WHEN GODS COME TO PLAY: Pagani Duo Let Loose At The Bend

A Zonda R and a Huayra R showed up at The Bend, fresh off a boat from Italy, fired up their V12s, and howled their way around Tailem Bend’s world-class circuit — all for a low-key shakedown ahead of the Adelaide Motorsport Festival?

Mate.

There are car sightings, and then there are religious experiences. And what unfolded on that brisk autumnal morning certainly fits within the confines of the latter category. It wasn’t a widely publicised show, or even an organised event. It was a systems check that somehow managed to feel like a curtain-raiser for what could only be described as an otherworldly experience.

We arrived early. Too early, if I’m being honest. I hadn’t even finished sipping my mediocre servo coffee when the first bark of an engine tore through the paddock like a gunshot. It was a noise that I had not heard before, but felt so familiar. It was the Huayra R, warming up in the garage after a long voyage; now wide awake and deeply, unapologetically angry.

After the small team of mechanics had ran checks on the Huayra, its famed predecessor, the Zonda R, then joined in. It had a different noise, but was clearly related to the yell that had come just moments before. It was deeper-pitched. More raw and raspy, but not as brutal as I had prepared for on my one-and-a-half hour journey from Adelaide.

The pair had barely touched Australian tarmac, and already they were making The Bend feel like Monza on race day. This was an Australian first: two of the most famed and sought after machines in the world taking to a track down-under in a closed-to-the-public practice.

For those who don’t know the significance of this occasion, (what is wrong with you?), let’s be clear about what we were dealing with here.

The Pagani Zonda R is a track-only monster powered by a 6.0L, naturally aspirated V12. It is the most raw out of the pairing, due to its no bullshit attitude and birth in the era of peak analog engineering. It was never meant to follow rules, it was never assigned to a racing category, and is the last grasp to a wilder time, with no road compliance and no need for excused. It’s savage, with a notorious reputation which has seen it on the no-go list for various tracks all over the globe.

On the more modern side of the spectrum, the Huayra R is Pagani’s most recent track-only beast. With 850 horsepower achieved from a bespoke 6.0L V12 9000prm screamer built by HWA and the absence of turbos, the Huayra R emits a noise which can only be described as otherworldly. It’s less brutal in the way it looks too; smoother, elongated lines stand where aggressive canards and spoilers are present in the Zonda.

Seeing either of these in the wild is rare; only 15 Zonda Rs and 30 Huayra Rs were ever produced. Seeing both, together, in South Australia? It’s the sort of thing you tell your grandkids about, eyes brightening at the thought of a (very) loud past.

This wasn’t a press release moment; the absence of TV crews, promotional social posts and crowd made this feel like any other day out in a field an hour-and-a-half east of Adelaide.

No, it was merely just a quiet prelude to a huge weekend, with a few tight-lipped engineers, fresh tyres being scrubbed, and two of the loudest, most expensive alarm clocks to have ever graced the Earth.

Today was all about testing temps, dialling in pressures and waking the cars up from a lengthy hibernation. This was a shakedown to ensure all systems ran smoothly before their Australian debut appearance at the 2025 Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

In saying that, the cars certainly weren’t pushed to their limits. The two very lucky test drivers; Fraser Ross and Scott Stephenson, engaged in a simple game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who would pilot which car first. With Scott initially nestling into the carbon cockpit of the Huayra R, and the six-foot-something Fraser squeezing into the seat of the Zonda, the pair erupted into noise. The enclosed garage felt like a cathedral as the orchestral V12’s warmed up in anticipation of their private shakedown.

Then, they took to the track.

The Zonda R looked alive. Aggressive and “slightly frightening”, it growled like it wanted to be let off the leash. It twitched under braking, roaring down the straight. It was angry.

However, the Huayra R was something else entirely. It was smoother, smarter and more composed. It incited more confidence in the driver as they piloted it around The Bend’s international configuration. And that sound….my word. Hearing the echo of the buzzing V12 bounce off the concrete walls of the main straight made our hairs stand on end. It hurt a fair bit - the sound was genuinely like nothing we had heard ever before, and could only be comparable to the start line of a V10-era Formula One GP.

Throughout the day, the pair of drivers took it in turns to test out the Italian stallions, gaining confidence as the sun settled into the early-afternoon. After a particularly fast session, a slightly stunned Scott clambered out of the Huayra, exclaiming that he thought he had “overcooked the entry into turn 1, but the car just stopped itself and turned.”

The juxtaposition of the occasion was significantly noticed by our team. This was an unbelievable thing to happen in South Australia. But yet, no one was around. The crew of mechanic’s weren’t Italian masters flown out by Pagani. They were a few mates who were learning how to maintain multi-million dollar cars as they went along. Even we got asked to grab ahold of the rear wing struts of the Zonda and help lift the surprisingly-heavy engine cover into place.

What we witnessed that day wasn’t just a simple shakedown. There isn’t many places around the world where something like this would occur, and to think that two of the globe’s most mental hypercars call the little South Australian capital of Adelaide home? Unbelievable.

Hillside Auto Founder, Harry Williams, getting hands on with the Zonda R

This event was a reminder that passion still matters; a concept which the Italian’s hold so dearly, and that modern engineering can still be mad, beautiful and completely unnecessary in all the best ways. This was the show that was put on when nobody was watching. Victoria Park’s Adelaide Motorsport Festival saw something on another level.