88-548: The Adelaide International Raceway (also known as Adelaide International or AIR ) is a permanent circuit owned by Australian Motorsport Club Limited under the auspices of the Bob Jane Corporation. The circuit is located 26 km (16 mi) north of Adelaide in South Australia on Port Wakefield Road at Virginia , and is adjacent to Adelaide's premier car racing Dirt track racing venue, Speedway City . AIR
176-479: A Porsche 935 in the 1982 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 a Chevrolet Monza . Jane's DeKon Monza was built and prepared by Norm Beechey 's former mechanic Pat Purcell while
264-656: 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 with Dick Johnson winning the treble. He qualified his Shell sponsored Ford Sierra RS500 on pole, claimed the fastest lap of the race (the Group A lap record), and won from his teammate John Bowe . Races listed in Italics denote that season's ATCC endurance race. The AIR endurance race
352-537: A bad start and a collision another car, with de Cesaris putting in the drive of the race to finish 3rd after starting early from the pit lane and being almost half a lap down when he took the green flag. Jane is credited with bringing stock car racing to Australia. Long resistant to oval racing (seeing it as dull and monotonous when compared to circuit racing, although speedway ( Dirt track racing ), held on smaller ¼ or ⅓ mile oval tracks, has been popular in Australia since
440-517: A critical part of success at AIR. Dick Johnson noted during practice for AIR's 1988 ATCC round that after the 60 lap race even the lighter and significantly slower Gemini '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),
528-409: A kitchen knife. In a Victorian County Court, on 22 January 2009, a jury found Laree Jane not guilty of five charges, including assault, related to the domestic dispute. Jane met Laree when he performed Grand Marshal duties for the 1986 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst. Jane declared bankruptcy on 8 July 2016. On 28 September 2018, Jane died from prostate cancer, 21 years after his diagnosis. He
616-453: A love of cars and motor sport blossomed and he first entered competitive racing in Australia in 1956; by 1960, he was racing with some of Australia's top sedan drivers. In 1961, Jane and co-driver Harry Firth won the Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island , Victoria , driving a Mercedes-Benz 220SE . Jane and Firth, driving a Ford Falcon XL , won the race again the following year, the last before
704-522: A new tyre business using his name. It was blocked by son Rodney in court which also ruled Jane pay legal costs. In May 2015, his Diggers Rest farm was seized by the state sheriff in order to settle the outstanding costs. From 1980 to 1984, the Australian Grand Prix was held at his Calder Park Raceway in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Jane taking over the promoting and staging of the Grand Prix in
792-408: A racing weight of only 510 to 530 kg, provide a power-to-weight ratio similar to a V8 Supercar. This allows AF2 cars to accelerate very quickly out of corners and to develop some reasonable top speeds. The approximate 0 to 160 km/h time for an AF2 is 5 seconds. Because the cars are so low, and light and because they have grippy slick tyres and front and rear wings to force them to the ground,
880-547: A ready made track. Compared to the now closed 440 m (480 yd) long Liverpool Speedway in Sydney and the 410 m (450 yd) Tralee Speedway in Canberra , the Super Bowl was a ½ mile (805 metres (880 yd)) track and supremely fast with room on the almost 200m long straights for cars to reach higher speeds, while the Super Bowl's longer than 200m turns are banked slightly at approximately 7°, making cornering faster, with
968-490: 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
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#17328522965751056-671: A round of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship on 6 occasions between 1976 and 1981. The ASSC was then changed to the Australian GT Championship in 1982 with AIR hosting a round each year until the demise of the AGTC in 1985. AIR played host to a round of the Australian Sports Car Championship on 9 occasions between 1972 and 1988. Adelaide International played host to eleven rounds of
1144-549: A row, something no other driver, not even nine-time race winner Peter Brock , has ever done. Jane won the Australian Touring Car Championship (now known as the V8 Supercars Championship ) in 1962 , 1963 , 1971 and 1972 . His 1971 ATCC win was in a Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 with a 427 cubic inch engine. Jane was forced by a rule change to replace the 427 engine with a 350 cubic inch engine for
1232-525: 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. 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
1320-467: 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. 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
1408-684: Is also used by the South Australian Police for driver training and car compliance testing. During the years that the Formula One World Championship held the Australian Grand Prix on the Adelaide 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
