- Adelaide 500
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Clipsal 500 Adelaide Venue Adelaide Street Circuit 
Adelaide Street CircuitRace Format Race 1 - Laps 78 - Distance 250 km Race 2 - Laps 78 - Distance 250 km Last Race (2011) Winning Driver Jamie Whincup Winning Team Triple Eight Race Engineering Winning Manufacturer Holden The Adelaide 500 is an annual motor racing event for V8 Supercars, held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia on a shortened form of the Adelaide Street Circuit, the former Australian Grand Prix track. The event is currently known as the "Clipsal 500 Adelaide" due to naming rights sponsorship from Clipsal Electronics.
Usually held over four days in early March, the "500" itself consists of two 250 km races for V8 Supercars held on the last two days of the meeting. For much of its life the two 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 regualtions 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 V8 Supercar 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 regonised individually and 'round results' were no longer officially recognised. Since then V8 Supercars Australia have stepped away from the concept of an overall two-day Adelaide 500 winner.
Although the results of both races count towards the V8 Supercars Championship, the winner of the second 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 Australian GT and Australian Formula Ford.
In 2008 the Clipsal 500 was attended by 291,400 people,[1] the largest crowd for a domestic motorsport event in Australia.[2][3] The carnival also features a music concert every night, in addition to air displays, amusements, and social events that attract visitors from interstate and overseas.
Contents
History
Pit straight during qualifying on Friday 2008.
Turn 9.The Adelaide Street Circuit was used for Formula One races from 1985 to 1995. 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 V8 Supercar race to be known as the Sensational Adelaide 500 on a shortened version of the Grand Prix track. The initial contract was for a period of five years with an option for a further five years.[4]
The 1999 event saw Craig Lowndes win the Saturday race, only to be disqualified due to his involvement in an accident and made to start from the back of the grid for race two on the Sunday. Craig Lowndes passed every car in the field to also win race two and become the first winner of the Adelaide 500. Lowndes' disqualification from race one was later overturned.[5]
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.
From 2000 to 2003 the Adelaide 500 was dominated by Holden teams, with three wins to Mark Skaife and one to Jason Bright. It wasn't until 2004 that a Ford driver won the event, with Marcos Ambrose successful that year. Marcos Ambrose won again in 2005 and Jamie Whincup was the winner in 2006. In 2007, Rick Kelly won the Adelaide 500. And in 2008 the winner was Jamie Whincup again.
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.[2]
The event won best event of the series every year from 1999 to 2004. In 2005 it was inducted into the V8 Supercar Hall of Fame[2], the first time an individual event has been inducted.
Winners
Jamie Whincup celebrating after winning the 2008 Clipsal 500.Year Driver Car report 1999 Craig Lowndes Holden VT Commodore report 2000 Garth Tander Holden VT Commodore report 2001 Jason Bright Holden VX Commodore report 2002 Mark Skaife Holden VX Commodore report 2003 Mark Skaife Holden VY Commodore report 2004 Marcos Ambrose Ford BA Falcon report 2005 Marcos Ambrose Ford BA Falcon report 2006 Jamie Whincup Ford BA Falcon report 2007 Todd Kelly Holden VE Commodore report 2008 Jamie Whincup Ford BF Falcon report 2009 Jamie Whincup Ford FG Falcon report 2010 Garth Tander Holden VE Commodore report 2011 Jamie Whincup Holden VE Commodore report References
- ^ South Australia - Clipsal 500 Adelaide
- ^ a b c Clipsal 500 Adelaide named as nation's best major festival or event for third time
- ^ Clipsal 500 Adelaide named as nation's best festival or event
- ^ Parliament of South Australia - House of Assembly Hansard, 4 November 1998
- ^ Legendry Lowndes Blitzes Adelaide 500
External links
Coordinates: 34°55′50″S 138°37′14″E / 34.93056°S 138.62056°E
Categories:- V8 Supercar races
- Sport in Adelaide
- Recurring sporting events established in 1999
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