| AIR | |
|---|---|
_track_map.svg) Full Circuit (1972–present) | |
| Location | Port Wakefield Road, Virginia, South Australia |
| Coordinates | 34°41′57″S138°33′53″E / 34.69917°S 138.56472°E /-34.69917; 138.56472 |
| Owner | Bob Jane Corporation |
| Operator | Australian Motorsport Club Limited |
| Broke ground | 1970 |
| Opened | 9 January 1972; 53 years ago (1972-01-09) |
| Major events | Former: Australian Touring Car Championship (1972–1988) Tasman Series (1972–1975) Rothmans International Series (1976–1979) Australian Drivers' Championship (1972–1973, 1982–1984, 1986, 1988) Australian Formula 2 (1972–1974, 1981–1987) Australian Sports Car Championship (1972–1974, 1977, 1982–1983, 1985–1986, 1988) Australian GT (1982–1985) |
| Website | https://www.adelaideraceway.com.au |
| Full Circuit (1972–present) | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 2.410 km (1.498 mi) |
| Turns | 8 |
| Banking | Turns 8–9: 5° Front straight: 0° Back straight (Bowl): 3° |
| Race lap record | 0:49.500 (Alan Jones,Lola T332,1977,Formula 5000) |
| Short Circuit (1972–present) | |
| Length | 1.770 km (1.100 mi) |
| Turns | 6 |
| Banking | Turns 5–6: 5° Front straight: 0° Back straight (Bowl): 3° |
| Race lap record | 0:43.9 (Mike Trengove,Formula 2) |
| Speedway Super Bowl (1972–present) | |
| Length | 0.805 km (0.500 mi) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | Turns: 5° Front straight: 0° Back straight: 3° |
| Race lap record | 0:22.7017 (Terry Wyhoon,Ford Thunderbird, 1998,NASCAR) |
TheAdelaide International Raceway (also known asAdelaide International orAIR) is a permanent circuit owned by Australian Motorsport Club Limited under the auspices of theBob Jane Corporation. The circuit is located 26 km (16 mi) north ofAdelaide inSouth Australia onPort Wakefield Road atVirginia, and is adjacent to Adelaide's premier car racingDirt track racing venue,Speedway City. AIR is owned by theBob Jane Corporation and run by the Australian Motorsport Club Ltd.
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Adelaide International Raceway (AIR) was built bySurfers Paradise businessman Keith Williams in 1972. Williams also owned theMallala Race Circuit andSurfers Paradise International Raceway. Williams owned the track, which remained in an almost 'raw state' until purchased in 1982 by the Bob Jane Corporation.
The race track can be used in four different configurations. The full circuit is 2.410-kilometre (1.498 mi), the short circuit is 1.770 km (1.100 mi), the Speedway Super Bowl is 0.805 km (0.500 mi), and the drag strip is 0.25 mi (0.40 km) long.[1] The track is dominated by its 920 m (1,010 yd) long main straight which is also the drag strip and the front straight of the Super Bowl. As it is a drag strip, the front straight of the circuit is wider than the rest of the track. Like most Australian circuits at its time of construction, AIR raced and still races clockwise, though the Super Bowl, with speedway meetings andNASCAR races in the 1990s, is the only part of the circuit to run state or national championship races anti-clockwise.
Both the Speedway Super Bowl (more commonly referred to as "The Bowl"), and the Drag Strip have the capacity to run night meetings due to the lights that run around the Super Bowl and down the circuits main straight. The spectator viewing areas extend from the final turn and all the way down the main straight. There are also spectator mounds from turn 3 around to turn 6, and then from the outside of turn 7 (the bowl) and all along the back straight. The proximity of the final turn of the bowl to Port Wakefield Road means that spectator mounds can not be placed there.
