Wayne Gardner's first foray into car racing came when he was to race a Formula Holden in the final round of the 1990 Australian Drivers' Championship which was run as a support race to that years Australian Formula One Grand Prix, driving a Shrike 002 built and developed for the category by the students of the Croydon Park Institute of TAFE in Adelaide where the race was held. After only arriving in Adelaide on the opening day of practice having spent the previous week in Japan testing his 1991 NRS500 Grand Prix bike, Gardner had qualified in a credible 11th place for his first competitive drive in an Open-wheel car. However, a crash into the wall just past the chicane at the end of the pit straight when he spun on coolant that had been dropped by the Ralt RT20 of Drew Price, heavily damaged the front of the car. He was hopeful that the car could be repaired for the race, but his chances ended when another car also spun on the coolant and crashed into the Shrike damaging it beyond immediate repair.