Mallala Motor Sport Park

The Mallala Race Circuit, as it was originally known,[2] was established on the site of the former RAAF Base Mallala. The land was purchased from the Royal Australian Air Force at public auction in 1961 by a group of enthusiasts seeking to create a replacement for the Port Wakefield Circuit.[3] South Australia had been allocated the 1961 Australian Grand Prix on the state by state rotational system that applied at that time, but the organisers had subsequently been informed by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) that the 2.092 km (1.3 mi) Port Wakefield venue, which had hosted the 1955 Australian Grand Prix, was no longer suitable to host the event.[4]

The opening meeting for the new venue was held on 19 August 1961 with Bib Stillwell winning the main event in a Cooper Climax.[1] The 1961 Australian Grand Prix headlined the circuits second meeting with Lex Davison winning his fourth and last AGP driving a Cooper T51 Coventry Climax FPF.[5] The original lap distance of 3.38 km (2.1 mi) was reduced to 2.601 km (1.616 mi) in late 1964[5] when Bosch Curve was moved closer to the Dunlop Curve Grandstand,[6] thus removing the north eastern leg of the circuit.[7]

Mallala served as South Australia's home of motor sport throughout the sixties[5] and it hosted a round of the Australian Drivers' Championship each year from 1961 to 1971.[8] The Australian Tourist Trophy was held there in 1962 and 1968[9] and the single race Australian Touring Car Championship was staged in 1963, as were annual rounds of the same championship after it changed to a series format in 1969. In 1971 the property was bought by Keith Williams who at the time owned the Surfers Paradise International Raceway, and was constructing the new Adelaide International Raceway.[3] Mallala was closed in that year as Williams had a court ordered covenant placed on the property preventing any motor sport activities. This ensured that Adelaide International would become the new home of motor racing in SA.[3]

After the circuit's closure as a motor racing venue, Chrysler Australia, who had their manufacturing base in Adelaide, continued using the Mallala as their test track. Leading race drivers Leo and Pete Geoghegan, who were factory backed Chrysler drivers in Series Production racing, often tested vehicles such as the Chrysler Valiant Charger at the circuit. Mallala was also the test track for the Adelaide-based Elfin Sports Cars run by company founder Garrie Cooper. Elfin produced a variety of sports and Open-wheel race cars.

Competitors in the 2010 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Series on the grid at Mallala Motor Sport Park on 30 May 2010

The Southern Hairpin at Mallala Motor Sport Park in 2013

The Northern Hairpin at Mallala Motors Sport Park in 2013

The Esses at Mallala Motor Sport Park in 2010

Race Control & PA Centre at Mallala Motor Sport Park in 2015

Following the purchase of the Mallala site by South Australia businessman and Sports Sedan racer Clem Smith in 1977, a Supreme Court decision declared the covenant unenforceable.[3] The facility was then redeveloped and was reopened for motorcycle racing in 1980 and for car racing in 1982.[5] It was now known as Mallala Motor Sport Park.[10]

The circuit was initially issued with a "B" track license, thus excluding the staging of championship level racing, and the track's biggest annual event became Historic Mallala which was held each Easter.[11] This was upgraded to an "A" track license in 1984, allowing Mallala to stage Round 5 of the 1984 Australian Formula 2 Championship on 3 June won by Keith McClelland driving a Cheetah Mk 8-VW. This was the first national championship round to be staged at the circuit since the final round of the 1971 Australian Sports Car Championship on 14 November 1971 won by John Harvey driving a McLaren M6B-Repco.

National championship motor racing continued sporadically over the next few years, but the circuit was brought back into national focus when it was chosen over Adelaide International to host a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship each year from 1989 to 1998. When that championship evolved into the Shell Championship Series in 1999, the Mallala round was replaced by the Clipsal 500, held on a shortened version of the Adelaide Street Circuit in an exclusive deal between V8 Supercars and the John Olsen led Government of South Australia. A round of the second tier V8 Supercar Development Series was held at Mallala Motor Sport Park each year from 2000 to 2006 before also moving to the Adelaide Street Circuit in 2007.

On 7 May 1989, Mallala had the honour of hosting the first ever Formula Holden race as part of the opening round of the 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship. Mark McLaughlin driving a South Australian designed and built Elfin FA891 won the opening heat of the meeting from former dual Australian Formula 2 champion Peter Glover, with television commentator turned race driver Neil Crompton finishing third.