Starting in 1994 with the removal of the old stands along the main straight and replacing them with spectator mounds, upgrades have been made through the years in a bid to bring AIR back to being a regularly used national motor racing venue. The old timing tower and VIP facilities were pulled down and replaced with several new buildings and a paved VIP area for corporate sponsors was added. A spectator mound and a small, uncovered grandstand, located on the infield of the Super Bowl directly behind pit lane, have also been added in recent years.
Adelaide International Raceway also raced top level motorbike racing. Series that utilised the circuit included the Swann International Series featuring riders such asGraeme Crosby, who won the 1980 series race, andGregg Hansford. There was an annual 3-Hour race held at the circuit until the mid-1980s that was televised nationally on theABC, but once the covenant was lifted on the Mallala Raceway, safety concerns about the Super Bowl having no runoff area on the outside of the track (from the entrance to the Bowl until end of the main straight, approximately 1.3 km (0.81 mi), the outside of the track was all concrete wall with zero runoff, though tyre bundles were placed on the inside of the wall around the final turn onto the main straight) saw bike racing move to Mallala instead. AIR continues to run bikes in drag racing withTop Bike andPro Stock Motorcycle both being regulars at drag racing events.
From 1972 to 1988 the Adelaide International Raceway was South Australia's major motor racing circuit, due to a covenant placed on Mallala preventing any motor sport activities there (the covenant had been done away with by 1982). AIR regularly hosted rounds of theAustralian Touring Car Championship and endurance races of theAustralian Manufacturers' Championship (later known as the 'Championship of Makes'). The Adelaide track also hosted rounds of the famousTasman Series, theRothmans International Series, as well as otherCAMS sanctioned national championships, including theAustralian Drivers' Championship,Australian Formula 2 Championship, theAustralian Sports Car Championship,Australian Sports Sedan Championship, and theAustralian GT Championship.
With six of the full circuits nine turns being right handers, those being turn 1, which was also the hardest braking point of the track after the fastest cars such asFormula 5000's regularly reached speeds of over 270 km/h (170 mph) on the long straight (by 1988 the turbochargedFord Sierra RS500 touring cars run byDick Johnson Racing were reaching 258 km/h (160 mph)), and the sweeping turns 2 and 3, plus the high speed bowl section, gave Adelaide International a reputation for being hard on tyres, specifically the outside (left hand) tyres which generally took a hammering through the long turn 1, 2 & 3 right hand sweeper and also on the turn 9 bowl. This was due to the longer periods of high speed cornering with the cars and suspensions loaded to the outside. For the longer national championship races, such as the 40 or 60 lap ATCC races and the end of year 125 lap touring car endurance race, this made tyre choice and suspension settings a critical part of success at AIR.Dick Johnson noted during practice for AIR's1988 ATCC round that after the 60 lap race even the lighter and significantly slowerGemini's would be suffering with worn tyres.
AIR also has an unusual set up for the Pits. While the pit lane is located on the inside of the track coming onto the main straight (cars enter pit lane at the end of the Super Bowl's back straight), the cars actually enter the track from the paddock through the pit gate on the outside of the track at the end of turn 9 (the gate is closed and forms part of the outside retaining wall during races). This means that the main paddock for AIR is located on the outside of the main straight behind the officials tower and spectator mounds. This is despite there being an open and unused area of approximately 21,500m2 located within the Super Bowl behind pit lane (one reason for this was so as to not obstruct the viewing from the pit straight spectator stands and mounds from which the entire circuit could be viewed, thoughbinoculars are usually needed to see the far end of the circuit which is almost 1 km (0.62 mi) away from the start/finish line).
The outright lap record for the full 2.410 km (1.498 mi) circuit is held by Australia's1980Formula OneWorld Drivers' ChampionAlan Jones at 49.5 seconds. Jones set the record during the1977 Rothmans International Series driving aLola T332-Chevrolet Formula 5000. Jones also holds theGT lap record of the circuit with a time of 51.7 seconds while driving aPorsche 935 in the1982 Australian GT Championship. Circuit owner Bob Jane also holds an AIR track record, co-holding the Sports Sedan lap record with former local driver John Briggs with a time of 54.1 seconds set in 1981. Both drivers set the time in the same race on the same day, with both driving aChevrolet Monza. Jane's DeKon Monza was built and prepared byNorm Beechey's former mechanic Pat Purcell while the Briggs Monza was built by Adelaide-based K&A Engineering.
