Adelaide 500

South Australia Clipsal 500 Adelaide
Race Information
Venue Adelaide Street Circuit
Number of times held 18
First held 1999
Race Format
Race 1
Laps 39
Distance 125 km
Race 2
Laps 39
Distance 125 km
Race 3
Laps 78
Distance 250 km
Last Event (2016)
Overall Winner
Australia Nick Percat Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport
Race Winners
Australia Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering
Australia James Courtney Holden Racing Team
Australia Nick Percat Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport

The Adelaide 500 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Clipsal 500 Adelaide or Clipsal 500, or colloquially as just Clipsal) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. First held in 1999, the event uses a shortened form of the Adelaide Street Circuit, the former Australian Grand Prix track.

Format

Usually held over four days in early March, the "500" itself consists of two 125 km races and one 250 km held on the last two days of the meeting. Before 2014, there were two 250 km races. For much of its life the two/three races combined to give an overall result for the winner of the Adelaide 500, although the message was often confused as podium celebrations based on the results of each day individually were held. More than most the race regulations have been fiddled with many times, most famous on the day of the first event where 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 day of the original 1999 event the regulations were changed overnight to allow those cars to start the Sunday race.

In 2008 Supercars briefly attempted to retrospectively change the winners of past Adelaide 500s to recognise only Sunday race winners, even to the point of changing overall series statistics, but have since reverted. A major regulation change for the championship as a whole in 2009 saw each race in the championship recognised individually and 'round results' were no longer officially recognised. Since then Supercars have stepped away from the concept of an overall two-day Adelaide 500 winner.

Although the results of all races count towards the Supercars championship, the winner of the third race is declared the winner of the "Clipsal 500 Adelaide", regardless of the results of the first race. The rest of the four days are filled with practice, qualifying, and support races for a number of other racing categories, including the Development Series, Formula Three, V8 Utes, Touring Car Masters and Carrera Cup.

History

Pit straight during qualifying on Friday 2008.
Turn 9.

The Adelaide Street Circuit was used for the Formula One Australian Grand Prix from 1985 to 1995. Supercars, then known as the Group 3A Touring Cars, had competed in support races at each of these Grands Prix although these races did not count towards the annual Australian Touring Car Championship. The state of South Australia had previously hosted championship rounds of the ATCC at Mallala Motor Sport Park in 1963 and between 1969 and 1998 and at Adelaide International Raceway from 1972 to 1988.

On 1 September 1998, the Government 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.

The 1999 event saw Craig 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 become the first winner of the Adelaide 500. As of 2015, Lowndes has never won the event since. Lowndes' disqualification from race one was later overturned.[2]

From 1999 to 2003 the Adelaide 500 was dominated by Holden teams, with three wins to Mark Skaife and one each to Jason Bright and Lowndes. It wasn't until 2004 that a Ford driver won the event, with Marcos Ambrose winning both races. Ambrose gave Ford another event win in 2005, before Jamie Whincup made it three in 2006. It was Whincup's first event win in Supercars, and was also his first event since moving to Triple Eight Race Engineering. Whincup went on to win again in 2008, 2009 and 2011 to be the most successful driver in the event's history.

From 2002 to 2009, the Adelaide 500 was the opening round of the championship. It lost this position in 2010 and 2011, with the Yas V8 400 in the United Arab Emirates opening the series. From 2012, Adelaide returned to being the opening round. In 2014 and 2015, James Courtney became the fourth driver to win the Clipsal 500 back-to-back, after Skaife, Ambrose and Whincup. He also provided the Holden Racing Team with its sixth and seventh event wins, more than double the number any other team has achieved.

Awards and recognition

The Clipsal 500 Adelaide has been recognised on several occasions as the winner of the ‘Major Festivals & Events’ category at the Australian Tourism Awards (2003/04, 2005, 2007 and 2008), demonstrating the event is more than a motor race, comparing with the best the country has to offer in the fields of the arts, sports, or once-off spectaculars.[3] The event also regularly features a music concert every night, in addition to air displays, amusements, and social events that attract visitors from interstate and overseas.

The event won best event of the series every year from 1999 to 2004. In 2005 it was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame,[3] the first time an individual event has been inducted. In 2008 the Clipsal 500 was attended by 291,400 people,[4] the largest crowd for a domestic motorsport event in Australia.[3][5]

Winners

Jamie Whincup (centre) on the podium after winning the 2008 Clipsal 500 Adelaide
Year Driver Team Car Report
1999 Australia Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team Holden VT Commodore Report
2000 Australia Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VT Commodore Report
2001 Australia Jason Bright Holden Racing Team Holden VX Commodore Report
2002 Australia Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden VX Commodore Report
2003 Australia Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden VY Commodore Report
2004 Australia Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon Report
2005 Australia Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon Report
2006 Australia Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BA Falcon Report
2007 Australia Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden VE Commodore Report
2008 Australia Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BF Falcon Report
2009 Australia Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford FG Falcon Report
2010 Australia Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore Report
2011 Australia Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore Report
2012 Australia Will Davison Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon Report
2013 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Autosports Holden VF Commodore Report
2014 Australia James Courtney Holden Racing Team Holden VF Commodore Report
2015 Australia James Courtney Holden Racing Team Holden VF Commodore Report
2016 Australia Nick Percat Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden VF Commodore Report

Notes:

Multiple winners

By Driver

Wins Driver Years
4 Australia Jamie Whincup 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011
2 Australia Mark Skaife 2002, 2003
Australia Marcos Ambrose 2004, 2005
Australia Garth Tander 2000, 2010
Australia James Courtney 2014, 2015

By team

Wins Team
7 Holden Racing Team
3 Triple Eight Race Engineering
2 Stone Brothers Racing

By manufacturer

Wins Manufacturer
12 Holden
6 Ford

Event names

See also

References

External links

Coordinates: 34°55′50″S 138°37′14″E / 34.93056°S 138.62056°E / -34.93056; 138.62056

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