Tracks of the Past: Adelaide Street Circuit
With the Australian Grand Prix racing towards us. We take a look back at one of Australia's most mighty circuits. The Adelaide Street Circuit or Adelaide Parklands Circuit.
To me, Adelaide is one of the all time greats. Its combination of winding streets, colossal crowds and close racing encompassed everything that Formula 1 lacks today. It was popular with the vibrant aussie fans too. Although the track length was only 3.219km long, it packed in 210,000 fans making it third on the list of motor racing venues by capacity, trumped only by Le Mans and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The temporary street circuit hosted the Australian Grand Prix between 1985 and 1995 and was located in the East Parklands district of Adelaide, adjacent to the city centre.
The 500 metre start/finish straight was situated inside Victoria Park, made famous by horse racing. The grandstands and pit building were removed each year allowing residents and tourists to enjoy the pleasant surroundings of the parkland. At the end of the straight, the drivers were approached with the Senna Chicane, named in tribute to the late Brazilian star that inspired so many in that era. The chicane itself was an interesting one, with high kerbs uprooting the cars if one small error was made. The chicane was shortly followed by a left hand kink which led onto Wakefield Road.
Three 90 degree corners (right/left/right) weaved through the East Terrace before another short straight bought drivers to a fast left, right sweeping chicane, very reminiscent of the first swimming pool chicane at Monaco. This was immediately greeted by turn 9 which was known by the name 'Stag' and joined the previous sector to the Jones Straight. The infamous right handed kink of 'Brewery' remained the most unforgiving corner on the track with drivers getting perilously close to the wall on entry before the corner spat them out onto the Brabham Straight, named after Australian racing legend, Jack Brabham. The straight was completely lined by grandstands on both sides allowing excited crowds to get a glimpse the cars as they roared past.
The hairpin at Clarion marked the end of the high speed section, slowing cars down before they re-entered Victoria Park at the two left handers of turns 12 and 13. This permanent section of the track finished off by sweeping round into the Adelaide Hairpin and back onto the pit straight.
This unique track remains strongly entwined in F1's long history. It will always remain the site of Ayrton Senna's last win, when the torrential rain made it the shortest race in history. Unfortunately, I was not around when the Australian Grand Prix was held here, but I can safely say, with my hand on my heart, that if Formula 1 announced another race on the 2018 calendar, I would want it to be here.