The lap record for the 1.770 km (1.100 mi), 7 turn Short Circuit is 43.9 seconds, jointly held by Mark Trengrove in aFormula 2, and local Adelaide Sports Sedan driver Mick Monterosso. To set his lap time, Monterosso drove the Adelaide built (by K&A Engineering)Group A,Group C and IMSA specificationVeskanda Chevroletsports car used byJohn Bowe to dominate the1986 Australian Sports Car Championship. The Veskanda is generally regarded as Australia's fastest ever race car.
In the early 1970s, and following the American NASCAR influence which at the time was drawing record crowds, pavedshort track speedway was becoming popular in Australia (for many yearsdirt track speedway already had a big following) and with the Speedway Super Bowl, Adelaide a ready made track. Compared to the now closed 440 m (480 yd) longLiverpool Speedway inSydney and the 410 m (450 yd)Tralee Speedway inCanberra, the Super Bowl is a true ½ mile (805 metres (880 yd)) track and supremely fast with room on the almost 180m long straights for cars to reach higher speeds, while the Super Bowl's longer than 220m turns are banked slightly at approximately 5°, making cornering faster, with the exception of turn 1 for runningclockwise on the Bowl which is generally flat - necessary due to the front straight also being the drag strip, the main straight of the road course and the usual exit of pit lane. The turns of the bowl being banked made turn 7 of the full circuit (turn 5 on the short course) more than slightlyoff-camber as cars entered the Bowl which saw numerous top drivers spin there over the years includingGraham McRae,Frank Matich,David Hobbs andAllan Moffat.
The Speedway Super Bowl held winter race meetings and was first used on 16 June 1974 when a large crowd or around 10,000 turned up to see competitors fromRowley Park Speedway drive on the new asphalt speedway. It quickly became apparent that cars built for the 358 metres (392 yd) dirt track speedway were out of their depth on the½ mile Super Bowl, with the Modified Rods (Sprintcars) reaching over 170 km/h (110 mph) on the straights when they were only used to about 80 km/h (50 mph) on dirt. Sedan driver Jim Curnow was knocked unconscious when hisHolden Torana hit the concrete retaining wall and chronicUndersteer was the biggest complaint of almost all drivers with cars generally being set up for dirt and not asphalt. Some sedan drivers then started building cars that were suited to racing on the Super Bowl with aspace frame chassis, well tunedV8 engines and wideslick tyres (such as those which were racing successfully at Liverpool) and these cars quickly dominated. The problem was that there were too few of them with some races only having five or six competitors. Most drivers eventually decided it was more fun racing on the dirt at Rowley Park and with crowd numbers dwindling to around 2,000 due to both the tracks location (26 km (16 mi) north of Adelaide) and the dwindling number of competitors, speedway meetings stopped being held after 1976. Speedway Super Sedans did return to AIR in the late 1980s for some daytime meetings, however crowds were down.
In an ironic twist, when Rowley Park ceased operating in April 1979, Adelaide's new speedway venue Speedway Park (now called Speedway City), was opened adjacent to AIR in October 1979, the crowds returned despite the same travel time to get there as for AIR.
From 1990, the Super Bowl became a regular and popular short track venue forAUSCAR andNASCAR racing during the 1990s, with crowds of up to 15,000 attending the annual Adelaide round of the Australian Championships. The Super Bowl was, and still is the only race circuit still in operation in Australia other than theCalder Park Thunderdome where the race cars can run on a paved oval track, with both tracks currently owned the Bob Jane Corporation.[citation needed] The outright lap record for the Super Bowl of 22.7012 was set in a NSACAR by Terry Whyhoon driving aFord Thunderbird during the 1997/98Goodyear Australian SuperSpeedway Series.
