Stefan Johansson reunites with Ferrari 156/85 in Adelaide

Former Formula 1 driver Stefan Johansson was reunited with his 1985 Ferrari 156/85 at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, bringing back “great memories” of his time in the world championship.

“It’s always great to be here, and the fans are hugely enthusiastic,” he said of the Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

“It’s a great experience.”

Johansson cut laps in the F1 session on the Saturday, before persistent rain washed out all of the open-wheel running on Sunday.

However, he was full of praise for the event and the organisers.

“It’s great here. It’s my second time… The crowd is fantastic, very enthusiastic. It’s a great event – they’re doing a good job of it,” said the Swede.

Johansson qualified the Ferrari 156/85 in 15th in the first Australian Grand Prix held in Adelaide, back in 1985.

In a day filled with attrition, he was one of only eight finishers, coming home in fifth place after battling with reliability issues throughout the day.

“We had a lot of problems with the turbos at the end of the year,” recalled Johansson.

“[We] went slower and slower as the year went by, and had reliability issues with the engine.”

Johansson had a best result of third in the Adelaide grand prix the following year, in his last race with Ferrari, before competing with McLaren, Ligier and Onyx, where he didn’t finish in the points in Australia.

Despite that, he says getting behind the wheel back on the Adelaide Parklands Circuit has been a positive experience.

“It brings back great memories,” remarked the 66-year-old.

“It’s a bit weird because there’s no barriers anywhere so it’s very wide open.

“But the layout is still the same… returning to get around in these cars, it brings back a lot of good memories.

“I’m not pushing it too hard,” Johansson said with a wry smile. “Just enjoying the experience.”