Richard Holdsworth, our Antipodean correspondent, tells us that long-time McLaren teammates from the 1990s and 2000s, David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen, are to join forces at the 2026 Adelaide Motorsport Festival. It will be the first time the duo will get together at the South Australian city since their F1 driving days.
The event, which will feature a whole host of iconic cars from Formula 1, sports cars, hypercars, touring cars and more, is to be held over the weekend of the 28th of February to the 1st of March – one week before the Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2026 Formula 1 season at Albert Park in Melbourne.
Mika and David will make on-track appearances on a circuit which includes part of the F1 Australian Grand Prix layout, held in Adelaide from 1985 to 1995. Hakkinen, World Driver’s Champion in 1998 and 1999, raced at the iconic Adelaide street circuit from 1991 to 1995, surviving a massive crash in practice for the 1995 race and spent several weeks recovering in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
He says, “Returning to Adelaide after so many years will be a very special experience. I am excited to be alongside David and part of the 2026 Adelaide Motorsport Festival. The city holds a range of emotions and memories for me, not least the support I received following my crash in 1995 and I’m looking forward to coming back.”
As for Coulthard, the street circuit in Adelaide in 1995 was his first Australian F1 Grand Prix, a race which he led until crashing out, depriving him of the chance of victory. He says it will be such a trip down memory lane. “Adelaide played an important role in my history in Formula 1, and it is such a celebratory event, a lot of fun and a fitting venue to share our passion with the many Australian motor sport fans.”
David is still active in Formula 1 as an ambassador for his last team, Red Bull Racing, and as a commentator for Channel 4’s coverage in the United Kingdom.
The many fans at the 2026 Adelaide Motorsport Festival will be rewarded with the sounds of Formula 1 from the early 2000s with an on-track appearance of a Jaguar R2 – Cosworth V10 power: 800bhp and 18,000 rpm. Support for the Jaguar team was withdrawn by Ford at the end of the 2004 season, and it was bought by Red Bull, who went on to dominate F1 with six Constructors’ titles and eight Drivers’ crowns. The Jaguar R2 will be on track with New Zealander, Andy Higgins, behind the wheel. Higgins is a Formula 5000 champion and a regular at AMF, having driven the Leyton House F1 car at the event.
The 2026 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival will once again feature various categories ranging from Formula 1 cars, V8 Supercars, sports cars, touring cars, motorbikes, and drift cars, with the action non-stop without a break in track activity throughout the two days. Off track, there will be car displays, kids’ zones, bars and food trucks, exhibitors and traders, activations and more, in a picnic park setting in Adelaide, the most English of Australian cities.
A feature of the event is the free-to-attend Gouger Street party, where the public rubs shoulders with drivers and gets up close to the cars. It is party time for the thousands who attend the Adelaide Motorsport Festival every year. And visitors can watch drivers from the world of F1 interviewed on stage in the marquees erected for the event.
The Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival 2026 starts on Friday the 27th of February, with private practice on track, followed by the street party from 6.00 pm. On Saturday and Sunday, more than 200 cars will compete in demonstrations each day.
More information can be found at: AdelaideMotorsportFestival.com.au.
