Adelaide's answer to the AGP ready to roll.

Melbourne might have the Formula One Grand Prix but if one Australians City goes "off" for a car race, it's Adelaide at the Clipsal 500! More than 200,000 spectators attended last year's event and by squeezing in more corporate and grandstand viewing event organisers are expecting to top that record this weekend.

The Adelaide race is the opening event on a 13 round calendar for Australia's most popular form of motor sport and is the biggest and arguably the toughest race of the year. The 2x250k races across Saturday and Sunday within the confined concrete walls of the street circuit - usually in high ambient temperatures - place enormous strains on drivers and cars.

This year - more than ever previously - teams have been working on solutions to try to improve driver comfort as they face their longest single time in the car all season - around 2 hours. With cabin temperatures of 50+ and the requirement this year to wear full-length fireproof underwear under their 3-layer driving suits, exhaustion is a major concern.

The teams that deal with this best and the drivers that are the fittest, will be in the best position to start the championship season with a positive result.

"Try to imagine sitting fully-clothed on an exercise bike in a sauna for a couple of hours and you get the idea" says the Holden Racing Team's Mark Skaife. "Adelaide is like running a marathon one day - then backing up and doing it again the next day!"

"For all that, it's a great event and it's that challenge of dealing with the extremes that makes it so rewarding. HRT has an enviable record at the Clipsal with five consecutive wins since the event started and, we are not going to give up that trophy without a hell of a fight!

"HRT's ability to have fast and efficient pit stops and flexible race day strategies has been the key to its success in Adelaide and that teamwork will be vital again, considering the increased competitiveness of the category this year," said Skaife.

Todd Kelly heads into his second year with the Holden Racing Team and scored fourth on debut with the "red" team in Adelaide last year and is aiming for a podium this time around.

"Not only was it my first race with HRT, it was also the debut of the VY Commodore and, we've learnt a lot in 12 months" Kelly explained. "A lot of work over summer and at our first test day plus at the Grand Prix recently, has gone into creating more options for us to consider in setting up the cars, so we're going into the Clipsal race with a lot more knowledge this time around.

"It's a challenging track to race on too - one I definitely enjoy! Some street circuits can be narrow but Adelaide is wide, creates overtaking opportunities and has some nice high speed challenging stuff to keep you on your toes," says Kelly.

The Adelaide format remains unchanged from previous years, with practice, qualifying and the shoot out on Friday, followed by a 250-kilometre leg or heat on Saturday and the second 250k race Sunday contributing to the overall round winner. Each race features two compulsory pit stops - one for tyres and one for fuel and round points are split evenly between Saturday and Sunday.