Looking back at the rise and fall of the Adelaide Formula One Grand Prix

The Melbourne Formula One Grand Prix has returned after a two-year hiatus and up to 130,000 fans are expected at Albert Park for race day.

An impressive number no doubt — but there was another Australian grand prix that eclipsed the figure by a tidy margin.

Adelaide hosted the Australian GP for 11 years and, in 1995, 210,000 fans attended the final race day. It is a figure that remains the biggest-ever one-day crowd for a sporting event in Australia.

«The great thing about the Adelaide era was it coincided with the rise of Brazilian Formula One champion Ayrton Senna, who became the local favourite and is the driver most tied to the event,» said motorsports journalist Adrian Musolino, who is writing a book on the history of the race.

«There were so many other iconic drivers who raced the unique street circuit. Niki Lauder raced his final grand prix in Adelaide and it ushered in a new era of outstanding drivers: Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell. Even if you weren't a fan of Formula One, they were household names.»

When the Adelaide Grand Prix Corporation closed, thousands of images documenting the event were handed over to the State Library of South Australia.

When Musolino began his research a few years ago, he was the first person to look through the archive in more than 20 years.

In the early 1980s, Formula One boss Bernie Eccleston started looking for a new city to add to the grand prix schedule.

He wanted to expand into markets outside of Europe and find an exciting street circuit.

There had been talk of an Australian city hosting for a while, with Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Canberra all expressing interest.

It was only Adelaide that really went for it, hungry to secure a world-class event that would help