Adelaide Street Circuit
The Adelaide Street Circuit is the temporary track built every year on city streets and parkland on the eastern edge of downtown Adelaide. It hosted the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix from 1985 to 1995, and since 1999 it’s been home to the Supercars race now called the bp Adelaide Grand Final, the championship decider. In 2027 MotoGP arrives on a longer layout that brings back parts of the old F1 track. Here’s the name, the history, a lap, the records, what races there and how to visit.
Adelaide Street Circuit at a Glance
Length 3.219 km / 2.000 mi Supercars layout, used since 1999
Turns 14 the F1 Grand Prix layout was 3.780 km with 16 turns
Circuit type Temporary street circuit on city roads and in Victoria Park, East Parklands
First race November 1985 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, run here until 1995
Location & organizer Adelaide, South Australia run by the South Australian Motor Sport Board
Race lap record 1:19.7028 Will Brown, Chevrolet Camaro Supercar, 2025
Adelaide Street Circuit, Parklands Circuit or the Adelaide 500?
They all point to the same place. The track is usually called the Adelaide Street Circuit, and Supercars calls it the Adelaide Parklands street circuit. The race on it has changed names a lot: it started as the Adelaide 500 in 1999, became the Clipsal 500 Adelaide from 2000 to 2017, then the Superloop Adelaide 500 and the VAILO Adelaide 500, and since 2025 it’s been the bp Adelaide Grand Final, because it now decides the Supercars title.
The pits, the main straight and the start of the lap sit in Victoria Park, which also carries the Kaurna name Pakapakanthi (Park 16), part of the parklands that ring the city center. The rest of the lap uses public roads such as Wakefield Road, East Terrace, Bartels Road and Dequetteville Terrace, which carry normal traffic for most of the year.
A few names honor racing heroes. The Senna Chicane at the end of the pit straight was named after Ayrton Senna following his death in 1994, and Rundle Road was named after 1980 world champion Alan Jones in 1987. The F1 layout’s long Dequetteville Terrace straight was known as the Brabham Straight, after Sir Jack Brabham.
Adelaide Street Circuit History
Adelaide has had two lives as a racing city. For 11 seasons it closed out the Formula 1 calendar, and a lot of championships were decided on its streets. After F1 left for Melbourne, the shorter Supercars layout took over in 1999, and since 2022 the event has closed out the Supercars season.
- 1984 In October, Adelaide is awarded a round of the 1985 Formula 1 World Championship, to be held on a street circuit around the East Parklands.
- 1985 The first world championship Australian Grand Prix is the season finale on the 3.780 km Grand Prix layout. Keke Rosberg wins for Williams-Honda.
- 1986 A three-way title decider. Nigel Mansell needs only third, but his left-rear tire explodes at about 290 km/h (180 mph) on the Brabham Straight on lap 64. Alain Prost wins the race and the championship.
- 1989 Heavy rain turns the race into a survival test, and Thierry Boutsen wins for Williams-Renault.
- 1991 Torrential rain stops the race after 16 laps, with results taken from lap 14. Ayrton Senna wins in 24 minutes 34.899 seconds, half points are awarded, and it’s still the shortest world championship F1 race by time.
- 1993 Senna wins for McLaren in what turns out to be his last Grand Prix victory, and Alain Prost finishes the last race of his career. Damon Hill sets the race lap record for the Grand Prix layout.
- 1994 Michael Schumacher leads Hill by one point going in. On lap 36 they collide, both retire, and Schumacher is champion. Nigel Mansell wins at 41.
- 1995 The last F1 race in Adelaide. Hill wins by two laps, and a crowd of 520,000 attends over the weekend. The Grand Prix moves to Melbourne’s Albert Park from 1996.
- 1999 The circuit returns in April on a shortened 3.219 km layout for the Adelaide 500, a V8 Supercars race. The F1 layout comes back once more for the Race of a Thousand Years sports car race at the end of 2000.
- 2008 The Clipsal 500 draws 291,400 people over the event, the record for a domestic motorsport event in Australia.
- 2017 Construction work for the O-Bahn busway forces Turns 7 and 8 to move about 100 m south.
- 2020–21 The February 2020 race goes ahead, but in October 2020 the state government withdraws its support, citing the pandemic, costs and fading interest. There’s no event in 2021.
