One of Australia’s biggest historic events is the Aeromil Pacific Classic Adelaide based in the charming city of Adelaide and embracing some of the greatest and smoothest closed road special stages in the world. It also embraces some of South Australia’s most beautiful country including the Barossa Valley, famous worldwide for its wines.
The interesting Giocattolo Group B car that was destroyed by Adam Kaplan in a high speed accident. Photo credit: Graham Gauld.
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As has become common in Europe, the bullet-proof nature of Porsche 911s saw the event won, once more, by a Porsche. Despite suffering a seized gearbox on the last day, Kevin Weeks’s 1975 Porsche 911 RSR was rapidly repaired at the lunch stop. This win kept local favorite Rex Broadbent from his sixth consecutive win, with his 1974 911 RS. But the real class performance came from third place Jim Richards with his 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo Cup car. If the 944 lacked the power of the 911s, the driver made up for it as Jim Richards is one of Australia’s great motor racing heroes and winner of the legendary Bathurst races and Targa Tasmania.
US based Brit, Neil Hadfield with his immaculate Porsche 356 Speedster. Photo credit: Graham Gauld.
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What makes Classic Adelaide different, apart from some generous help for foreign competitors to bring their cars to Australia, is there are so many different classes that you could even arrive with a rental car and find a class you can run in and cover some of those fantastic special stages.
Even grand prix drivers take part. Vern Schuppan hurls his Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG into a hairpin bend on one of the Adelaide stages. Photo credit: Graham Gauld.
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As most of the stages are lined by formidable gum trees there are a few shunts every year and this year was no exception. Two of the most competitive drivers, Jim Wallace and Adam Kaplan both went out in the same stage. Wallace was taken to hospital with serious back injuries when his BMW M3 EVO flew off the road and hit a gum tree at about 180 kph, destroying the car. As for Kaplan, he was up with the leading three in his interesting Group B Giocattolo when he, too, went off, his car being smashed to pieces. Luckily Adam and his brother David were not seriously hurt. The Giocattolo, by the way, is an Australian designed and built car based on an Alfa Romeo Sprint Coupe body shell but fitted with a mid-engined Holden V8 engine. It was designed by Barry Lock, a former McLaren mechanic, and around ten of them were built.
Jim Richards in action at Chain of Ponds special stage with his 944 Turbo Cup car. He finished third. Photo credit: Graham Gauld.
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