THIS Sunday’s first race will be the 100th ATCC/Supercars race to be contested in South Australia.

WORDS: Mark Walker

In part one, we covered from 1963 through to 1998, with the era taking in Mallala and Adelaide International Raceway.

Here in part two, we look back at the Adelaide 500, which has been joined in the past three years by The Bend Motorsport Park.

Since its inception, the 500 has set the benchmark for street circuit events, while The Bend is far and above the most impressive permanent facility in the country.

Here’s to the next 100…

1999

In August 1998, it was announced that the South Australian round of the V8 Supercars Championship Series would be heading to the Adelaide Parklands, on a shortened circuit to the one which Formula 1 utilised from 1985 to ’95. While the tourers were a regular fixture on the undercard at that event, they never raced for championship points. The ’99 format provided a lone 500km race staged over two legs. However, with many big names dropping out on Saturday, they were allowed to restart on Sunday. Craig Lowndes heavily fenced privateer Danny Osborne in the opening leg, who subsequently appeared on Brisbane news the next week demanding a new car from HRT. For his efforts, Lowndes started rear of grid on Sunday, but drove through the pack to claim the race win.

2000

Brad Jones made an impression and a half when he inverted the Ozemail Falcon, an inauspicious start for his new V8 Supercars team in only its third event. Mark Skaife won the Sunday race, repeating the Craig Lowndes trick from the year prior, coming through from the rear of grid. The weekend ran to a format of two stand alone 250km races for the first time.

2001

The hits keep coming, with Marcos Ambrose finding the pit wall in only his second V8 Supercars Championship event start.

After a pair of podiums to start his Ford career at Phillip Island, Craig Lowndes won the opener, and was set for another strong result on Sunday until this late race tangle with Mark Skaife.

2002

The turn 8 chicane was replaced by the turn 8 sweeper, with Paul Radisich and Glenn Seton subsequently starting a tradition of massive shunts at the swift deviation. Pre-qualifying was held up the road at Mallala, determining who earned a garage stall for the weekend.

2003-2005

While Skaife won the Sunday race in 2003 (and subsequently the event), Marcos Ambrose won the other five races contested during this period.

2006

The GOAT was born: Jamie Whincup wins in his second ever race driving for Triple 8, the first V8 success of his career. His next race win was at the Bathurst 1000, partnering Lowndes in the first of their three-peat. Elsewhere, everyone crashed.

2007

The VE Commodore debuted, going on to be the most successful V8 Supercar model of all time, until bettered by its replacement, the VF. It was a strong start for the design, with Rick and Todd Kelly taking it to a victory apiece.

2008

The total attendance of 291,400 people at the event was a record, although a shadow was cast over the weekend when Ashley Cooper died following a crash at turn 8 in a Development Series race.

2009

Whincup claimed four straight race wins between 2008-’09, and subsequently went on to win his first two Championships in those seasons.

2010 – 2011

The Clipsal 500 lost its position as the season opener for two years. Garth Tander won three straight races, while Jamie Whincup claimed 2011’s second race, and ultimately that event overall.

2012

There was some serious emotion attached to this one. Will Davison was passed on the final circuit of the opening race by his best mate Jamie Whincup. A lack of fuel cruelled Davo’s run, but for Whincup, the victory came in the week after his father passed.

Following this accident between Greg Murphy and Jonathon Webb, very little has ever really changed with slow cars at the start of qualifying, ie there still aren’t any white or yellow flags waved, with a repeat accident waiting to happen.

2013

The very first outing for V8 Supercars new COTF platform, with Nissan and Mercedes AMG making an appearance on the grid, ditto the VF Commodore. Craig Lowndes won the first race of the era and the weekend overall. Many of the drivers battled heat issues during the event, with the airport lounge on Sunday evening disgustingly filled with shoe-less race drivers.

2014

Scott McLaughlin gave it some jandal – the GOAT versus the underdog in a battle to the final corner. Ok, it was for second position, but it was peak V8 Supercars combat. Standing in the pit lane at the time, it was one of the incredibly rare moments in motorsport where the crowd was truly loader than the cars. A remarkable sequence of sport… and Volvos were suddenly cool.

The Action Zone bites, and bites hard. Jason Bright finds that three wide into the Senna Chicane doesn’t work.

2015

Marcos Ambrose made a short-lived return to the category aboard the freshly re-branded DJR Team Penske Falcon. This was one of three events (2014-’16) where the weekend ran to a three race format, with twin 125km races contested on the Saturday followed by a lone 250km encounter on Sunday.

2016

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport and Nick Percat somehow won a sodden Sunday race after a DNS the previous day. Madness reigned.

2017 – 2018

Shane Van Gisbergen won four straight races, adding to his Sunday victory from 2013. The 2018 edition was a winning start for the new ZB Holden Commodore.

A new era for South Australian motorsport, with the opening of The Bend Motorsport Park in 2018.

2019

Macauley Jones suffers the consequences of a brake failure. Amazingly, after this Saturday morning crash, the car reappeared for Sunday.

2020

The first race from last weekend was an absolute corker – close racing and big drama were the orders of the day!

This weekend’s 100th race takes place on The Bend’s West Circuit, yet another configuration new to the calendar. Two versions of Mallala were used, with the 1963 event running on a longer section into turn five. Adelaide International used the lone layout, while changes were made to the Adelaide Parklands Circuit in 2002.