Adelaide ready for peak hour of power

Bathurst champions Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander, a host of Formula 1 machinery and a 1200hp Toyota 86 will be just some of the attractions at this weekend’s Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

The action kicks off this Thursday with the Shannons Adelaide Rally, followed on Friday afternoon by a parade of racing machinery led by Lowndes and Tander through Adelaide’s city streets.

Up to 16 racing cars and bikes will be driven under police escort from the Adelaide Motorsport Festival precinct in Victoria Park to the annual Gouger Street Party on Friday night.

The Friday night Gouger Street event is an annual tradition that sees the stars and cars of the Adelaide Rally regroup on the well-known restaurant strip, where they will be displayed for several hours among a festival of food, drink and entertainment.

Lowndes will drive a stunning 2007 Ferrari FXX while Tander will be behind the wheel of the prototype Super5000 open-wheeler.

Both will be on show and on track at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival across the December 9-10 weekend, with Lowndes’ to drive the V12-powered FXX as part of the Ferrari ‘Specalotto’ demonstration that will celebrate 70 years of the Prancing Horse brand.

Fellow Supercar stars Tim Slade (1994 Arrows) and Cameron Waters (1986 Benneton) will drive Formula 1 Machinery, while Nick Percat will demonstrate McLaren’s latest 720S Supercar.

Troy Bayliss will ride a World Superbike Championship-spec Ducati and will be joined by a host of other classic Formula 1, race car and road-going machinery that will either participate in or be on display at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival this year.

Cars will leave Victoria Park via Wakefield Street at 5:45pm on Friday evening, before driving through the middle of Victoria square and looping around via Morphett Street to join the festivities on Gouger St.

“The Gouger Street event is a staple of not only the Adelaide Motorsport Festival and the Adelaide Rally, but a tradition that dates back for more than a decade to the original Classic Adelaide Rally,” said Event Director Tim Possingham.

“Adelaide is one of very few places, if anywhere, in the world where the public can see incredible racing machinery, including genuine Formula 1 cars, driven through the middle of the city at peak hour. It is quite a remarkable sight and sound.

“Gouger street is one of the best areas in the CBD for food and drink and with live music and hundreds of Rally cars also on display, it’s definitely an event not to miss.”

The action then heats up in Victoria Park on Saturday and Sunday with the annual Victoria Park Sprint featuring a host of star drivers and cars.

Meanwhile, recently crowned Super2 series champion and 2018 main-game starter Todd Hazelwood will be in action across the festival driving a mad 1200hp Toyota 86.

Adelaide Motorsport Festival crowds will be the first to see the WTF 86 -- one of the most anticipated builds in the Australian performance car scene – in action.

Despite being powered a stroked 4.1-litre twin-turbo V6 from a Nissan GT-R, WTF 86 somehow managed to remain street-legal and even before its first public outing has attracted a cult following with more than 128,000 followers on its Facebook page.
Hazelwood

Owner Mark Trueno will share the driving duties across the weekend with 2017 Super2 champion Todd Hazelwood, fresh from his championship triumph in the Supercars development series.

Adelaide ace, Supercars driver and World Time Attack Challenge champion Tim Slade will then drive the crazy Toyota in a match race against a Formula 1 car at 4:45pm on Saturday in an epic roll race.

Slade will face off against fellow Race to the City star Josh Kean in a 1994 Footwork Arrows FA15 outputting 680hp and weighing a shade over 500kg.