributing to what locals term "mad March", along with theAdelaide Festival,Adelaide Fringe,WOMADelaide andAdelaide Writers' Week, but after a hiatus in 2021, it returned in 2022 as the season finale in late November or early December.
The Adelaide Street Circuit was used for theFormula OneAustralian Grand Prix from1985 to1995. Supercars, then known asGroup A (1985 to 1992) andGroup 3A Touring Cars (1993 to 1995), had competed insupport races at each of these Grands Prix although these races did not count towards the annualAustralian Touring Car Championship (ATCC). The state of South Australia had also previously hosted championship rounds of the ATCC atMallala Motor Sport Park in 1963 and between 1969 and 1998 and atAdelaide International Raceway from 1972 to 1988.
On 1 September 1998, theGovernment of South Australia announced the conclusion of successful negotiations with the Australian Vee Eight Supercar Company (AVESCO) for the staging of a Supercars race to be known as the Sensational Adelaide 500 on a shortened version of the Grand Prix track. The race effectively replaced the Mallala round on the calendar. The initial contract was for a period of five years with an option for a further five years.[1] After the conclusion of the 1999 race,Clipsal were announced as the event's major sponsor and it became known as the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, a deal which continued until 2017.[2] After the 2018 race was held with no major naming rights sponsor, it was announced thatbroadband provider Superloop would take over as title sponsor for the next three years.[3] The event had an agreement to appear on the calendar until 2021.[4]
The event originally usually took place in February[5] and March, contributing to what locals term "mad March", along with theAdelaide Festival,Adelaide Fringe,WOMADelaide andAdelaide Writers' Week.[6][7] In October 2020, it was announced theSouth Australian Tourism Commission would withdraw support for the event, putting the event on hiatus.[8] It returned from the 2022 season as the season finale in late November or early December.
The1999 event sawCraig Lowndes win the Saturday race, only to be disqualified due to his involvement in an accident with Danny Osborne, and made to start from the back of the grid for race two on the Sunday. Lowndes passed every car in the field to also win race two and thus become the first winner of the Adelaide 500, in what remains his only event victory. Lowndes' disqualification from race one was later overturned.[9] The 1999 race was also controversial, as the original regulations stated the race was one 500 kilometre race with an overnight break at the 250 km mark. When a significant portion of high-profile cars retired in the first leg, the regulations were changed overnight to allow those cars to start the Sunday race.[10][11] The inaugural event also proved a challenge to the fitness of the drivers, with bothPaul Radisich andJohn Faulkner requiring medical assistance due to dehydration.[12]
The2000 event once again saw a last-to-first drive, withMark Skaife winning the Sunday race after starting 38th due to a DNF on Saturday.[9] Despite this, the event win was awarded toGarth Tander, the only occasion in which the Sunday winner was not awarded the event win.[13] In2001 Clipsal 500, Craig Lowndes won his first race forFord since his defection from theHolden Racing Team to aGibson Motorsport Ford. After winning the Saturday race, he was again in contention on Sunday until an incident with his former teammate Skaife ended his charge.[9] In 2002, the track layout received its only modification to date, with Turn 8 being re-profiled to what became known as 'The Sweeper'. The change followedBrad Jones's roll-over at the previous version of the corner in 2000 among other incidents. The re-profiled corner became one of the most infamous corners in Australian motorsport with several high-profile victims in the first year including Radisich andGlenn Seton.[10] 2002 also saw a pre-qualifying session held, in the week leading into the event, at Mallala Motor Sport Park due to capacity and scheduling constraints at the Adelaide 500 event.[14]
Holden had dominated the event from 1999 to2003, with three wins to Skaife and one each to Bright and Tander following Lowndes' inaugural event victory. It wasn't until2004 that a Ford driver won the event, withMarcos Ambrose winning both races, repeating the feat in 2005. Ford's turn of fate was signified by a sweep of the top four in the Saturday race of the2005 event.[9]Jamie Whincup then made it three in a row for Ford in2006 with his first event win in Supercars in his first appearance forTriple Eight Race Engineering.[10] The2007 event brought about the first instance of the driver who scored the most weekend points not winning the event. BrothersTodd Kelly andRick Kelly won one race each across the weekend however Rick was credited with the event win for his Sunday race victory despite scoring less points in the other race.[10] Whincup went on to win again in2008,2009 and2011 to be the most successful driver in the event's history to date. The 2008 event was, however, marred by the death ofAshley Cooper following a crash in the second-tierFujitsu V8 Supercars Series race.