1496-468: Is currently used for Drifting , 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 was Allan Grice driving
1584-682: Is owned by the Bob Jane Corporation and run by the Australian Motorsport Club Ltd. Adelaide International Raceway (AIR) was built by Surfers Paradise businessman Keith Williams in 1972. Williams also owned the Mallala Race Circuit and Surfers 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
1672-544: Is the current CEO. In 2011, 81-year-old Jane resigned as chairman of T-Marts citing difficulties in the relationship with his son Rodney. From 1984 To 1997 Bob Jane formed a cross shareholding partnership with Ian Diffen. Bob Jane operated in Queensland and Ian Richard Diffen operated Ian Diffen's World of Tyres and Mufflers in Western Australia. From 2002 to 2004, Bob Jane T-Marts held the naming rights sponsorship for
1760-454: 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 and NASCAR 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
1848-461: The 1986 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, paved short track speedway was becoming popular in Australia (for many years dirt track speedway already had a big following) and with the Speedway Super Bowl, Adelaide
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#17328522965751936-529: The Adelaide International Raceway which features the only other paved NASCAR type oval in Australia with its half mile Speedway Super Bowl, which, unlike the Thunderdome, is a permanent part of the road circuit. In 1992, Jane and Sydney based speedway promoter and Channel 7 television commentator Mike Raymond also announced plans to turn the old half mile harness racing track that surrounded
2024-651: The Australian Formula 2 Championship between 1972 and 1988. * 1988 was a round of the Australian Drivers' Championship Adelaide International played host to four rounds of the Tasman Series between 1972 and 1975. Adelaide International played host to four rounds of the Rothmans International Series between 1976 and 1979. As of April 2015. Unless otherwise stated all records are for
2112-545: The Australian Sports Sedan Championship . After giving up driving, Jane asked touring car star Peter Brock to drive the Monza in the re-formed Australian GT Championship . Brock raced the car in 1982 and 1983 before Jane sold the car in early 1984 to Re-Car owner Allan Browne. In 1965, Jane opened the first Bob Jane T-Marts store in Melbourne. The company remains an independent, family-owned business to this day; Bob's son, Rodney Jane,
2200-531: The Bathurst 1000 , the race Jane dominated early in his career. The company also held the naming rights to the former Bob Jane Stadium , home of South Melbourne FC . Bob Jane T-Marts is the only major tyre retailer in Australia who do not sell retread tyres. Jane's personal reason for this is that his second eldest daughter Georgina had died in a car accident in 1991 due to a retreaded tyre blowing out. Having lost control of Bob Jane T-Marts, Jane attempted to create
2288-591: The Parramatta Speedway in Sydney into a paved oval for NASCAR and the Australian AUSCAR category, giving Australia a third paved oval speedway. However, the project never got past the planning stage. On 23 February 2007, Jane was granted a 12-month intervention order against his estranged wife, Laree Jane (born 1967). At the time, she was 39 years old and they had been married for 20 years. He accused her of threatening to shoot him and threatening him with
2376-553: The Winston Cup's Pontiac Excitement 400 at the Richmond International Raceway the previous weekend, and Allison, who had won the 1988 Daytona 500 just one week prior to that, dominated the race, swapping the lead several times on a hot summer afternoon in which cabin temperatures were reported to reach over 57 °C (135 °F). Bonnett won the 280 lap race from Allison with Dave Marcis finishing 3rd. The race
2464-455: The 1920s), Australian motorsport fans finally had their own NASCAR -style high banked superspeedway when Jane spent A$ 54 million building the Thunderdome on the grounds of Calder Park Raceway. The 1.801 km (1.119 mi) Thunderdome, with 24° banking in the turns, was built as a quad-oval with Jane modelling the track on the famous Charlotte Motor Speedway . Opened on 3 August 1987,
2552-495: The 1972 championship but the Camaro still managed to beat the opposition, which included Allan Moffat 's Ford Boss 302 Mustang , Ian Geoghegan 's Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III , and Norm Beechey 's Holden HT Monaro GTS350 . Of the 38 races he started in the ATCC, he finished on the podium 21 times. Jane also won the 1963 Australian GT Championship at the wheel of a Jaguar E-type , and
2640-531: 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 the Calder Park Thunderdome where the race cars can run on a paved oval track, with both tracks currently owned the Bob Jane Corporation. The outright lap record for the Super Bowl of 22.7012
