STAR CARS FOR THE 2024 ADELAIDE MOTORSPORT FESTIVAL

The Adelaide Motorsport Festival returns in 2024 with the first star cars locked in for the event in Victoria Park, Adelaide, on March 16 and 17.

The Mazda 767B sportscar prototype, Benetton B200 grand prix car, Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 Group A touring car and Yamaha YZR 500 grand prix motorbike feature on the promotional poster, with all of them locked in for the event.

The distinct roar of Mazda’s famed quad-rotary engine will reverberate around the event when the Mazda 767B takes to the track. The sportscar prototype is powered by a quad-rotor 2.6-litre rotary engine, producing 630 horsepower at 9000RPM, with the car in the iconic green/orange livery.

Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona and All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, the Mazda 767B set the foundations for the Mazda 787B that won Le Mans in 1991. There were just three Mazda 767Bs built by Mazdaspeed. The 767B coming to the Adelaide Mo-torsport Festival is arriving from Japan courtesy of owner and driver Senji Hoshino.

The Benetton B200 was raced by Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz during the 2000 Formula 1 season, scoring podiums in the hands of Fisichella in Brazil, Monaco and Canada. The model heading to Adelaide was raced by Fisichella on his way to sixth in the championship standings and was also a spare car for both Fisichella and Wurz.

The B200 is now powered by a Judd V10 engine, producing 750bhp. The V10 era of Formula 1 is fondly remembered, particularly the noise it produced.

The Gibson Motorsport-run turbocharged Skyline GT-R R32 won both the Australian Touring Car Championship and Bathurst 1000 with Jim Richards and Mark Skaife in 1992, dominating in the final year of the Group A regulations. The Skyline GT-R R32 competed and won for a final time at the non-championship Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide in the hands of Richards in 1992, returning to the circuit 32 years later at the 2024 Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

Nicknamed ‘Godzilla’ for its dominant performances, the 1992 version of the Skyline GT-R R32 scored a one-two in the Australian Touring Car Championship and one-three in the Bathurst 1000 despite receiving weight penalties and engine changes to slow it down following a championship and Bathurst double in 1991.

The 1992 Bathurst 1000 remains one of the most controversial in the history of the event, with the Skyline GT-R R32 crashing in the wet before the race was red flagged. The race was stopped and the results declared, handing the win to Richards and Skaife. The angst from the crowd led to Richards delivering an infamous podium speech.

The 2024 Adelaide Motorsport Festival will feature both Bathurst-winning Nissan Skyline GT-R R32s, with the 1991 Bathurst 1000 winner joining the 1992 Bathurst 1000 winner at the event.

The Skyline GT-R R32 became the first Japanese car to win the Bathurst 1000 when Jim Richards and Mark Skaife triumphed at Mount Panorama in 1991, in a record race time that stood for 19 years.

The 1992 Yamaha YZR 500cc 0WE0 model was raced by Magee under the Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha banner. The 0WE0 was introduced in the latter half of 1992, helping Roberts Yamaha’s Wayne Rainey to the 1992 grand prix motorcycle world championship title. The 500cc era of the late 1980s and early 1990s is considered a golden era of grand prix motorcycle racing, with the prototypes producing between 160 and 190 horsepower for minimal weight.

Australian Magee raced in the grand prix motorcycle world championship on Yamahas between 1987 and 1993, winning the 1988 Spanish Grand Prix. He will ride the 1992 Yamaha YZR 500cc grand prix bike at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival in his debut at the event.

Categories featuring Formula 1, V8 Supercars, Group C and A touring cars, sportscars, IndyCars and more will again feature over the course of the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, with further categories, star cars and drivers and on and off-track activations being announced.

The Adelaide Motorsport Festival is a celebration of all things motoring and motorsport, with a different category of vehicles on track every 10 to 15 minutes. With a variety of different categories, from open wheelers to sportscars to touring cars to motorbikes, there is something for everyone to see on and off the track.

The Adelaide Motorsport Festival combines high-octane action on-track with a laid-back picnic races atmosphere off-track, with car and motorbike displays, trade stalls, villas, marquees and more.

Visit Adelaide Motorsport Festival for further event information, tickets and more.