- 2022 A new state government brings the race back, now as the Supercars season finale at the end of the year.
- 2025 Renamed the bp Adelaide Grand Final, it decides the first Supercars Finals Series. Chaz Mostert wins his first championship and Will Brown sets the Supercars race lap record.
- 2026 In February, MotoGP announces it will move the Australian Grand Prix to Adelaide from 2027. In August, the 4.13 km, 15-corner layout is revealed, with construction scheduled to start in December 2026.
The Senna Chicane and Turn 8: Adelaide’s Two Big Moments
Every lap of Adelaide starts with a squeeze. You come off the pit straight at full speed and brake hard for the Senna Chicane, a tight sequence that’s been part of the track since the F1 days and got its name after Ayrton Senna died in 1994. On the opening lap of a 250 km Supercars race, it’s where positions change and panels get bent. The photo above shows it in the early 1990s, as plain parkland road without walls or fences.
Turns 1–3
The Senna Chicane
The first corners of the lap, at the end of the roughly 500 m pit straight. It’s where the field bunches up at the start and where kerb strikes are watched closely.
210 km/h
Turn 8
A sixth-gear right-hander where Bartels Road meets Dequetteville Terrace, taken at about 210 km/h (130 mph), with a narrow entry and no run-off on the exit.
1999
Not an F1 corner
Turn 8 didn’t exist on the Formula 1 layout. It replaced a 130 km/h chicane when Supercars brought the track back.
Halfway around is the corner drivers talk about. Turn 8 is the fastest corner on the circuit and the one that relies most on aerodynamic grip. Former champion Mark Skaife called it “unforgiving,” and David Reynolds has said plainly that he hates it. Clip the small apex kerb wrong and you can end up in the outside wall, and a long list of current drivers have done exactly that.
Adelaide Track Guide: A Lap, Section by Section
The Supercars layout runs 3.219 km over 14 turns, and a 250 km race is 78 laps. Supercars quotes an average speed of 146 km/h (91 mph). Because the track is rebuilt every year from concrete blocks, fencing and temporary grandstands, the surface is a mix of city road and park road, and the kerbs are policed: repeated kerb strikes cost time in qualifying and a pit lane penalty in races. We’ve used section and road names below where the turn numbers aren’t official.
T1–3
The Senna Chicane
Hard braking at the end of the pit straight, then a quick change of direction that sends you out of Victoria Park. It’s the main passing spot on lap 1 and on restarts.
Wakefield Rd
Up Wakefield Road
A short straight that climbs out of the park toward East Terrace in the city, with concrete walls either side.
T4–6
The 90-degree corners
Three square city-block corners in a row, with a slight rise between Turns 3 and 4. Traction matters more than outright speed, and the walls punish anyone who runs wide.
T7
Turn 7
The exit of the 90-degree section opens onto a long run, so a clean exit here pays off all the way to Turn 8.
T8
Turn 8
The fast right-hander at the end of Bartels Road, around 210 km/h in a Supercar. It’s the corner that defines a good lap, and the one that ends a lot of weekends early.
Dequetteville Tce
Dequetteville Terrace and the hairpin
A short blast along Dequetteville Terrace to a hairpin, a slow corner where you can line up a pass if your car puts its power down well.
Victoria Park
Back into the park
The track turns back into Victoria Park and its old racecourse grounds, through a sequence of quicker turns past the grandstands.
T14
The final hairpin
A slow right-hander onto the pit straight. A good exit sets you up for a tow and a dive into the Senna Chicane on the next lap.
Adelaide Street Circuit Lap Records
Adelaide has two sets of records, one for the current Supercars layout and one for the longer Formula 1 Grand Prix track that was last used in 2000. Supercars’ own event page quotes a quicker 1:18.6763 by Chaz Mostert from 2022 as its lap record for the track; the 1:19.7028 below is the fastest Supercars lap set in a race.
1:19.7028
Supercars race lap record
Will Brown set it in a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the 2025 Adelaide Grand Final, on the current 3.219 km layout.
1:16.0357
Outright, current layout
Aaron Cameron holds the outright race lap record in an S5000 Rogers AF01/V8 open-wheeler from November 2023.
