Still recovering from the loss of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, Adelaide was about to lead to a new revolution in Australian motorsport in which many cities across the country continue to welcome each year.
Adelaide was a popular addition to the Grand Prix season back in 1985, but this moved to Melbourne’s Albert Park for 1996. Mallala continued to host the Australian Touring Car Championship to provide Adelaide with its motorsport fix, but moves were afoot to return the action to the streets.
And so it was announced in 1998 a race was to be held on part of the former Grand Prix track in the City of Churches.
V8 Supercars as it was known then was entering a rapid growth period under AVESCO stewardship and the Adelaide race only raised this. More than 150,000 fans attended the first Sensational Adelaide 500 in 1999, but the race format was tweaked throughout the weekend.
Billed as a single 500km race split into two 250km legs held on each day where retirees from the opening 78-lap affair unable to re-join Sunday’s event and lapped runners staying this way. Other changes included points being awarded on Saturday after this wasn’t originally the case.
It was the second round of the V8 Supercars Championship and featured a whopping 39 entries taking on what was expected to be a torturous event.
The Holden Racing Team was in the middle of a purple patch where it won five titles in six seasons and star Craig Lowndes was targeting a third title to remain unbeaten in each of his full-time campaigns.
Controversy ensured when Lowndes collided with privateer Danny Osborne during the closing stages of the opening race and was excluded from the results after an investigation.
As other drivers experienced back soreness and dehydration, Lowndes once again stormed his way through the field to win the Sunday leg.
It proved a success right from the start and makes a return this year as the Valo Adelaide 500 as the season ending event. It was the first domestic street event since Longford, Tasmania during the early 1960s, while the Gold Coast has turned into one.
Street circuits in Canberra, Sydney, Townsville, Newcastle and even Hamilton, New Zealand followed during the past decade with mixed success.