Night Racing at Sydney Motorsport Park: The ADC Goes Under the Lights for the First Time
The ADC's Round 4 at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2025 was unlike anything the series had done before — racing through the twilight on one of Australia's most prestigious circuits.
There's a moment, watching open-wheel cars under floodlights, when the spectacle transcends the sport. The Hyper Racer X1s at Sydney Motorsport Park in June 2025 were one of those moments. Narrow noses slicing through the dark. The howl of Hayabusa engines echoing off the pit wall. Lights catching carbon fibre at absurd angles.
The ADC's first visit to Sydney Motorsport Park was a landmark event in multiple ways. It was the series' first genuine night racing experience. It was the first time ADC competitors had raced on a circuit most of them had watched on television for years. And it was the first round with Hi-Tec Oils Super Series television coverage from New South Wales — meaning SBS, Fox Sports and Kayo cameras captured everything.
"There's a lot of enthusiasm for the round at Sydney Motorsport Park," category founder Jon Crooke had said before the season. "Everyone wants to have a go." He wasn't wrong. The entry list was full, the atmosphere electric.
The racing itself lived up to the setting. Hayden Crossland set the fastest-ever ADC lap at SMP — a benchmark that sent a message to every competitor about where the pace ceiling was. Sterling was once again front-of-field, but the circuit's character produced a different kind of racing to the circuits that had preceded it: more stop-and-go, more late-braking drama, more opportunity for the field to bunch and attack.
For 2026, the night racing round at SMP returns — this time, with even more anticipation from a field that knows exactly what to expect, and is even faster for the experience.