The Clipsal 500 is an annual racing carnival for Touring Cars held in the east end of Adelaide on a shortened form of the Adelaide Street Circuit, the former Australian Grand Prix track. The event is named for naming rights sponsor Clipsal Electronics.
Usually held over four days in early March, the main event is the 500 km V8 Supercar race split over the last two days of the event. The format of this two race event is unique in V8 Supercars, in that the winner of the second race is declared the winner of the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, regardless of whether they scored the most points for the championship. The rest of the four days are filled with practice, qualifying, and support races for a number of other racing categories, including production cars and Australian Formula 3.
The Clipsal 500 Adelaide was attended by a massive 291,400 in 2008.[1] The largest crowd for a domestic motorsport event in Australia.[2][3] It is almost normal for the current event to set a new attendance record over the previous year. The event also features a concert every night, air displays, amusements and social attractions that bring in spectators from Adelaide, interstate and overseas.
The event won best event of the series every year from 1999 to 2004. In 2005 it was inducted into the V8 Supercar Hall of Fame[2], the first time an individual event has been inducted.
Posted on Oct 15, 2009, 6:52 AM from IP address 121.121.171.196