South Australia has produced a number of great racing drivers across history, and there’s little wonder as to why.
An abundance of Australia’s racing heritage has emerged from the state including circuits at Mallala, Adelaide International Raceway and the famous street circuit in the parklands skirting the CBD.
Formula 1 first came to Australia via Adelaide in 1985 and proceeded to raise the bar in how events were run.
Elfin Race Cars produced some of the most innovative and exciting racing variants from the Adelaide suburb of Edwardstown in addition to the team run by Garrie Cooper providing the start for many rising stars of the sport during the halcyon days of Formula 5000.
Here are our top six drivers from South Australia in no particular order, and if we’ve missed one of your favourites, let us know in the comments on Repco’s socials.
Vern Schuppan
Hailing from the tiny town of Booleroo Centre, Vern Schuppan won multiple state and national level karting titles before making the move to the United Kingdom to pursue an open wheel career.
A championship victory in British Formula Atlantic earned Schuppan a test driver role with BRM for the 1972 Formula One season.
Four seasons in F1 yielded a best race result of seventh in the 1977 German Grand Prix while driving for John Surtees.
Other open wheel escapades included three Indianapolis 500 starts, with a best finish of third in 1981, and a pair of Macau Grand Prix victories in the 1970s.
While Schuppan considered himself an open wheel driver, he did contest the Bathurst 1000 four times, and his best career results came behind the wheel of sportscars in the 1980s.
Schuppan contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans 15 times and finished on the outright podium four times, including a win in the 1983 edition driving for the factory Rothmans Porsche outfit.
Schuppan was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 1984 for his services to motorsport, and was instrumental in bringing the Australian Grand Prix to Adelaide in 1985.
Russell Ingall
South Australia’s most successful touring car driver was actually born in England, and prior to the mid-1990s, looked poised to make a career in European open wheel racing.
Russell Ingall won the Australian Karting Championship in four different classes, continuing in karts after making the move to Europe before switching to Formula Ford in 1987.
In a successful open wheel career, Ingall won the 1990 Australian Formula Ford Championship, and dominated the British series in ’93, winning 13 of 16 races.
While competing in Europe, Ingall was also drafted in to compete in the 1994 Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 for Wayne Gardner Racing, partnering Win Percy and finishing fifth overall on the mountain.
This touring car prowess caught the attention of Larry Perkins who tapped Ingall to pair him for the endurance events of 1995, immediately following British Formula Renault Championship success.
The pair completed a famous last-to-first victory in that year’s Bathurst 1000, after which Ingall made the move back to Australia full time and switched to touring cars.
Ingall’s career consisted of 19 full time ATCC/Supercars Championship seasons with four second place points finishes between 1998 and 2004, before finally achieving championship success in 2005.
Nick Percat
Born in the state capital Adelaide, Nick Percat is the son of a third generation Holden employee and looked set for a career in touring car racing early.
Percat won the state Formula Ford title at the age of 17 before progressing up to the national championship, winning the 2009 title in just his third season.
The reigning champion was drafted by Walkinshaw Racing for the 2010 Super2 Series where he finished fourth in the championship standings.
Continuing in Super2 for 2011, Walkinshaw made the shock decision to place Percat in the #2 Holden Racing Team Commodore alongside Garth Tander for the endurance events, where the pair finished fourth at Phillip Island.
Tander holding off a hard-charging Craig Lowndes in the Bathurst 1000 allowed to Percat become the first Bathurst rookie to win the Great Race since Jacky Ickx in 1977, and carry on his family’s Holden legacy.
After stepping up to the Repco Supercars Championship full time in 2014, Percat continues to race in the category in 2025, with a best points finish of seventh for Brad Jones Racing in 2020 and ’21.
Todd Hazelwood
A career defined by doing it his own way, Todd Hazelwood’s racing life began in Adelaide driving dirt karts at the age of seven.
Hazelwood won 12 titles in state and national level dirt and asphalt kart racing between 2005 and 2011, never finishing worse than fifth in any championship.
To fund the move into car racing, Hazelwood and his family spent all free time fundraising in the most Aussie way possible: the classic sausage sizzle, a cause that continued into his early Supercars seasons.
Hazelwood finished second in the 2013 national Formula 3 championship, catching the eye of Super2 team boss Matt Stone – son of former SBR co-owner Jim – where the young star went on to finish eighth in points in his first full time season.
During one of the most competitive eras of Super 2, Hazelwood set off on a steady climb up the points standings over the next three seasons, eventually culminating on championship success in 2017.
While success eluded Hazelwood in a full time Supercars Championship career, save for one podium finish at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2020, a move into endurance co-driving with Brodie Kostecki resulted in near-success at the 2024 Sandown 500 before mechanical issues resulted in a DNF.
Kostecki and Hazelwood went on to dominate the Bathurst 1000, with Hazelwood’s perfect stints during the day assisting in a convincing victory over Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup.
Hazelwood returns in the enduro events this year again with Kostecki, this time at his childhood favourite team, Dick Johnson Racing.
Hazelwood won the 2024 National Trans Am series title and currently holds the championship lead again in 2025 with three rounds remaining.
Scott Pye
Born and raised Adelaide, Scott Pye was another driver that was poised for an international career before moving back home to touring cars.
Pye won six state karting titles and finished second in the 2006 national championship before moving up into Formula Ford.
Third place in the 2009 Australian Formula Ford Championship opened the door for a move to the UK where Pye won 12 of 25 races enroute to championship success.
A less than ideal 2011 British Formula 3 campaign during which Pye only amassed one race win resulted in a move back to Australia and into the Super2 Series with Triple Eight Race Engineering.
In 2012, during the most competitive season in recent memory, Pye finished second in points to Scott McLaughlin in an enthralling championship battle also involving Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat.
The next year in 2013, Pye made the move up to the Supercars Championship, and in 11 seasons of competition, amassed one race victory and 10 podium finishes before stepping back to co-driving duties again with Triple Eight.
In 2024, Pye and eventual series champion Will Brown won the Sandown 500 by a slim margin over team-mates Feeney and Whincup, and finished the Bathurst 1000 in third position.
Pye continue to co-drive alongside Brown at Triple Eight in 2025.
Tim Slade
A two-time Supercars race winner, Tim Slade worked hard to get into the main game after an early dabble down the open-wheeler route.
Runner up to future international sportscar ace John Martin in the 2006 Formula Ford Championship, Slade made the transition to the Fujitsu Development Series the next year and eventual ran his own entry in 2008.
Eye-catching performances during the 2008 season led to Paul Morris giving Slade a Supercars opportunity. Although, this proved a character building initiation.
Slade joined title-winning squad Stone Brothers Racing in 2010 and began to rise through the field culminating in podium finishes on the way to ninth in the title by 2011.
Carrying strong momentum after scoring fifth in 2012, Slade continued with the team through its transition to Mercedes-Benz and Erebus Motorsport, but this was an unsuccessful venture.
Success was hard to come by after a move to Walkinshaw Racing for two unfruitful seasons leading to a shift to an in-form Brad Jones Racing.
Victory finally came for Slade at Winton in 2016 and to further add to the success, he backed it up the next day.
Stints as a co-driver at the then-DJR Team Penske, then full-time opportunities at the Blanchard Racing Team and PremiAir Racing followed before this season joining Nick Percat at Matt Stone Racing for the Ryco Enduro Cup.