Adelaide Parklands Circuit, Racing CircuitStreet Circuit

The Adelaide Parklands Circuit is a temporary street course laid out around the Victoria Park Racecourse area on the eastern edge of Adelaide's central business district in South Australia. It came about in the early 1980s when businessman Bill O'Gorman, backed by Premier John Bannon, secured a seven-year contract from Bernie Ecclestone to host Australia's first Formula One Grand Prix, with engineer Bob Barnard creating a course that combined a purpose-built section through the racecourse with surrounding city roads. As the Australian Grand Prix venue from 1985 to 1995 it produced some of motorsport's most dramatic moments, including Nigel Mansell's 1986 title-losing tyre failure, Ayrton Senna's victories, and Michael Schumacher's controversial 1994 championship-deciding clash with Damon Hill. When the Grand Prix moved to Melbourne's Albert Park in 1996 the streets fell silent, but the circuit was revived in 1999 for the V8 Supercars as the Sensational Adelaide 500, on a slightly shortened layout that became one of the most gruelling rounds of the year in the summer heat. Long supported by sponsor Clipsal, the event grew into a four-day festival of speed and music second only to the Bathurst 1000, peaking at over 290,000 attendees in 2008 before declining crowds led the state to axe it after the 2020 race. The course briefly hosted the American Le Mans Series 'Race of 1000 Years' on its longer Grand Prix configuration in 2000. Following a change of government, Premier Peter Malinauskas resurrected the race for 2022 as the Supercars season finale, requiring extensive resurfacing and the repurchase of previously sold-off infrastructure. The current circuit runs around 3.219km with fourteen turns, including the notorious flat-out Turn 8 sweeper and the named Senna Chicane.

Operated by: South Australian Government / Adelaide City Council (temporary)