The fastest qualifying and race laps set during speedway meetings was set in 1976 byJohn Hughes (later the founder ofWorld Series Sprintcars) driving aV8 poweredHJ Holden One Tonner ute chassis covered byHJ Monaro bodywork. His times were 23.8 for qualifying and 23.2 seconds race lap, which were not much slower than the more powerful (with 20+ years of engine, tyre and suspension development) NASCAR andAUSCAR times set during the late 1990s. Indeed, Hughes' qualifying time of 23.8 in 1976 would have placed him 8th on the NASCAR starting grid for the SuperSpeedway Series meeting some 22 years later (the two categories both raced anti-clockwise).
Compared to the Thunderdome where the NASCAR's would lap at speeds over 140 mph (230 km/h), the fastest times recorded on the Super Bowl would be around 78 mph (126 km/h). To underline the speed difference of AIR compared to the Thunderdome, the terminal speed of the NASCAR's on the shorter AIR straights was around 117 mph (188 km/h) which was some 5 mph (8.0 km/h) slower than the cars were doing on the high banked turns at Calder.
With its 920 m (1,010 yd) long front straight, it was always intended that Adelaide International Raceway would host top level drag racing, finally giving Adelaide a national venue that could compete with (at the time) Calder Park (Melbourne), Castlereagh (Sydney), Ravenswood (Perth), and the Keith Williams owned Surfers Paradise Raceway which, like AIR and Calder, incorporated a drag strip into the circuit design.
AIR played host to numerous national drag racing championships through the years, as well as regular off-street racing for road cars. The track then went unused and had seen no drag racing since the late 1990s, with racing making a return in November 2011. This saw Top Doorslammers run the 1/8th mile track for the first time in over 10 years and gives hope for drag racing's future in South Australia.[2]
On 13–15 April 2012 top line drag racing made its return to AIR for the firstANDRA meeting at the track for over 10 years with heANDRA Pro Series 1000, which marked the Australian debut (albeit for all classes, not just thenitromethane categories) of 1,000 ft (300 m) drag racing. ANDRATop Fuel will continue to compete over a quarter-mile (402m) distance, but short tracks such as Adelaide will only be to 1,000 feet.[3]
In 2021,Australian National Drag Racing Association announced the establishment of an annual Australian Drag Racing Championship series, with ASID as one of five venues across the country to host a round in the inaugural season.[4]
Since its opening in 1972, Adelaide International has been used as a test track for various race teams including the Melbourne-basedHolden Dealer Team, as well as Adelaide based manufacturerHolden. Also, due to it being closer to Adelaide than Mallala, AIR is also used by theSouth Australian Police for driver training and car compliance testing.
During the years that theFormula One World Championship held theAustralian Grand Prix on theAdelaide Street Circuit (1985–1995), AIR was used for driver training for the annual Celebrity Race held as a support event for the Grand Prix. In the early years of the Adelaide AGP, AIR was also used by some Formula One teams as a shakedown circuit, though this only lasted until 1986.
The entire track was resurfaced in early 2008, restricting use even further with a possibility of events being held from later in the year.[5]
In the Jan/Feb 2012 edition of Australian Muscle Car Magazine it was reported that Keith Williams, the founder and original owner of the Adelaide International Raceway, had died at the age of 82.
AIR is currently used forDrifting, with the G1 Drift Competition and Drift Supercup holding events at the circuit.
Note: In both the 1976 and 1977 Australian Touring Car Championships there were two rounds held at Adelaide International Raceway. The earlier round was a 'sprint' event and later round was a 250 km endurance race.