1:15.381
F1 race lap record
Damon Hill set the record for the 3.780 km Grand Prix layout in a Williams FW15C in 1993.
1:13.371
Fastest F1 lap
Ayrton Senna went quicker in qualifying for the 1993 race, but only laps set in a race count as records.
Races and Events at the Adelaide Street Circuit
The track is built for one big event a year, and right now that’s the Supercars Championship finale, with the Super2 Series, GT World Challenge Australia, Porsche Carrera Cup and V8 SuperUtes on the support bill and concerts in the parklands after the racing. From 2027, MotoGP gets its own weekend in November too. Formula 1 raced here from 1985 to 1995 before moving to Albert Park.
Late November
bp Adelaide Grand Final
Supercars Championship Super2, GT World Challenge Australia, Carrera Cup
The Supercars season decider. In 2026 it runs November 26–29 with three races (100 km, 250 km and 250 km) and the title on the line. Chaz Mostert won the 2025 championship here, and Matt Payne won the Sunday race.
November 2027
MotoGP Australian Grand Prix
MotoGP
The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix moves from Phillip Island to Adelaide, billed as MotoGP’s first race on a street circuit. It’s scheduled for November 14, 2027, on a 4.13 km, 15-corner layout, and MotoGP has signed with Adelaide through 2032.
History
Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix (1985–1995)
Adelaide hosted 11 world championship Grands Prix, each as the last round of the season, and several of them decided the title. Alain Prost, pictured in 1993, won here twice. The race moved to Albert Park in Melbourne in 1996.
Adelaide Street Circuit Race Calendar: 2026 and 2027
The circuit only exists for a few weeks a year, so the calendar is short. The 2026 Grand Final was moved forward a week from its original December 3–6 date. From 2027, the reworked track hosts two separate weekends in November, with the barriers changed between the MotoGP and Supercars events.
2026 season
| Dates | Event | Series | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 26–29 | bp Adelaide Grand Final | Supercars Championship (season finale) | Upcoming |
| Nov 26–29 | Support races | Super2 Series, GT World Challenge Australia, Porsche Carrera Cup, V8 SuperUtes | Upcoming |
2027 season
| Dates | Event | Series | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 14 (race day) | Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix | MotoGP | Upcoming |
| November | bp Adelaide Grand Final | Supercars Championship | Date TBA |
Adelaide Weather by Season
Adelaide has a dry, warm climate, and the late-November race date usually means sunshine and long evenings. The figures below are Bureau of Meteorology long-term averages for Adelaide (West Terrace / Ngayirdapira), on the western side of the city center.
27–29°C / 80–84°F
Summer · Dec–Feb
Average highs of 27–29°C (80–84°F) and lows of 15–17°C (59–62°F). It’s dry, with only about 20–26 mm (0.8–1.0 in) of rain a month, but heat waves well above the average are common.
19–26°C / 65–79°F
Autumn · Mar–May
March is still warm at about 26°C (79°F); by May highs are down to about 19°C (65°F) and rain climbs to about 67 mm (2.6 in) a month.
15–16°C / 59–61°F
Winter · Jun–Aug
The wettest time of year, with highs of 15–16°C (59–61°F), lows near 8°C (46°F) and 61–72 mm (2.4–2.8 in) of rain a month. No racing, and the roads are just roads.
19–24°C / 65–76°F
Spring · Sep–Nov
Race month. November averages about 24°C (76°F) by day and 13°C (56°F) at night, with about 31 mm (1.2 in) of rain, so pack sunscreen and a layer for the evening concerts.
Visiting the Adelaide Street Circuit: Tickets, Getting There and Where to Watch
The Grand Final is billed as Australia’s largest domestic ticketed motorsport event, and it’s more festival than race meeting, with four days of track action, displays, autograph sessions and big-name concerts in the parklands after the racing. Tickets for the 2026 event are on sale through the official event site and Supercars, ranging from general admission to grandstand seats and hospitality. We haven’t listed prices because the official pages we checked don’t publish a full price list.
Where to watch
- The pit straight and Senna Chicane. The grandstands at the start of the lap give you the start, the first-corner scramble and the pit lane.
- The 90-degree corners. Up near East Terrace, the cars are close to the walls and you’ll see how hard drivers lean on traction.
- Turn 8. The fastest corner on the track and the one most likely to produce a moment.
