Adelaide Motorsport Festival, South Australia, 2016 Part 2

Victoria Park Sprints, 19-20 November
Read Part 1

Story and photos by Vince Johnson

The F1s were back in Adelaide in November, recreating the sights and sounds of the glory days of 1985 – 1995, when the Australian Grand Prix had come alive in the streets of the South Australian capital. Shoppers and city workers on their lunch break found four of them displayed in the centre of town on the Wednesday before the festival. Alongside the Ferrari 156 turbo that Stefan Johansson had driven in the 1985 race and the Ferrari 412 T1 that Gerhard Berger scored second place with in 1994 were Ivan Capelli’s 1989 Leyton House March CG891 and the most powerful F1 car ever, Berger’s 1986 Benetton BMW. Johansson, Capelli and Minardi driver Pierluigi Martini were on hand, posing for photos and signing mementoes from Adelaide’s F1 decade. After the media interviews, the 412T1 was fired up for several minutes to give the public a taste of what was in store.

They didn’t have long to wait. Many headed to Victoria Park on Thursday evening for the Classic Adelaide Rally prologue on part of the old F1 circuit, before the rally crews set off into the hills on Friday for two days of closed road stages.

Friday night is party time in the CBD on the Gouger Street restaurant and café strip. Last year the weather had put a damper on the F1s driving through town but it really was Christmas in the city this year. The sight of V8 touring car racers and a Ferrari 599 FXX leading the two 156-85 Ferraris, Alan Jones’ 1985 Beatrice Lola and Berger’s BMW Benetton had peak hour traffic slowing to a crawl.

Next morning in the park, while the rally cars were busy in the hills, timed sprints ran all day across 17 categories, including classic motorcycles, special demonstrations and the F1s. In the Supercars group among the McLarens, Nissans and Audi R8 were Jim Manolios’ Lamborghini Hurracan GT3 and Kevin Weeks’ Gallardo. A pair of ‘Muscle Car’ category De Tomaso Panteras of (appropriately) Ches & Nick De Tomaso kept the Italian flag flying. There were two Alfas with the Classic Touring cars, Mike Coles’ 1987 Sprint QV and Peter Axford’s 1964 Giulia Sprint GT. These two drivers had a vested interest in the rally performance of the Standen/Coles 2600 Sprint; Mike’s son Andrew was navigating and Peter had built the car at his Eurosport Automotive premises.

French and Italian cars accounted for half the entries in the Euro Performance group. Peter Male’s 1989 Peugeot 405 mi16 joined Craig Rundle’s quick 2000 Renault Clio V6 Cup, a car with some interesting previous owner history not related to motor sport.

Hottest of the Italians was Russell Frick’s’ 1974 Fiat X1/9 rocket ship, definitely not stock with, among other components, 2 litre Honda power and a Quaife sequential gearbox. The four Alfas included a pair of 1984 GTV6s (Justin Waznek and David Parken), Adam Savis’ 1981 Alfasud Ti and Malcolm Ebel’s 1976 Alfetta GT.

Local members of the Ferrari Club Australia were out in force in the FCA Challenge. There were four dedicated track cars, Keith Wong’s ‘Veloce Motorsport’ 2000 F360 Challenge, Steve Phillips’ ‘Race Comp’ 2000 360 Challenge and Brenton Griguol’s 1999 ‘Koala Car Rentals’ 360 Challenge and 2007 ‘Bank SA’ F430GT3, which he and Tim Macrow shared during the weekend. Of the road cars, Alvin Chua punted his 2015 458 Speciale almost as hard and had plenty of track time, also running his 1986 BMW M635CSi among the Classic Touring cars. Oldest of the group was the 1976 308 GTB of ‘Ferrazer’ Gascoigne. Mark Coupe had his 1995 F355, Paul Mitolo was in his 1996 F355 Challenge, while 360 Modenas were in the hands of Andrew MacDonald, Frank & Paul Russo and Sab Troncone. Julian Mazzone (2002 360 Challenge) and Rolf Czabayski (2006 430 Spider) completed the field.

The F1s had the circuit to themselves several times during the day. Just as it was 30 years ago, anyone anywhere in town knew when they were out, Robert Broek’s Ferrari 412 T1 that Gerhard Berger had driven to second place in 1994 saw to that. Many of the spectators had a severe case of déjà vu when Johansson took the track in the #28 Ferrari 156-85. Its owner, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, had also brought its matching twin that the late Michele Alboreto had driven in Adelaide in 1985. The first F1 car to be driven on the Adelaide circuit that year was the Beatrice Lola Hart in the hands of 1980 champion Alan Jones. This time, owner Ian Ross was at the wheel. Local V8 Supercar development series driver Josh Kean had fun letting the Benetton BMW off its leash. Ivan Capelli and Andy Higgins spent track time in the Leyton House March and Pierluigi Martini joined them with the 1989 Minardi Ford. However problems with its fuel or electrical systems, or a combination of both, limited the Minardi’s track time.

Sunday saw the sprinters back again in brilliant sunshine. While trophies weren’t the order of the day there are always bragging rights to be had from lap times, and in the Euro Performance group Russell Frick’s X1/9 missile had a couple of seconds on Rene Felkl’s Porsche 356 and Craig Rundle’s Clio. Brenton Griguol’s (F430 GT3) best lap of 47.89 seconds headed the Ferrari Club Challenge times from Keith Wong (360 Challenge) on 49.69.

The F1s took a break around lunchtime for driver signings. Retired F1 drivers never really stop competing and Ivan Capelli in the Leyton House March showed the Ferraris, Benetton and Lola the way home with a time of 43.28.

Almost as soon as the Benetton was safely in the marquee Josh Kean was back on track in one of the world’s rarest Ferraris. Over 1300 F40s were built between 1987-92 but just 7 of the later GTE examples exist and it’s a rare event when they’re seen in public. Right behind it and only slightly more common, from the same private collection and in the hands of V8 supercar driver Tim Slade, was one of the 30 Ferrari 599XX track day specials produced. With the exhaust from its six-litre V12 exiting behind the front wheels, its sound ran a close second to that of Berger’s F1 412. Completing the grid in this ‘Ferrari Spettacolo’ demonstration, fresh from the rally roads, was the F12 TDF, a 488 GTB and Spider and 458 Speciale.

Those 11 Grand Prix races round the streets of Adelaide thirty years ago were memorable not just because of the party mood at the final event of the F1 calendar. The track was live for virtually the entire four days, with a combination of racing and feature events, demonstrations and displays that captivated the entire city. The Adelaide Motorsport Festival is a credit to the organizers and the Sporting Car Club of South Australia who have given it that same spirit. Cars and drivers are back, there are new generations of enthusiasts with those who were there in the 80’s, and that party atmosphere never really went away.

Scroll down for more great action shots from Adelaide!