A pair of Hills among the highlights of Adelaide Motorsport Festival

Final weekend’s Adelaide Motorsport Competition drew a file crowd to town’s parklands as tens of 1000’s of petrol heads fuelled the prelude to the Formulation 1 season opener with a celebration of the easiest of Australia’s motorsport scene.

Stars from F1, V8s, and Le Mans had been joined by a number of the world’s rarest supercars as they took to a bit of the previous Grand Prix circuit for 2 days and an evening of monitor and road motion.

Right here’s a taster of six of our private favourites from the occasion.

Jake Hill, 1975 Shadow DN6B Formulation 5000

Previous to the weekend, we thought that adopted Aussie hero Valtteri Bottas would maintain the highest spot, however a difficult gearbox on the ex-DTM Mercedes 190E put a halt to its glory run, leaving reigning British Touring Automotive champion Jake Hill to point out true Brit by driving 4 totally different automobiles (Can-Am Shadow, F5000 Shadow, Sierra RS500, and the ex-Marcos Ambrose Ford Fusion NASCAR), and boy did the group like it.

Chatting with Autosport after the ultimate day, Hill mentioned: “Wow! What a tremendous place, and what a cool occasion. Sadly, a problem with the Can-Am automotive restricted our operating, however this was greater than made up for with the expertise of the RS500 and the NASCAR. Each have been on my bucket checklist for a really very long time, and each had been merely gorgeous to drive.”

Nevertheless, the group’s favorite was the ex-Jackie Oliver Shadow DN6B. “The chassis is simply wonderful,” Hill continued, “it’s pretty much as good as any F1 automotive of the interval, however with the added bonus of a large V8 planted on the again.

“The expertise it delivers is simply unimaginable, the steadiness was excellent, the torque and energy supply sensational, and the brakes had been greater than as much as the job. And let’s be trustworthy, it completely appears the enterprise as nicely.”

David Brabham, 1990 Brabham BT59

One in every of solely two Australians (the opposite Alan Jones) to have raced in F1 at Adelaide, Brabham alternated his time between his1990 Brabham BT59, and the ex-Damon Hill1992 Brabham BT60B. Although success in F1 right here didn’t come his method, Brabham will all the time be remembered for his unimaginable Australian F2 Drivers’ Championship win within the F1 assist race in 1987.

A sequence of mechanical failures had left him lapless in each follow and qualifying, which means he needed to begin the race on the again.

“Dad and I hadn’t spoken for 3 months,” Brabham recalled. “There’d been a little bit of a scene, then abruptly, right here we each are in Adelaide. Earlier than the race, I went as much as him, took maintain of his F1 cross and mentioned, ‘You’d higher get me one in all these, I’ll be needing it quickly’.

“Nicely, he simply let rip, telling me, ‘The times of you ever attending to Formulation 1 are completed’. He’d by no means been extra critical, so I informed him the place to go! Unexpectedly, one thing inside me clicked. I’ll be trustworthy, it might have gone both method, however I simply drove like I’d by no means pushed earlier than. The anger grew to become dedication.

“I believe I made 21 locations on the primary lap alone, and by lap 14 [of 15], I used to be within the lead. Nicely, dad was apparently operating round like he was possessed, grabbing Jackie Stewart and Ken Tyrrell. The three of them had been with me on the podium and Ken simply mentioned to him, ‘It’s time to get him again to England Jack, as a result of he’s bought a job to do in F3, and what comes after that’.”

Craig Lowndes, 2023 Pagani Huayra R

Supercars legend Lowndes topped the timed shootout in Pagani

Picture by: Steve Hindle

On some other day, our focus can be purely on racing automobiles, however when a three-time Supercars champion, and seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner, will get behind the wheel of one of many world’s most unique hypercars, it’s time to concentrate.

Lowndes gained the ‘Ten of the Greatest’ shootout within the Pagani Huayra on the Competition’s finish, and informed Autosport: “It’s truly the primary time I’ve pushed it, and I’ve to be trustworthy, it’s much more enjoyable than the F1 [1988 Arrows A10B]. I imply, its V12 simply screams at you to push it tougher, quicker, deeper, and it responds instantly and effortlessly. I used to be within the cockpit throughout that final run, listening to the induction alongside the straight, and all I might assume was ‘oh yeah!’”

Steve Richards, 1987 Nissan Skyline R31 GTS-R

Richards drove his father’s Nissan

Picture by: Steve Hindle

Like Lowndes, Richards (son of legendary driver Jim Richards) is a a number of winner of the Bathurst 1000 (partnering Lowndes to victory twice). Right here he’s, delivering a crowd-pleasing, flame-spitting show as he holds off Chris Smerdon’s Ford Falcon.

Damon Hill, 1992 Brabham BT60B

Adelaide was the scene of highs and lows for Hill

Picture by: Steve Hindle

Hill is a driver with very blended reminiscences of Adelaide however he was reunited along with his previous Brabham from his maiden F1 season on the occasion this yr.

“I like coming right here – it’s a spot flooded with reminiscences and buddies,” Hill informed Autosport. “Clearly, I had extremes of each lows and highs. The low being 1994 when Michael [Schumacher] barged me into retirement [and out of title contention]. Then, returning the next yr to win by two laps.

“, the BT60B wasn’t a very good automotive, it was truly fairly harmful, however in racing, you’ve bought to take each alternative, and the chance it gave me was to point out that I belonged in Formulation 1.”

Tony Sawford, 1977 Holden Torana A9X

Sawford has undertaken full restoration of star of Nineteen Seventies Torana tin-top

Picture by: Steve Hindle

Based in Adelaide as a saddlery maker in 1856, the title Holden remains to be as a lot part of Australian lore as ‘Fosters’. Sadly, the model halted manufacturing of automobiles some 5 years in the past, however capturing hearts at Adelaide was this very good restoration by Tony Sawford.

The Torana ASX raced into legend at Bathurst with Peter Brock and by 1979 was merely unbeatable on the touring automotive scene. Automotive proprietor Sawford mentioned: “I purchased this again in 2005. It had lived its youth as a racer however then was used for the street. It was fitted with normal seat belts, on a regular basis seats and a road-type exhaust, however apart from that, it was nonetheless because it was when it final raced, minus stickers. My job was to breathe new life into it. Its job is to remind folks of that golden period.”