- The hairpins. Slow corners are where the passing happens, so the Dequetteville Terrace hairpin and the final hairpin are good spots on race day.
- General admission. Walk the parklands between viewing areas and use the big screens to follow the race.
Getting there
The circuit sits in the East Parklands, right on the eastern edge of the Adelaide city center, so if you’re staying in town you can walk to the gates. Public transport and parking arrangements change for each event, so check the official event site before you go, since roads around the circuit close during the build and the race weekend.
Tips
Plan on more than one day if you can: practice starts on Thursday, Friday has the 100 km race, and Saturday and Sunday bring the two 250 km races. Bring a hat and sunscreen, wear comfortable shoes for the parklands, and keep in mind that the circuit build starts weeks before the event, so parts of the park are fenced off well ahead of race week.
Can You Drive the Adelaide Street Circuit?
Partly. Outside event time, Wakefield Road, East Terrace, Bartels Road and Dequetteville Terrace are everyday city roads, so you can drive a big chunk of the lap at normal speed limits and picture the walls that go up every November. The Victoria Park section with the pit straight and hairpins is parkland, not a public road. There are no track days, because the circuit only exists for a few weeks a year.
For a lap at speed, sims are the way to go. iRacing added the current 3.219 km Adelaide Street Circuit as a paid track in December 2025, and the original Automobilista includes both the 1988 Grand Prix layout and the modern layout in its Legendary Tracks Part 2 pack from 2017.
Talk Adelaide With Other Enthusiasts
Going to the Grand Final, planning a trip for MotoGP in 2027 or still arguing about 1994? Share what you know, ask questions and find people going the same weekend in the AutoGathering community.
- Adelaide Grand Final trips
- Best grandstands
- Turn 8 moments
- MotoGP in Adelaide 2027
- F1 in Adelaide memories
- Adelaide Street Circuit photos
- Sim racing lap times
- Adelaide travel
Adelaide Street Circuit FAQ
How long is the Adelaide Street Circuit?
The Supercars layout used since 1999 is 3.219 km (2.000 miles) with 14 turns. The Formula 1 Grand Prix layout used from 1985 to 1995 was 3.780 km (2.349 miles) with 16 turns.
When is the 2026 Adelaide Grand Final?
November 26–29, 2026. It’s the final round of the Supercars Championship and decides the title.
When does MotoGP race in Adelaide?
MotoGP’s 2027 calendar has the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Adelaide on November 14, 2027, on a new 4.13 km, 15-corner layout.
What is the lap record at the Adelaide Street Circuit?
The Supercars race lap record is 1:19.7028 by Will Brown in 2025. On the old F1 layout, the race lap record is Damon Hill’s 1:15.381 from 1993.
When did Formula 1 race in Adelaide?
From 1985 to 1995. Adelaide hosted 11 Australian Grands Prix before the race moved to Albert Park in Melbourne in 1996.
What happened at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix?
Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill collided on lap 36 and both retired, so Schumacher won the championship by one point. Nigel Mansell won the race.
Why was there no Adelaide 500 in 2021?
In October 2020 the South Australian government withdrew its support, citing the pandemic, costs and falling interest. The event returned at the end of 2022.
Can you drive the Adelaide Street Circuit?
You can drive the public-road parts of the lap, such as Wakefield Road, Bartels Road and Dequetteville Terrace, at normal speeds outside event time. There are no track days.
Explore More Racing Circuits
The Adelaide Street Circuit is one of 24 venues in our Oceania racing directory. If you want to compare it with another Australian street track, read our Albert Park guide, and for Supercars’ other big date, see Mount Panorama at Bathurst. Phillip Island hosted the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix before it moves to Adelaide.
Photo credits
- Header image: Yu Chu Chin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and resized.
- View through the Senna Chicane from the…: John Dalton, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped and resized.
- Will Brown's Chevrolet Camaro Supercar at the…: Yu Chu Chin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and resized.
- Alain Prost's Williams FW15C during the 1993…: Apaleutos25, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and resized.
- Map of the Adelaide Street Circuit: the…: Will Pittenger, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped and resized.
- Wikimedia Commons drawing of the proposed MotoGP…: Houseofsloth, CC BY 4.0, cropped and resized.