2728-701: The 2-litre cars remained eligible to compete in AF2 through to 2002. AF2 reverted to a single class 1600cc formula again for 2003. In the current form of AF2, the engine must be based on one from a mass-produced vehicle. Popular engines include the pushrod hemi headed Toyota 2T, the crossflow Ford Kent, and Holden Gemini, but the most common is the Volkswagen Golf. The Volkswagen Golf is popular due to its lighter weight and greater power levels. AF2 engines must use carburetors for fuel induction, with most running Weber carburetors. AF2 engines are now limited to 8500 rpm although in
Adelaide International Raceway - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-476: The Australian Drivers' Championship was to be determined over a series of races for the new Formula Holden category for 1989. In an effort to increase fields, an additional class for cars using 2-litre FIA Formula Three engines was incorporated into AF2 for 1999 alongside the existing 1600cc class FIA Formula Three was itself officially adopted in Australia as a separate category the following year but
2904-585: The Australian. The 1983 race was the last time the Grand Prix was included as a round of the Australian Drivers' Championship. During 1984 it was announced that from 1985, the Australian Grand Prix would be held on the Streets of Adelaide and would be the 16th and final round of the 1985 Formula One season , giving the Grand Prix "World Championship" status for the first time in its history. Despite this, Jane
2992-562: 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 a Formula 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 specification Veskanda Chevrolet sports car used by John Bowe to dominate
3080-580: The Hewland Mk8 and stronger FT200 transaxles are also used. Another popular transaxle used in monoque cars, mainly Cheetah Racing cars was manufactured by Holinger Engineering. Like the Hewland Mk8 and Mk9 it is also based on the Volkswagen transaxle. Newer carbon Fibre Dallaras and Reynards typically use transaxle housings manufactured by the car manufacturer, although they sport Hewland internals. Power levels approaching 200 horsepower (150 kW) combined with
3168-697: The Humes Guardrail 300, run on 20 November 1983 under CAMS Group C regulations, was won by Peter Brock in his HDT VH Commodore SS . The 1976 and 1977 races were run as part of the Australian Touring Car Championship. Adelaide International played host to seven rounds of the Australian Drivers' Championship between 1972 and 1988. From 1989 the Drivers' Championship (also known as the CAMS Gold Star) moved to Mallala. AIR played host to
3256-478: The Marlboro Sports Sedan Series, in both 1974 and 1975, at his own Calder Park Raceway driving a Holden Monaro GTS 350 (at times he also drove his Repco V8 powered Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 which was mostly driven by John Harvey ). Jane retired from competitive motor racing at the end of 1981 due to sciatica . At the time of his retirement he had been driving a 6.0 litre Chevrolet Monza in
3344-463: The Super Bowl behind pit lane. The outright lap record for the full 2.410 km (1.498 mi) circuit is held by Australia's 1980 Formula One World Drivers' Champion Alan Jones at 49.5 seconds. Jones set the record during the 1977 Rothmans International Series driving a Lola T332 - Chevrolet Formula 5000. Jones also holds the GT lap record of the circuit with a time of 51.7 seconds while driving
3432-587: The Thunderdome played host to the first ever NASCAR event held outside North America on 28 February 1988 with the Goodyear NASCAR 500 . Several prominent drivers from the United States came to Australia for this race including Alabama Gang members Bobby Allison and Neil Bonnett , along with Kyle Petty , Michael Waltrip , Dave Marcis , and others from the Winston West Series . Bonnett, who had won
3520-501: 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
3608-429: 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 21,500m located within
Adelaide International Raceway - Misplaced Pages Continue
3696-465: The cars are capable of generating very high G forces when cornering and braking. The engine must be based on that from a mass-produced vehicle, it must have a capacity between 1100 cc and 1600 cc, have a single camshaft operating no more than 2 valves per cylinder and use carburetors for fuel induction. A rev limiter must be fitted to limit maximum engine RPM to 8500. The bodywork must be of an "open wheel" configuration and there are limitations on both
3784-449: The driver is 510 kilograms (1,120 lb). Newer cars such as those made by Reynard and Dallara during the 1990s are made of carbon fibre and are actually heavier than the aluminium cars, although they are also more aerodynamic. The newer cars have a 530 kg racing weight, which helps to equalise their performance with the older cars. AF2 cars feature prominent front and rear wings. The wheels are 13 inches (33 cm) in diameter, with
3872-508: 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. Since its opening in 1972, Adelaide International has been used as a test track for various race teams including the Melbourne-based Holden Dealer Team , as well as Adelaide based manufacturer Holden . Also, due to it being closer to Adelaide than Mallala, AIR
