Speedway City
| The Greatest Show on Dirt | |
|---|---|
| Location | Supple Road, Virginia, South Australia |
| Coordinates | 34°41′50″S 138°33′33″E / 34.69722°S 138.55917°ECoordinates: 34°41′50″S 138°33′33″E / 34.69722°S 138.55917°E |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Owner | Bill Miller |
| Operator | Bill Miller |
| Broke ground | 1978 |
| Opened | 2 November 1979 |
| Former names | Speedway Park (1979-1996) Speedway City (1997-2016) |
| Major events |
World Series Sprintcars Australian Sprintcar Championship Australian Sprintcar Masters Australian Speedcar Championship Australian Super Sedan Championship Australian Solo Championship Australian Sidecar Championship National Super Sedan Series Speedcar Pro Series |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Clay |
| Length | 0.267 mi (0.430 km) |
| Lap record | 0:11.60 (Matt Egel, Muir Motorsport, 2015, 410 Sprintcar) |
Adelaide Motorsport Park (known as Speedway Park from 1979–2001 and Speedway City from 1997-2016) is a Dirt track racing venue located 26 km north of Adelaide in Virginia, South Australia, adjacent to the Adelaide International Raceway. The Speedway has been operating continuously since 1979 and is currently owned and operated by long time Super Sedan driver Bill Miller.
Speedway Park came about due to the closure of Rowley Park Speedway following the 1978/79 speedway season. Rowley Park had run in the Adelaide suburb of Brompton since 1949 but had closed for such reasons as the track becoming too small for the faster cars appearing on the scene, and the local residents complaining about the noise; while the speedway was located less than 5 km from the Adelaide city centre, parking was mostly street-based, which brought more complaints from residents.
The land for the new speedway was located 26 km north of Adelaide near the town of Virginia which from 1969 to 1974 had hosted speedway at the local showgrounds called Thunderbird Speedway, while the neighbouring Adelaide International Raceway as part of its 2.41 km road racing circuit had an 805 metres (880 yards) paved oval, which had also been used for speedway during the mid-1970s. Speedway Park's new neighbours were and still are market garden's which meant noise complaints were non-existent while ample on-site parking also did away with parking restrictions. Unfortunately though, the new location so far north of Adelaide severely contrasted with the old Rowley Park site which was centrally located and was readily accessible by public transport, something that Speedway City can not offer. Though for a number of years this was barely a factor as the new track was well patronised.
The Speedway Park track itself is a 430 metres (470 yards) long clay surfaced oval track with a width of 16 metres (17 yards) and a camber of 1.2 metres. The track is surrounded by a 6'0" high concrete retaining wall with another 3 metres of catch fencing located on top of the wall. Beyond the track fence is a 3.5 metre safety zone surrounded by a 1 metre high chain mesh safety fence. Spectators are not permitted beyond the smaller fence, although when an accident on track occurs and a red flag is shown it is not uncommon to see kids at the catch fence to get a closer look at the crashed car. The venue has the capacity to hold more than 10,000 spectators and this has been pushed to the limit on numerous occasions.
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