WHAT ARTICLES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ? LET US KNOW : EDITOR @ GEMCELL . COM . AU
THE TRANSPORT ISSUE
BACK IN POLE POSITION
AUSTRALIA AND MOTORSPORT GO HAND IN HAND – HIGH-OCTANE ACTION AT ITS BEST . WITH THIS MONTH SEEING FORMULA ONE RETURN TO AUSTRALIA AFTER TWO YEARS OF COVID CANCELLATIONS , WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT SOME OF OUR AUSSIE F1 HIGHLIGHTS .
A
ustralia ’ s Grand Prix history began in 1928 with the 100 Miles Road Race at Phillip Island in Victoria , and over the years that followed leading up to WW2 , races were held intermittently at Mount Panorama near Bathurst , New South Wales , and in South Australia .
Mount Panorama played host for the first GP after WW2 , and from there it began to rotate around the states . Albert Park in Melbourne held its first race in 1953 , and the Grand Prix returned to Albert Park for the Olympics in 1956 . That race was won by the great Sterling Moss , and given the context of the Olympics , it ’ s no surprise it ignited the nation ’ s love of the Grand Prix .
Of course , from the European Grand Prix emerged Formula One – the World Championship of Drivers – and Australia was keen to get in on the act . However , it wasn ’ t until 1985 that a Formula One race officially took place here .
Adelaide was the host venue , and its 3.78km street circuit created some thrilling memories – the debut race saw defending World Champion Niki Lauda take part in his last Grand Prix before retiring . Lauda , who was 36 at the time , was leading the race until suffering brake failure on lap 53 – McLaren ’ s ceramic brakes not coping well with the street circuit . Finnish driver Keke Rosberg won the race in a Williams-Honda .
The following year saw another spectacular event as Nigel Mansell ’ s tyre blew on the Brabham Straight . Travelling at speeds of more than 290km / h , Mansell ’ s chances of claiming the world championship evaporated on lap 63 .
It wasn ’ t until 1994 that Mansell claimed victory at Adelaide – Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna had claimed two wins each by that point , Senna ’ s second win coming in 1993 .
But Mansell ’ s victory was a sideshow . The 1994 race was clouded by Senna ’ s death at San Marino six months earlier , and will always be shrouded in controversy due to a remarkable incident on lap 36 .
Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were only separated by one point in the Driver ’ s Championship – the German on 92 and the Englishman on 91 . Whoever came ahead of their rival would scoop the Championship – neither driver had claimed the sport ’ s top prize before .
Hill was gaining on Schumacher , and Benetton driver Schumacher went off the track , hit a wall before driving back onto the track and into Hill ’ s car . Schumacher was out of the race immediately , and Hill was forced
APR – MAY 2022 GEMCELL . COM . AU 35