3960-506: The event moved to Mount Panorama at Bathurst , New South Wales , retaining the Armstrong 500 name. Jane, driving for the Ford works team , won a further two Armstrong 500s at the new venue, the first with Firth in 1963 and the second in 1964 with George Reynolds as co-driver. Despite the change of venue, Jane is officially credited with winning Australia's most famous endurance race four times in
4048-464: The exception of turn 1 for running clockwise 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) slightly off-camber as cars entered the Bowl. The Speedway Super Bowl held winter race meetings and
4136-420: The famous Tasman Series , the Rothmans International Series , as well as other CAMS sanctioned national championships, including the Australian Drivers' Championship , Australian Formula 2 Championship , the Australian Sports Car Championship , Australian Sports Sedan Championship , and the Australian GT Championship . With six of the full circuits nine turns being right handers, those being turn 1, which
4224-484: 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
4312-439: The first ANDRA meeting at the track for over 10 years with he ANDRA Pro Series 1000, which marked the Australian debut (albeit for all classes, not just the nitromethane categories) of 1,000 ft (300 m) drag racing. ANDRA Top Fuel will continue to compete over a quarter-mile (402m) distance, but short tracks such as Adelaide will only be to 1,000 feet. In 2021, Australian National Drag Racing Association announced
4400-470: The first time. The Australian Formula 2 Championship was reintroduced for 1969 and was contested concurrently with the final round of the 1969 Australian Drivers' Championship. It became a stand-alone, single race title again in 1970. For 1971, engines with more than two valves per cylinder were banned as were those of less than 1100cc capacity. In the same year the Australian Formula 2 Championship
4488-407: The front wheels typically 9 inches (23 cm) wide and rears typically 11 inches (28 cm) wide. They are configured as an open-wheeler , and are shod with control Dunlop radial slicks . Like most formula cars, the transmission is at the rear of the car, situated behind both the engine and driver. The most common transmission in aluminium monoque cars is the 5 speed Hewland Mk9 transaxle, but
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#17328522965754576-521: The hope of Calder Park being granted a round of the Formula One World Championship (an ambitious plan at best as Calder was a 1.6 km long circuit which the faster cars lapped in less than 40 seconds). The 1980 Grand Prix was open to Formula 5000 , Formula Pacific and Formula One cars and was won by Australia's 1980 Formula One World Champion Alan Jones driving his World Championship winning Williams FW07B - Ford . Second home
4664-478: 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 as Graeme Crosby , who won the 1980 series race, and Gregg Hansford . There was an annual 3-Hour race held at the circuit until the mid-1980s that
4752-428: The largest grids seen in Australian formula racing for years. The manufacture of cars in Australia for the formula flourished. It wasn't uncommon to see cars designed and built by the same person that drove them. For a brief period when Formula 5000 was in its final death throes, AF2 was arguably (but not officially) Australia's top class of racing car. It had a national championship as well as various state series. AF2
4840-541: 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 for AUSCAR and NASCAR racing during
4928-431: The long (2.410 km) circuit. The official race lap records at Adelaide International Raceway are listed as: Bob Jane Robert Frederick Jane (18 December 1929 – 28 September 2018) was an Australian race car driver and prominent entrepreneur and business tycoon. A four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, the race that became the prestigious Bathurst 1000 and a four-time Australian Touring Car Champion , Jane
5016-504: The more powerful (with 20+ years of engine, tyre and suspension development) NASCAR and AUSCAR 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),
5104-425: The past prior to the introduction of rev limiters, engine revs over 10,000 rpm were not uncommon. AF2 engines typically produce in the order of 180 to 200 horsepower (150 kW). The majority of AF2 cars produced in the late 1970s and 1980s are made from an aluminium monoquue, just as Formula One cars of the era were. Such cars often weigh in under 400 kilograms (880 lb) and the allowable racing weight including
5192-429: The position and size of the front and rear wings. The car must have a flat floor between the front and rear wheels and the minimum weight of the combined car and driver (racing weight) is either 510 kg or 530 kg depending on the age of the car. The class uses a "control tyre" manufactured by Dunlop, to ensure both close competition and good tyre life. CAMS recognition of the Australian Formula 2 Championship as
5280-435: 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
5368-523: The same or newly developed cars, but powered by production-based single-cam, 2 valve per cylinder engines, with an engine capacity between 1100 cc and 1600 cc. Popular engines initially included the Toyota 2T , Ford Kent and Holden Gemini. Later on the Volkswagen Golf became the engine of choice due to its lighter weight and greater power levels. Initially the new format proved to be very successful, attracting
