inpitlane.com | Tag Archive | Surfers Paradise

A1 GOLD COAT GP: THE FARCE IS OVER (for now)

Saturday, October 17, 2009

The charade is over. Only two days before they were scheduled to test at Queensland raceway and a week before the first race the A1 GP on the Gold Coast has been terminated. The Queensland Government will now showcase the popular tourist venue to the World via four 150 km V8 Supercar races. SuperGP General Manager Greg Hooton said that whilst it was obviously disappointing that GCMEC has had to terminate the contract with A1GP, plans have been put in place to ensure a full, new-look, program when the 2009 Nikon SuperGP commences next Thursday October 22. “GCMEC and the Minister have worked with V8 Supercars, to develop the new race program which will now be rolled out at the event,” said Hooton.

A1GP: AND NOW THE END IS NEAR ?

Monday, June 29, 2009

0 Comments

Just days after confirming October's Gold Coast street race as the opening round of the 2009-2010 season the future of A1GP is in doubt again after its British arm collapsed last Wednesday. According to the British newspaper the Telegraph the British operation has been wound up leaving several suppliers unpaid and a staff of about 40 looking for new jobs. A spokesperson for the company A1 Grand Prix Operations Limited said: “Like many other companies in today's difficult economic environment, we had cashflow problems and we haven't been able to pay them (the suppliers).“ 2009 is the fourth year of the A1GP which was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum. He left the group as a part of a major financial restructuring which was to have included floating the company on the London Stock Exchange. Unattributed sources said that current A1GP CEO, South African businessman Tony Teixiera. had said that it was possible that current British workers could be reemployed through other arms of the organisation. The collapse of the British Operations division, who are responsible for the day to day running of the series is just the latest in a long line of financial concerns regarding the series. Just where this may leave the promoters of the “Nitro” Super GP is anybody's guess as the Queensland Government has previously said that it was not interested in supporting the event unless it had a substantial International component. V8 Supercar boss Tony Cochrane has suggested openly on several occasions that he believed the event would soon become a V8 Supercar only affair.

FOTA’S RUMOURED CALENDAR. EMERALD CITY GP MISSES OUT, WIZARD SAID TO BE FURIOUS

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

0 Comments

Several media outlets including "The Guardian" in England are reporting an alleged calendar for FOTA's break away Formula One series. Of most interest to Australian fans is the inclusion of Adelaide as the series finale in November. Adelaide's end of year bash was always a highlight of the International F1 year and many GP regulars would be thrilled to see it's return. However the listing of Surfers Paradise as an alternative clearly shows the true nature of this calendar. There is about as much chance of Surfers ever hosting any kind of serious F1 standard race as there is of me hosting the Oscars. The track is seriously narrow, there is no run off area and the area seriously lacks much of the major infrastructure need to host a GP type event. The track already struggles to cater for the previous Champcar/IndyCar event so how they would cope with something five times as big is anybody's guess.... More

INDY OUT, A1GP IN

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

0 Comments

The A1GP is to replace the Indy Cars on the Cold Coast. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced this morning that a compromise could not be reached with the Indy Racing League bringing an end to the history of a major US racing category on the circuit. Ms Bligh rather pointedly said the the new series would feature the faster A1GP cars instead of Indy cars as well as V8 supercars. "I am sure the A1GP will be a terrific attraction for both `revheads' and new fans to the world of motorsport," Ms Bligh said. The State Government has been negotiating with the owners of the Indy Racing League over scheduling clashes but refused to move the racing carnival to March at the request of the US-based league. An in-principle agreement with the European A1GP has been drawn up and the deal will be finalised within a week.

SUPPORT GROWS FOR DTM GOLD COAST RACE

Sunday, October 26, 2008

0 Comments

Drivers in the popular DTM (German Touring Car Masters) have thrown their support behind Tony Cochrane's call for the series to replace the Indy Racing League on the Gold Coast. While most Australian media feel that Cochrane's call was a bit of publicity seeking mischief making, current DTM stars competing in this weekend's Hockenheim final are enthusiastically backing the idea. Speaking to the German website motorsport-total.com, drivers said they would love the chance to take to the streets of Surfers Paradise. “That would be fantastic ! It would be great to go overseas, said Mercedes driver Paul di Resta. “It (The DTM) is perhaps the greatest Touring Car Championship in the World. I believe we have the best cars. It would be great to show the Australians what great cars we have.” he said.

