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NEWS! Big crowds welcome F1 cars back to Adelaide

Approximately 30,000 people attended the 2017 Adelaide Motorsport Festival across the weekend, as Formula 1 cars returned to the streets of Adelaide at the fourth running of the event.

The event kicked off with a parade to and street party on Gouger Street on Friday evening before the cars gathered at Victoria Park on Saturday and Sunday.

The nine Formula 1 cars in attendance included four Adelaide Grand Prix-era cars with the debut of the 1988 Lola Larrousse LC88, 1989 Dallara BMS F189 and 1994 Footwork FA15 at the event, Alan Jones’ championship-winning 1980 Williams FW07B and the iconic 1986 Benetton B186.

South Australian-raised Supercars driver Tim Slade set a Victoria Park Sprint Circuit lap record of 43.03 seconds in the 1994 Footwork FA15, lowering the record set by former Formula 1 driver Ivan Capelli in 2016.

Fellow Supercars racers Craig Lowndes, Cameron Waters and Todd Hazelwood shared driving duties in the 1986 Benetton B186, while the 1988 Lola Larrousse LC88 and 1989 Dallara BMS F189 were driven by owners Brenton Griguol and Andre Bezuidenhout.

The best lap times from the Formula 1 cars over the course of the event were:

  1. Tim Slade – 1994 Footwork FA15: 0:43.0346
  2. Joe Calleja – 1974 March 741: 0:44.4938
  3. Cameron Waters – 1986 BMW Benetton B186: 0:44.7311
  4. Paul Faulkner – 1980 Williams FW07B: 0:45.7987
  5. Andre Bezuidenhout – 1989 Dallara BMS F189: 0:45.9809
  6. Josh Kean – 2000 Arrows A21: 0:47.2611
  7. Brenton Griguol – Lola Larrousse LC88: 0:51.4795

The Adelaide Motorsport Festival included the final stage of the Shannons Adelaide Rally and featured Heritage Touring Cars, Rally Legends demonstration, Time Attack, Formula Libre classes and more. Other highlights included Lowndes in a Ferrari V12 FXX, Troy Bayliss on a Ducati Superbike and John Bowe in a 1990 Ford RS500 Sierra.

“It has been a fantastic weekend and the event is going from strength to strength,” said event director Tim Possingham.

“We shifted up last year and it’s gone into overdrive. The future is bright and we are already working on plans to make the whole event, from the rally to the sprint and our community-based free events, bigger and better next year.

“We feel like the event really has momentum now.”

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