From2002 to 2009, the Adelaide 500 was the opening round of the championship. It lost this position in2010 and 2011, with theYas V8 400 in theUnited Arab Emirates opening the series. From2012, Adelaide returned to being the opening round.[15] The 2012 Clipsal 500 provided one of the event's most memorable finishes when Whincup chased down and overtookWill Davison on the final lap of the Saturday race. Whincup had made an additional pitstop and gained enough ground to take advantage when Davison's car began to run out of fuel. Davison went on to win the event with a win on Sunday, his first since joiningFord Performance Racing. The2013 event was the first of the Car of the Future regulations, which sawNissan andMercedes-Benz join the series as the first manufacturers outsideFord andHolden since1993. The Sunday race was won byShane van Gisbergen in the aftermath of his controversial decision to announce his retirement during the2012 season before switching teams toTekno Autosports over the off-season.[12]
In2014,Volvo rejoined the series and made an immediate impact withScott McLaughlin fighting off Whincup on the final lap to finish second in the newly introduced second 125 km race on Saturday.[12] On the Sunday, Jason Bright rolled hisBrad Jones Racing car at the Senna Chicane, thirteen years after team bossBrad Jones rolled his car at Turn 8.James Courtney won the event and in2015 became the fourth driver to win the Clipsal 500 back-to-back, after Skaife, Ambrose and Whincup. In doing so he also provided the Holden Racing Team with a record sixth and seventh event wins, two ahead of Triple Eight, who scored their fifth victory in2017 with van Gisbergen. The intervening event in2016 was disrupted by thunderstorms and heavy rain on the Sunday withNick Percat eventually taking his first solo win and the only forLucas Dumbrell Motorsport amidst a delayed start, confusion surrounding the fuel drop regulations and a red flag.[16]
Van Gisbergen swept the2017 and2018 editions of the event, taking four poles and four race victories in a return to the two by 250 km format.[17] The 2018 victory, in the twentieth running of the event, was the first victory for theHolden ZB Commodore in its debut appearance.[18] 2018 also saw the state of South Australia hosting two championship rounds for the first time since 1977 withThe Bend Motorsport Park inTailem Bend joining the calendar. In the return of theFord Mustang nameplate to the championship in2019,Scott McLaughlin achieved the same feat as van Gisbergen, winning the first championship race andround for thenew car on debut. It was also the first race and round win for the Mustang nameplate sinceAllan Moffat atOran Park in1972, while McLaughlin'steam's co-ownerDick Johnson had also won anon-championship race at the Adelaide Street Circuit in aFord Mustang GT in 1985.[19]
In the week leading into the2020 Adelaide 500,General Motors announced that the Holden brand, which was founded in Adelaide and has competed in every edition of the championship since its inception, would be retired by the end of the year.[20] The factory Holden team, run by Triple Eight Race Engineering, won the first race of the weekend with winner Jamie Whincup dedicating the win to Holden.[21] Whincup's team-mate van Gisbergen was leading the Sunday race until he was forced to make an additional pitstop for fuel due to a team error and then later suffered a mechanical failure and did not finish. This granted 2019 winner McLaughlin with a back to back event win.[22]
In October 2020, the event was cancelled, with theSouth Australian Tourism Commission announcing that the contract would be terminated one-year early and no renewal will be sought.[8] TheCOVID-19 pandemic, increased costs and declining public interest due to the discontinuation of Australian-manufactured Ford Falcons or Holden Commodores in the competition[23] were cited byPremier of South AustraliaSteven Marshall as reasons for the event's demise.[24] The Supercars category released a statement shortly after the announcement stating its regret at the decision and willingness to return to Adelaide should the government decide to hold the event again.[25]
South Australian Opposition LeaderPeter Malinauskas launched a campaign via a South Australian Labor Party petition platform to restore the event,[26] and indicated an intent to return the Adelaide 500 should his party win government.[27] Malinauskas committed to reinstate the race in the leadup to the2022 South Australian state election at which he was elected premier. The Adelaide 500 returned as the final round of the2022 series, taking place late November or early December.[28] South Australian-based manufacturer ofLED lighting anddigital displays for sports, then known as VALO,[29] acquired naming rights for three years, as chief commercial sponsor.[30] After changing its name to VAILO in May 2023,[29] the event was branded VAILO Adelaide 500 in 2023.[31][30]