The last Group C ATCC round winner at AIR wasAllan Grice driving a VH Commodore SS on 1 July 1984, this was also the last ATCC race held under the locally developed Group C rules. During the race Peter Brock (who finished second) set the outright touring car lap record. The last ATCC race held at AIR was on 1 May 1988 withDick Johnson winning the treble. He qualified hisShell sponsoredFord Sierra RS500 on pole, claimed the fastest lap of the race (theGroup A lap record), and won from his teammateJohn Bowe.
Races listed inItalics denote that season's ATCC endurance race.
The AIR endurance race was first run in 1972 as a 250-mile race (397 km) before being shortened to 300 km (187.5 mi) in 1978 and became part of the "Australian Championship of Makes" until 1980 then becoming part of theAustralian Endurance Championship. The first endurance race, theChesterfield 250, run on 27 August 1972 forSeries Production Touring Cars, was won byColin Bond driving aHolden Dealer Team (HDT)LJ Torana GTR XU-1. The last enduro, the Humes Guardrail 300, run on 20 November 1983 underCAMSGroup C regulations, was won byPeter Brock in his HDTVH Commodore SS.
The 1976 and 1977 races were run as part of the Australian Touring Car Championship.
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group E Series Production | ||||
| 1972 |  Colin Bond | HoldenLJ Torana GTR XU-1 | Holden Dealer Team | |
| Group C | ||||
| 1973 | Fred Gibson | FordXAFalconGT Hardtop | Ford Motor Company of Australia | |
| 1974 | Colin Bond | HoldenLH Torana SL/R 5000 | Holden Dealer Team | |
| 1975 | Colin Bond | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000L34 | Holden Dealer Team | |
| 1976 | Allan Grice | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | Craven Mild Racing | |
| 1977 |  Allan Moffat | FordXC Falcon GS500 Hardtop | Moffat Ford Dealers | |
| 1978 | Colin Bond | Ford XC FalconCobra | Moffat Ford Dealers | |
| 1979 | Allan Grice | HoldenLX Torana SS A9X Hatchback | Craven Mild Racing | |
| 1980 | Peter Brock | HoldenVBCommodore | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | |
| 1981 | Peter Brock | HoldenVC Commodore | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | |
| 1982 | Allan Moffat | MazdaRX-7 | Peter Stuyvesant International Racing | |
| 1983 | Peter Brock | HoldenVHCommodore SS | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | |
Adelaide International played host to seven rounds of theAustralian Drivers' Championship between 1972 and 1988. From 1989 the Drivers' Championship (also known as the CAMS Gold Star) moved to Mallala.
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Formula 1 | ||||
| 1972 | Kevin Bartlett | LolaT300Chevrolet | Shell / Chesterfield Racing | |
| 1973 | John McCormack | ElfinMR5Repco-Holden | Ansett Team Elfin | |
| 1982 | Andrew Miedecke | RaltRT4/81Ford | Miedecke Motorsport | |
| 1983 | Alfredo Costanzo | TigaFA81Ford | Porsche Cars Australia | |
| Formula Mondial | ||||
| 1984 | Alfredo Costanzo | TigaFA81Ford | Porsche Cars Australia | |
| 1986 | Peter Hopwood | RaltRT4/85Ford | Menage Racing Team | |
| Formula 2 | ||||
| 1988 | Glenn Seton | RaltRT4Nissan | Dave Thompson | |
AIR played host to a round of theAustralian Sports Sedan Championship on 6 occasions between 1976 and 1981. The ASSC was then changed to theAustralian GT Championship in 1982 with AIR hosting a round each year until the demise of the AGTC in 1985.
