England is a country I’d love to visit one day. Looking up at the soaring 96-meter high clock-tower that is Big Ben, enjoying sights of red telephone boxes scattered throughout London, consuming an authentic maple syrup-topped crumpet, and catching a round of the English Premier League are checkbox items on most tourist itineraries. One checkbox item that ranks in position uno when I eventually land in England is none of the above. I’m talking about the one and only Goodwood Festival of Speed – a celebration of performance oriented automobiles and motor racing from the past, present and future. Until I get to visit Lord March’s Goodwood estate for the FoS, attendance of the Adelaide Motorsport Festival – which is held right here in my own backyard – serves as a sufficient tide over.
Following on from the AMF Gouger Street party as reported here, a single day would pass before I’d find myself immersed in all things AMF again. The event’s main course was served at Victoria Park – as it had been for the past 4 years – and was already buzzing upon my 7am arrival.
General admission gates wouldn’t be unlocked for another 2 hours so I tried to capitalise on this period by snapping as much photos as I could without the distraction of human being-filled backgrounds. It was also pleasant to freely wander Victoria Park before the event officially kicked off as I’d get to check out my favourite star-cars before it’d become too crowded to do.
The McLaren P1, LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder from Friday night’s Gouger Street party were united once again to form the Holy Trinity. What better way to kick start the day than to get up close and personal with all three hyper cars.
As my Onitsuka Tiger sneakers stepped through the ever so lightly rain-covered grounds of Victoria Park, the Goodwood Festival of Speed-esque ambience became more apparent. Participation from affluent OEMs meant that incredible display booths and demo cars were in sight no matter which direction your compass was faced.
Porsche turned 70 years old in 2018. A marvellous selection of classics as well as current-generation examples were in attendance to help celebrate the milestone. Amongst them was this stunning 993 Turbo.
Accompanying the Guards Red 991.2 GT2 RS below were some overnight rain puddles.
Two presents that would make any Porsche birthday memorable is the appearance of ex-Le Mans race cars. This is precisely what happened at AMF 2018 with the presence of these two 962 race cars on and off track.
Cavallino Rampante devotees had many vehicles to drool over, including Ferrari’s latest track-focused model – the 530kW/770Nm twin-turbocharged 488 Pista. Also in attendance were the locally-owned but rarely-spotted FXX Evoluzione and 599XX race cars.
Brabham brought out two of their BT62 supercars for fans to admire. Despite being offered as a track-only proposition in Australia, prospective clients in Europe are able to opt for a road-legal factory option conversion – allowing them to enjoy their BT62 on public European roads. It still boggles me that the 522 kW BT62 – which is powered by a 5.4 litre mid-mounted V8 and weighs a feathery 927 kg – is assembled right here in Adelaide.
The Adelaide Motorsport Festival includes a sprint component. This takes place on a 1.4 km modified version of the original Adelaide GP circuit, where vehicles from 19 separate classes run in a super sprint format. Porsche seemed to be the most popular manufacture that weekend with many street and race-oriented models vying for track time.
A trio of exotic Lamborghini race cars were also entered into the sprint. Amongst them was Kevin Week’s twin-turbocharged 1000+ hp Gallardo.
I applauded this 350Z for parking against a line up of Ferrari competitor vehicles.
After watching the Holy Trinity mash their go-fast pedals out on track, I was almost mowed down by them as they were reversing into their exhibit space. Not that I minded of course.
Off track entertainment occurred throughout the day. One such activity saw seven-time Bathurst champion Jim Richards in a Porsche GT2 RS take on Red Bull Air Race pilot – Mat Hall – in a car vs plane show down. The Porsche was defeated but Ivan Capelli and his Leyton House March CG891 were able to give team car a point on the scoreboard.
What Goodwood Festival of Speed-inspired event would be complete without an automotive auction? In the midst of the items which went under Scammell’s hammer was this silver BNR32 Skyline GT-R wearing period correct wheels and featuring a rare Tomei 310 km/h cluster.
The best $9 purchase I made all day was investing in AMF 2018’s event journal. Composed by Andrew Coles and Luke Jaksa of Sports Car Safari fame – each page encompassed fascinating stories, photographs as well as coherent design of AMF 2018’s primary allurement.
In keeping with the festival atmosphere, various show and shine displays were setup throughout Victoria Park.
Wide-body specialist GU Auto Concept were in attendance with a handful of client vehicles. Sven Bengtsson’s LS1-swapped E30 wearing Pandem aero was surrounded by fellow Liberty Walk and TRA-Kyoto dressed rides.
If you needed a spare Ferrari 458, McLaren 540C or Lamborghini Murcielago engine on the day, GU Auto Concepts had one of each for sale.
Local group Horsepower Crew were tasked with organising the show and shine for street-oriented modified rides.
Numerous GT-Rs were entered into the show including this striking R35 Nismo. Parked alongside it was a very rare Tomykaira BCNR33.
To entice entry, Horsepower Crew gave entrants a 50% chance of participating in parade laps at the day’s conclusion. That was enough motivation for Howie, Pete and I to enter our rides into the show. To cut a long story short, all three of us – along with every lucky entrant whose name was drawn from a hat – were denied our parade lap thanks to the action of one certain entrant. I’m not going to lie, the ordeal left a sour taste on an otherwise perfect day.
After being absent from three consecutive Adelaide Motorsport Festival events, it was wholeheartedly fulfilling to attend the 2018 rendition. With incredible automobiles parked left, right and centre – my eyes were always peering at something interesting. For such event to be held in Australia, not to mention Adelaide of all places, is an incredible accomplishment to all those involved. Until I board a flight to visit Lord March’s backyard for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, I’ll continue to enjoy my own backyard that is the Adelaide Motorsport Festival. Hopefully a hat-trick of absence doesn’t follow this time.