A1GP READY TO FILL THE GOLD COAST BEACH…UH, BREACH

Sunday, October 26, 2008

0 Comments

The A1GP series has approached organisers of the Gold Coast Indy car race expressing an interest in replacing the Indy cars should they decide not to return next year. Speaking to the local newspaper “The Sunday Mail”, former World Formula One Champion and A1GP team franchise holder Alan Jones said that the self proclaimed World Cup of Motorsport was eager to fill the breach should the American based Indy series pull out. “I have made no secret of the fact that we would love to take their place,“ said Jones. “Our cars lap three to four seconds quicker than the IRL cars going around the Gold Coast this weekend, We have 25 countries competing,... and many of the countries are in the preferred trading area for Australia – Asia and the Middle East.“ Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has said that an International Openwheel event was crucial to the events future but few International series of any note have shown interest in the Australian market with the exception of A1GP.

WILL POWERS TO PARADISE POLE

Saturday, October 25, 2008

0 Comments

Local hero Will Power has given his home state fans something to cheer about setting the fastest time in qualifying for Sunday's Gold Coast Indy 300. It'll be a trans-tasman showdown with series champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner New Zealand's Scott Dixon alongside Power on the front row. In a qualifying session hit by showers, Power timed his run perfectly to beat the Kiwi star to the pole by almost a full second. “It was quite a difficult session, to be honest.” said Power. “ I went out there and half the track was wet and half the track was dry. It was a matter of getting through each round and in the last round it was all dry. It was back to what I knew quite well. On the last lap, I backed off out and made sure I got a good run in. I'm very happy for the team. We turned up with a pretty good car out of the box and the guys did great work. Hopefully we can get it done this weekend, because that's what we've been trying to do for the last three years.“

MARTIN LEADS THE WAY ON THE STREETS OF SURFERS

Friday, October 24, 2008

0 Comments

MARTIN LEADS THE WAY ON THE STREETS OF SURFERS

Australian International John Martin continued his domination of the local F3 field with a second race win on the streets of Surfers Paradise. Martin, fresh back from a year in the tough British F3 series and Australia's lead driver in the A1GP showed the gulf between himself and the local competition with a comfortable lights to flag victory on the narrow street circuit in his Dallara F307 Mercedes Benz. “I nailed the start – yesterday I didn’t want to stall so I didn’t get a good getaway but today was much better and I was able to establish a good buffer in the opening lap,” said Martin. Second was the Team BRM Dallara of new Australian Champion James Winslow. The Englishman again showed himself to be the class of the local series regulars but he had no answer for Martin.

TWO CAR TEAM AUSTRALIA ATTACK

Monday, October 20, 2008

0 Comments

There will be a two-pronged attack from Team Australia on the Nikon Indy 300 with the green and gold livery of the Aussie Vineyards-backed team running on two cars at next weekend’s race around the streets of Surfers Paradise in Australia. The cars of KV Racing Technology were unveiled in the pit lane of the Nikon Indy 300 circuit today, with Will Power on hand to unveil the cars. Power, driver of the #8 Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia car, will be joined by team-mate Oriol Servia in the colours of Team Australia for the big event, held October 23-26.

EX WINNERS RETURN FOR INDY’S LAST HURRAH?

Thursday, September 25, 2008

0 Comments

EX WINNERS RETURN FOR INDY’S LAST HURRAH?

Indy Racing League teams headed for Australia's Gold Coast will be using the not for points Surfers Paradise street race to make a serious start on season 2009. Panther racing have announced their signing for 2009 Dan Wheldon is definitely on the way in his return to the team after racing this past season with Chip Ganassi. Wheldon's spot in the Ganassi team will be taken by the 1999 Gold coast winner Dario Franchitti.