Yesterday i took a trip to Adelaide International raceway with a buddy of mine to visit the Gazza Nats. AIR is Adelaide's only proper 1/4 mile strip, but has unfortunately not run 1/4 mile races since the late 90's. Having never been there before I was interested to go and see the venue, and to check out the strip.

The strip is quite narrow. It forms part of a larger track that has been used for many different types of racing in the past, including touring cars and drift exhibitions. The strip is currently blocked with concrete blocks preventing use.

The story I heard is that it was bought by Bob Jane, the famous 60's / 70's Aussie race driver and tyre outlet owner, who after carrying out many improvements sought council permission to do further upgrades. The council refused on the grounds that the zoning of the site did not allow what he proposed and so Bob basically closed the site down. This is pretty unfortunate as the one thing Adelaide is lacking is a quarter mile strip.

There are still events held there, such as the Gazza Nats, and some drift expo's, but it has been some time since it has seen serious competition. Currently the Australian Motorsport club is working towards getting the track reopened for drag racing and have some upgrading and reconstruction works in progress. It was anticipated that the track would re-open earlier this year, but so far it appears that regular events are still not back up and running.

Fingers crossed, the AMC can get AIR open and back on the map.