The event is held over a four-day weekend, from Thursday to Sunday. A thirty-minute practice session is held on Thursday, then another thirty-minute practice session is held on Friday. Friday features a fifteen-minute qualifying session succeeded by a top ten shootout a day later, with a fifteen-minute practice session is held between them on Saturday. The combined results of which decide the grid for the following 250-kilometre (160 mi) race. Sunday features another fifteen-minute qualifying session succeeded by a top ten shootout, the combined results of which decide the grid for the following 250 km race.[32]
Between 2014 and 2016 the event consisted of two 125 km races on the Saturday and one 250 km race on Sunday. In2017 the organisers switched back to the original format due to the low popularity of the 125 km races from both fans and drivers.[33]
Although the results of all races counted towards the Supercars Championship, the winner of the final race was normally declared the winner of the event, regardless of the results of the first race. The rest of the four days were filled with practice, qualifying, and support races for a number of other racing categories, which over the history of the event included theSuper2 Series,Super5000,SuperUtes Series,Touring Car Masters,Australian GT, andAustralian Carrera Cup amongst others.[citation needed]
The event also includes evening concerts featuring big international and local names. Past performers have includedKiss,Mötley Crüe,Santana,The Doobie Brothers,Rob Thomas,Hilltop Hoods,Keith Urban, andRobbie Williams.[34][35]
Now known as the After Race Concert series,[36] the November 2024 event featured headline actsCold Chisel,The Cruel Sea,The Superjesus,Crowded House,Ocean Alley, andMeg Mac, along with local South Australian acts including hip hop artistJ-MILLA and electronic/indie/pop group TONIX.[37][38]
The Adelaide 500 was recognised on several occasions as the winner of the "Major Festivals & Events" category at the Australian Tourism Awards in 2003/04, 2005, 2007 and 2008. The event won best event of the series every year from 1999 to 2004. In 2005 it was inducted into theSupercars Hall of Fame and it has also been inducted into the SA Tourism Hall of Fame.[39][40]
In 2011 the Clipsal 500 was named Best Event of the Year (of 14) at the V8 Supercars annual awards, after an hiatus, for the 8th time. (After being put into the sport's Hall of Fame in 2005, it was ineligible for the best event award for some years). It was also South Australia's biggest ticketed sports event for the 13th year, and by that year had won four Australian Tourism Awards and seven SA Tourism Awards for best major festival or event.[41]
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In 2008 the Clipsal 500 was attended by 291,400 people,[42] the largest crowd for a domestic motorsport event in Australia,[39][43] and (as of 2019[update]) the record for attendance at the event.[44]
By 2017, attendance had been dropping at the event (244,350 in 2017), although television viewing figures remained strong.Robbie Williams played at the 2018 event concert,[35] with attendance reaching attendance 273,500 that year. Attendances in 2017 and 2019 (254,000) were the lowest since 2004 (237,400), and dropped significantly further in 2020 (206,000).[44][7]
Despite declining local attendance, figures in 2020 showed a record economic impact for South Australia and high rates of interstate visitors continuing to attend.[45]
With over 250,000 in attendance in 2023, the Adelaide 500 became the most attendedSupercars race in Australia.[46][47]
Notes:
| Wins | Driver | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Jamie Whincup | 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011 |
| 3 | Shane van Gisbergen | 2013, 2017, 2018 |
| 2 | Mark Skaife | 2002, 2003 |
| Marcos Ambrose | 2004, 2005 | |
| Garth Tander | 2000, 2010 | |
| James Courtney | 2014, 2015 | |
| Scott McLaughlin | 2019, 2020 |
| Wins | Team |
|---|---|
| 7 | Holden Racing Team |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | |
| 2 | Stone Brothers Racing |
| DJR Team Penske |
| Wins | Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 15 | Holden |
| 9 | Ford |
34°55′50″S138°37′14″E / 34.93056°S 138.62056°E /-34.93056; 138.62056