Currently the main meetings held annually are the Mallala Historics each Easter and a round of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships staged shortly afterwards. Drifting now takes place on a regular basis in the form of the G1 Drift Competition and Drift Supercup which runs from turn 8 to turn 2. Supertruck Racing is no longer staged at Mallala due to the deteriorating surface of the track, the final event being in late 2009. Major meetings at Mallala are run by the Sporting Car Club of South Australia and other clubs that regularly use the circuit include the Adelaide Superkart Club, Marque Sports Car Association of SA, and the MG Car Club of SA. Since its re-opening, the Mallala circuit has also been used for private driver training courses and the South Australia Police use the circuit for driver training and assessment.

The Mallanats is an annual car show held at the circuit since 2009. The weekend includes burnout competitions and various performance car events similar to the Summernats format. The event returned once a year in 2010 and 2011, with two Mallanats events being scheduled in 2012.

The Elfin Mallala sports racing car was named after the circuit, having competed in its first race there.

Following the passing of owner Clem Smith in February 2017 the Peregrine Corporation, owners of the upcoming The Bend Motorsport Park, purchased the complex and took over the operations in May the same year.[12]

As of 18 Nov 2017.

Class	Driver	Vehicle	Time	Date
Outright
	Paul Stokell	Reynard 90D Holden	1:02.57	7 August 1994
Racing Cars
Formula Holden	Paul Stokell	Reynard 90D Holden	1:02.57	7 August 1994
Formula 3	Calan Williams	Dallara F311 Mercedes Benz	1:03.4078	11 June 2017
Superkart	Gary Pegoraro	Anderson Maverick FPE	1:06.3237	7 June 2009
Formula 2	Barry Ward	Reynard 893 Volkswagen	1:07.3
Formula 1000	Aaron Steer	Firman F1000	1:09.3565	23 May 2015
Formula Ford	Tim Slade	Van Diemen RF04 Ford Duratec	1:11.4133	17 September 2006
Formula Vee	Ben Porter	Checkmate	1:19.7145	31 October 2010
Sports Cars
Sports Sedan	Tony Ricciardello	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Chevrolet	1:05.6328	27 April 2014
Sports Racer	James Winslow	West WR 1000	1:05.9810	26 April 2014
Nations Cup	Paul Stokell	Lamborghini Diablo GTR	1:08.5179	19 September 2004
Porsche GT3 Challenge	John Goodacre	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	1:09.0918	27 April 2014
Australian GT	David Wall	Porsche 911 GT3	1:09.7070	25 June 2006
Touring Cars
Time Attack Pro Class	Matt Longhurst	Nissan Skyline GT-R R34	1:05.8612	18 November 2017
V8 Supercars	Greg Murphy	Holden VS Commodore	1:08.1437	13 July 1997
Dunlop V8 Supercar	Paul Dumbrell	Holden VT Commodore	1:08.7330	12 August 2001
Group A	Mark Skaife	Nissan Skyline GT-R R32	1:09.26	31 May 1992
Super Touring	Brad Jones	Audi A4 Quattro	1:10.2569	19 July 1998
Improved Production D	Chris Brown	Toyota AE86 Sprinter	1:12.5423	21 Aug 2016
Time Attack ClubSprint	Andrew Wegener	Honda S2000	1:14.8180	29 October 2016
Improved Production C	Michael De Luca	Mazda RX7	1:15.5948	21 Aug 2016
Commodore Cup	Daniel Richert	Holden VS Commodore	1:17.6841	1 July 2007
Saloon Cars	Wayne King	Holden VT Commodore	1:18.6555	23 May 2016
Production Cars	Steve Knight	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8	1:19.3665	17 October 2007
V8 Utes	Grant Johnson	Holden SS Ute	1:21.4940	21 August 2005
Circuit Excel	Jaylyn Robotham	Hyundai Excel	1:26.4202	5 November 2017
HQ Holdens	Neil Corey	Holden HQ Kingswood	1:28.0356	15 May 2011
Motorcycles
Superbike	Josh Waters	Suzuki GSX-R1000	1:05.803	31 August 2009
SuperSport	Jamie Stauffer	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:07.424	31 August 2009
Prostock	Pat Medcalf	Yamaha YZF-R1	1:09.231	31 August 2009
SuperStock	Daniel Falzon	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:09.791	5 August 2012
125cc GP	Brett Simmonds	Honda RS 125	1:12.265	5 June 2005
Sidecar	Steve Abbott / Jamie Biggs	Suzuki LCR	1:11.505	5 June 2005

• Mallala (disambiguation)

• Mallala Motor Sport Park
• Sporting Car Club of SA Inc
• Marque Sports Car Association of SA Inc
• MG Car Club of SA
• South Australian Motor Racing Officials Association
• RAAF Museum: RAAF base Mallala
• Google Maps