Adelaide Motorsport Park

Lore & Background

Speedway Park was created after Rowley Park Speedway closed due to noise complaints and parking issues. The new site, surrounded by market gardens, avoided such problems and offered ample on-site parking. The track is a 430-metre clay oval with a concrete retaining wall and catch fencing. Its first official meeting on 2 November 1979 was opened by the Minister for Transport, Recreation & Sport, the Hon. Michael M. Wilson MP. Unlike Rowley Park's dolomite surface, the clay suited car categories like sprintcars and super sedans but was less popular with motorcycle riders, who stopped racing regularly after 1985.

Reader's Guide

Adelaide Motorsport Park has been a central venue for Australian dirt track racing since 1979. It hosted the first Australian Sprintcar Masters in 1985, coinciding with the first Australian Formula One Grand Prix, and has held numerous national championships including the Australian Sprintcar, Speedcar, Super Sedan, Solo, and Sidecar championships. The venue has had only two fatal accidents in its history: solo rider Kevin O'Connell in 1985 and speedcar driver Tony Boyle in 1993. Ownership and naming have changed over time, with Bill Miller taking over as promoter in 2016 and renaming it Adelaide Motorsport Park. The track's announcers included David Sabine, Rob Kelvin, and Brian Lamprell, among others.

Did You Know?

• The venue was originally called Speedway Park from 1979 to 2001 and Speedway City from 1997 to 2016.
• The first Australian Sprintcar Masters was held at the track on 2 November 1985, won by American driver Randy Kinser.
• Formula One drivers Derek Warwick and Patrick Tambay did hot laps in a sprintcar during the 1985 Masters; Warwick was fined by the FIA.
• The track has a clay surface and a 430-metre length, with a concrete retaining wall 6 feet high.