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#17328522965755456-463: The same year, with the title awarded to the winner of the Australia Cup , an AF2 race held in support of the 1987 Australian Grand Prix at the Adelaide Street Circuit . The Australian Formula 2 Championship continued and for 1988 the Australian Drivers' Championship was awarded to the winner of the Australian Formula 2 Championship series. The 1988 AF2C title was to be the last awarded by CAMS and
5544-711: The then retired Jones, plus future Formula One World Champion Alain Prost . Frenchman Prost won the 100 lap race from Laffite and 1981 winner Roberto Moreno. When Prost later won his second AGP in Adelaide in 1986 to win his second of four Formula One World Championships, he became the only driver to ever win the Australian Grand Prix in both World Championship and non-championship formats. The 1983 race , while only attracting one current F1 driver in Jacques Laffite, as well as Alan Jones, who had made an abortive F1 comeback earlier in
5632-604: The year, did attract 24 entries (mostly the Ford powered RT4), including former winner Moreno, Geoff Brabham and future F1 driver Allen Berg . Moreno won his second AGP from local drivers John Smith and Laffite. Geoff Brabham finished 4th with Jones in 5th and Charlie O'Brien . Reigning Australian Drivers' Champion Alfredo Costanzo led the race early in his Tiga FA81 before suffering a differential failure on lap 25. Moreno would later claim that had 'Alfie' not retired then he would likely have won as he didn't believe he would have caught
5720-511: 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. On 13–15 April 2012 top line drag racing made its return to AIR for
5808-509: Was 88. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Australian Formula 2 Championship Australian Formula 2 , sometimes abbreviated to AF2 or ANF2 , is a "wings and slicks" formula racing category in Australia . The category is one of Australia's oldest, dating back to 1964. The current format of AF2
5896-471: 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 the Australian Touring Car Championship and endurance races of the Australian Manufacturers' Championship (later known as the 'Championship of Makes') . The Adelaide track also hosted rounds of
5984-405: Was also the hardest braking point of the track after the fastest cars such as Formula 5000 's regularly reached speeds of over 270 km/h (170 mph) on the long straight (by 1988 the turbocharged Ford Sierra RS500 touring cars run by Dick 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
6072-502: 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
6160-442: Was bumped down from being the number one Australian racing formula with the introduction of the slightly faster but far more expensive Formula Pacific category. Throughout the 1980s AF2 remained an extremely popular and competitive category and the Australian Drivers' Championship was contested with Formula 2 cars in both 1987 and 1988. In 1999 CAMS introduced 2-litre international Formula Three engines into AF2. The 1600cc class
6248-642: Was contested over a series of races for the first time with all rounds run concurrently with those of the 1971 Australian Driver's Championship. The 1974 championship, which enjoyed significant sponsorship from the Van Heusen Shirt Company, was run as a totally stand alone series. The declining state of the category saw the 1977 championship downgraded to a single race affair and new regulations were announced to take effect in 1978. The engines were to be limited to 1600cc production based units with valve actuation by single overhead camshaft or pushrods. There
6336-758: Was established by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) in 1964 as the third tier of single seater motor racing in Australia, below the Australian National Formula and the Australian 1½ Litre Formula and above Australian Formula 3 . It was a two part formula consisting of (a) cars using production based engines of up to 1100cc capacity (the discontinued Formula Junior class from 1963) and (b) cars using free design four cylinder engines of up to 1000cc capacity (the then current FIA Formula Two class). A single race Australian Formula 2 Championship
6424-453: Was fellow F1 driver Bruno Giacomelli driving his Alfa Romeo 179 , with Ligier F1 driver Didier Pironi finishing 3rd, driving an Elfin MR8 Formula 5000 for leading Australian team Ansett Team Elfin . From 1981 until 1984 the races were run under Formula Mondial regulations and Jane succeeded in attracting many of the best Formula One drivers of the era. Each race from 1981 to 1984
6512-636: 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 the Australian Endurance Championship . The first endurance race, the Chesterfield 250 , run on 27 August 1972 for Series Production Touring Cars , was won by Colin Bond driving a Holden Dealer Team (HDT) LJ Torana GTR XU-1 . The last enduro,
6600-554: Was first used on 16 June 1974 when a large crowd or around 10,000 turned up to see competitors from Rowley 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 the ½ 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
