The final year student at St Ignatius College has had a breakout year in the popular motorsport that returns to the Adelaide street circuit at the VALO Adelaide 500 in December.

While most other 18-year-olds are still driving around suburban Adelaide streets on their L-plates, Sebastien Amadio is driving at 300km/h in 560-horse-power race cars.

The Year 12 student has dedicated his life to motorsport, having started racing as an eight-year-old in go-karts, then following through to superkarts while also driving Porsche race cars from time to time.

Today, Sebastien is driving for Amadio Motorsport in conjunction with Melbourne-based team, Garry Rodgers Motorsport, in the S5000 category, which is often described as Australia’s fastest race category.

These open wheeler cars are produced here by GRM and are one of the most challenging cars to drive in Australia: the V8-powered machine looks like a Formula 1 car, but is a modern successor to the Formula 5000 category, which captivated Australian motor racing fans throughout the 1970s.

In Sebastien’s first-ever outing in 2021, he gained the attention of the racing community – and the media – by finishing in second place and breaking the lap record for S5000 on debut at The Bend Classic.

A natural athlete on and off the track, he also manages to squeeze into his schedule playing club soccer for Adelaide Blue Eagles/Azzurri, as well as his school’s first XI soccer team, while training four nights a week; it leaves him only just enough time for studies and family.

Sebastien has also won the St Ignatius seniors open division 100 metre sprint championship for the past two years.

In 2022, Sebastien debuted in some major events while learning to master the S5000 race car.

In April, he competed in his first Australian Grand Prix race in Melbourne, finishing inside the top 10 which was a great result on such a daunting high-speed concrete jungle.

In June he competed at the Darwin Triple Crown, his first visit to the circuit where he finished eighth overall.

Sebastien has also continued his duties all year in superkarts, where it all started for him.

He has focused on the 125 Open Gera Box class where he is likely to again be named this year’s Driver of the Year in class having been recently crowned the 2022 Australian 125 Open Gearbox Grand Prix Champion at the Mallala raceway three weeks ago.

Having won in the superkarts, Seb is now focused on the final S5000 race for the year at the VALO Adelaide 500 the first weekend of December.

Open wheelers have not been seen on the streets of Adelaide since the days of the Adelaide Formula 1 Grand Prix in the 1990s.

This year, there will be a full grid of 17 cars and Sebastien will compete alongside legendary F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella.

The S5000 category will run alongside the SuperCars main event races each day, and will most likely set new lap records on the newly resurfaced Adelaide track.

Sebastien is grateful for the opportunities and support he has received and couldn’t do this without the support of his family and sponsors:

• Aussie (Aussie Home Loans) 2020
• Garry Rogers Motorsport
• Walkinshaw Andretti United
• SALIFE Magazine
• Barbagallo Watches
• Amadio Wines
• Primo caffe’s
• Cyclone design helmets
• Magill AutoSports

SALIFE Magazine featured Sebastien in its April, 2022, issue. You can read more about him here.

Follow Sebastien via Instagram on _sebamadio  or on Facebook at Amadio Motorsport.