Asian Motor Sports

All the colour and action of the hundreds of thousands of fans who packed the Surfers Paradise street track at the 2008 Gold Coast Indy. Photographer : Mike Batterham

Prepare the green and the gold - next year’s Surfers Paradise motorsport event, dubbed the ‘Gold Coast 300′ for now, could be the most patriotic yet, on and off the track.

A1 Grand Prix organizers yesterday promised fans they would not be disappointed by the transition from Indy cars to A1 open-wheelers and revealed plans to smash Indy’s on-track and off-track records to cement next year’s inaugural race carnival as one of the top international motorsport events.

The international motor racing series will co-headline the city’s premier event with the Australian V8 Supercar Series from 2009.

Event organizers signed off on the agreement with A1GP officials yesterday, ensuring the future of open-wheel racing on the Gold Coast.

Sport Minister Judy Spence last night said the five-year arrangement sees the A1GP series at the Gold Coast to 2013, in line with arrangements already in place with the Queensland Government and the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

Gold Coast 300 general manager Greg Hooton said he was excited by the announcement, as would be many thousands of motor racing fans around Australia.

“This is really something to look forward to — the A1GP cars and the V8s racing on the streets of Surfers Paradise, bringing their World Cup of Motorsport to the Gold Coast and Australia,” he said.

“Our event is Australia’s premier motor sport event with four days and four nights of on and off track entertainment, and it is here to stay.”

A1GP will be the first truly international category of open-wheel racing to head to the Gold Coast with nations pitted against each other.

In 2009, the Gold Coast 300 will hit the streets of Surfers Paradise over October 22-25.

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport chairman Tony Teixeira said the Queensland Government and the event organisers had offered every courtesy in putting the deal together in a record short period of time.

“We wanted to go back to Australia and this is the ideal venue for our series,” he said. “I am aware we are being given a perfect opportunity to showcase our series to the Australian fans, who have been great supporters of both the series and their own team.”

V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane said the V8s would put on a ‘must see’ show next year.

“We are delighted to finalize the new five-year arrangement at what has been one of our signature events,” he said.

“Our new race format, featuring a 200km race on Saturday and Sunday with both tyre and fuel pit stops, will make for an absolute ‘must see’ on the streets of Surfers Paradise.

“Once again, V8 Supercars are delighted to bring the TV production and our host broadcaster, the Seven Network, to this iconic Australian motor sport event.”