6688-404: Was instituted in 1964 however the title was discontinued after two years. The engine capacity was raised to 1600cc in 1969, AF2 thus replacing the discontinued Australian 1½ Litre Formula as the country's second tier single seater category. From the same year AF2 cars were eligible to compete alongside the 2½ litre Australian National Formula cars in the Australian Drivers' Championship for
6776-494: Was introduced in 1978. Brian Shead of Cheetah Racing Cars and Garrie Cooper of Elfin Sports Cars were largely responsible for the development of the format, which was devised to suit the needs of Australian drivers, most of whom had little or no sponsorship and had to bear the costs of racing out of their own pockets. The class was an amalgamation of the previous Australian Formula 2 and Australian Formula 3 categories, using
6864-486: Was knocked unconscious when his Holden Torana hit the concrete retaining wall and chronic Understeer 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 a space frame chassis , well tuned V8 engines and wide slick tyres (such as those which were racing successfully at Liverpool) and these cars quickly dominated. The problem
6952-535: Was marred by an early multi-car crash in turns 3 and 4 involving 8 cars including the Ford Thunderbird of local touring car champion Dick Johnson , and the Oldsmobile of Allan Grice who, after running out of brakes, couldn't slow down coming off the back straight and ran into the wreck at speed. Grice, whose car was a write-off , suffered a broken collarbone and was taken to hospital for x-rays. Jane also owned
7040-548: Was meant to become the second tier of the formula and then to be discontinued. Despite this 1600cc AF2 remained a popular Formula, perhaps because it was a far cheaper formula than Formula Three and Formula Brabham/Holden/4000 . Since then, the popularity of AF2 has slowly diminished and the series has contracted from being a national series, to one that is contested in New South Wales, although there are plans afoot to also incorporate Victoria. The Australian Formula 2 category
7128-402: Was no national championship for the new AF2 in this first year but a championship series was reintroduced for 1979. AF2 regulations were amended for 1987 to eliminate underbody aerodynamic aids, thus bringing the formula in line with Europe/UK. The decline of Australia's premier open wheel category, Formula Mondial , saw the Australian Drivers' Championship move from that category to AF2 in
7216-463: Was set in a NSACAR by Terry Whyhoon driving a Ford Thunderbird during the 1997/98 Goodyear Australian SuperSpeedway Series. The fastest qualifying and race laps set during speedway meetings was set in 1976 by John Hughes (later the founder of World Series Sprintcars ) driving a V8 powered HJ Holden One Tonner ute chassis covered by HJ Monaro bodywork. His times were 23.8 for qualifying and 23.2 seconds race lap, which were not much slower than
7304-533: Was still able to successfully attract current Formula One drivers to participate in the 1984 Australian Grand Prix . Headlining the 'imports' was three time (including 1984 ) World Champion Niki Lauda , and 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg . Joining them were 1984 Ligier drivers Andrea de Cesaris and François Hesnault and 1981 and 1983 AGP winner Roberto Moreno to face off against local stars Costanzo and 1984 Gold Star champion John Bowe . Moreno would win his 3rd AGP in 4 years from Rosberg, who fought back from
7392-509: Was televised nationally on the ABC , 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 saw bike racing move to Mallala instead. AIR continues to run bikes in drag racing with Top Bike and Pro Stock Motorcycle both being regulars at drag racing events. From 1972 to 1988 the Adelaide International Raceway
7480-428: 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
7568-522: Was the first time since 1968 that the AGP had two or more, current or past World Champions, on the starting grid. On that occasion, Jim Clark (1st), Graham Hill (3rd), Denny Hulme (9th), and Australia's own triple World Champion Jack Brabham (DNF) participated as the race was part of the popular off-season Tasman Series . For the 1982 Australian Grand Prix , Jane again attracted F1 drivers in Piquet, Laffite,
7656-586: Was well known for his chain of tyre retailers, Bob Jane T-Marts . Jane was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2000. Bob Jane grew up in Brunswick , an inner-city suburb of Melbourne . His passion for racing began in the early 1950s as a champion bicycle rider, holding many state records before turning to four wheels. In the later 1950s, he started Bob Jane Autoland, a company that distributed parts for Jaguar and Alfa Romeo . Through this venture,
7744-409: Was won by those driving the popular Ralt RT4 - Ford . The 1981 Australian Grand Prix was won by future F1 driver Roberto Moreno from Brazil . Finishing second, also in an RT4 was 1981 World Champion Nelson Piquet (Brazil) with Australian Geoff Brabham finishing 3rd in his RT4. Alan Jones and Ligier's Jacques Laffite also participated in the race, though both failed to finish. The 1981 race
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