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Frank Gardner | ChevroletCorvair | John Player Racing |
| 1977 | Frank Gardner | ChevroletCorvair Corsa | John Player Racing |
| 1978 |  Jim Richards | FordXC Falcon Hardtop | Jim Richards Motor Racing |
| 1979 | Tony Edmondson | Alfa RomeoAlfetta GTVRepco-Holden | Donald Elliott |
| 1980 | Allan Grice | BMW318i Turbo | Craven Mild Racing |
| 1981 | Tony Edmondson | Alfa RomeoAlfetta GTVChevrolet | Donald Elliott |
| 1982 | Alan Jones | Porsche935/80 | Porsche Cars Australia |
| 1983 | Rusty French | Porsche935/80 | John Sands Racing |
| 1984 | Allan Grice | ChevroletMonza | Re-Car Racing |
| 1985 | Bryan Thomson | ChevroletMonza | Thomson-Fowler Motorsport |
AIR played host to a round of theAustralian Sports Car Championship on 9 occasions between 1972 and 1988.
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | John Harvey | McLarenM6BRepco | Bob Jane Racing |
| 1973 | Lionel Ayers | RennmaxRepco | Lionel Ayers |
| 1974 | Lionel Ayers | RennmaxRepco | Lionel Ayers |
| 1977 | John Latham | PorscheCarrera RSR | Kodak Film |
| 1982 | Chris Clearihan | KaditchaChevrolet | Chris Clearihan |
| 1983 | Peter Hopwood | KaditchaChevrolet | Steve Webb |
| 1985 | Terry Hook | LolaT610Chevrolet | Terry Hook |
| 1986 | John Bowe | Veskanda C1Chevrolet | Bernard van Elsen |
| 1988 | Brian Smith | Alfa RomeoAlfetta GTVChevrolet | Basil Ricciardello |
Adelaide International played host to eleven rounds of theAustralian Formula 2 Championship between 1972 and 1988.
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Larry Perkins | Elfin600B/EFord | Provincial Motors |
| 1973 | Enno Busselmann | Birrana273Ford | Bob & Marj Brown |
| 1974 | Bob Muir | Birrana273Ford | Bob & Marj Brown |
| 1981 | Lucio Cesario | RaltRT3Volkswagen | Formula 1 Automotive |
| 1982 | Peter Macrow | CheetahMk 7Holden | Peter Macrow |
| 1983 | Peter Glover | CheetahMk 7DIsuzu | Peter Glover |
| 1984 | Keith McClelland | CheetahMk 8Judd-Volkswagen | Keith McClelland |
| 1985 | Peter Glover | CheetahMk 8Judd-Volkswagen | Peter Glover |
| 1986 | Jon Crooke | CheetahMk 8Judd-Volkswagen | Jonathon Crooke |
| 1987 | Derek Pingel | CheetahMk 8Judd-Volkswagen | Derek Pingel |
| 1988* | Glenn Seton | RaltRT4Nissan | Dave Thompson |
* 1988 was a round of theAustralian Drivers' Championship
Adelaide International played host to four rounds of theTasman Series between 1972 and 1975.
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 |  David Hobbs | McLarenM22Chevrolet | Hobbs Racing London |
| 1973 | John McCormack | ElfinMR5Repco-Holden | Ansett Team Elfin |
| 1974 | Warwick Brown | LolaT332Chevrolet | Pat Burke Racing |
| 1975 | Graeme Lawrence | LolaT332Chevrolet | Marlboro/Wix/Singapore Airlines |
Adelaide International played host to four rounds of theRothmans International Series between 1976 and 1979.Alan Jones driving aChevrolet poweredLolaT332, set the full circuit's still standing (as of June 2025) outright lap record of 49.5 seconds during the 1977 race.
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Ken Smith | LolaT330Chevrolet | La Valise Racing |
| 1977 | Alan Jones | LolaT332Chevrolet | Theodore Racing Bill Patterson Motors |
| 1978 | Warwick Brown | LolaT332Chevrolet | Racing Team VDS |
| 1979 | Alfredo Costanzo | LolaT430Chevrolet | Porsche Cars Australia |
As of April 2015. Unless otherwise stated all records are for the long (2.410 km) circuit.[6] The official race lap records at Adelaide International Raceway are listed as:[7]