mulishajp
11-11-2008, 12:11 PM
November 11th, 2008
AFTER 18 years, the checkered flag has come down on the Gold Coast Indy with the international A1 Grand Prix series to take its place alongside the V8s next October.
Premier Anna Bligh last night revealed exclusively to The Bulletin that negotiations with the Indy Racing League had broken down due to insurmountable hurdles over funding and dates.
Instead, a new five-year deal had been reached with the A1GP for the Gold Coast to join its race calendar that includes Great Britain, China, Mexico, Portugal, New Zealand and South Africa.
"We have reached in-principle agreement with the A1GP and expect to finalise contractual arrangements within the next week," she said. "The A1GP is a world-class racing series with an action-packed race calendar that includes Great Britain, China, Mexico, Portugal, Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia, South Africa and The Netherlands.
"As a result of this deal Queensland will now be a permanent fixture on the calendar as well."
Ms Bligh said while some people might be disappointed at the loss of Indy, which was little known in Australia before coming to the Gold Coast, the A1 Grand Prix would soon be just as well known and would have far more benefits for the local economy.
"This race has an international reputation and because the cars are competing on behalf of their countries instead of on behalf of a sponsor I think it is a real opportunity to expand the fan base," she said.
"The A1 has all the glamour, all the international pizzazz and excitement.
"It also has a larger television viewing audience and a larger and more diverse television audience -- Indy was overwhelmingly an American audience. A1 brings not only an American audience but a very big European and Asian audience.
"It will give a new lease of life to our event on-track with all the fun and excitement off-track also set to continue."
The A1 Grand Prix series has already raced in Australia at Eastern Creek under the guidance of former F1 world champion and Gold Coast resident Alan Jones.
The open-wheeler cars, which will use Ferrari engines next season, are the same for each driver and 23 nations are represented in each race.
Some of the drivers in the series which pits nation against nation will be familiar to Indy lovers, with the famous Andretti family fielding a team with one of this year's most popular drivers at Indy, Danica Patrick.
The Australian team is currently ranked ninth in the series of 23 teams.
The deal comes at no extra cost to the State Government, which is expected to maintain the $11 million a year funding it provided for the Indy Carnival.
Ms Bligh said there were strong indications Indy could have come back to the Gold Coast but in the end the issues over funding and their demand for the race to be moved to March were not acceptable.
"The date issue would have meant major track construction right in the middle of the January school holidays, that is peak tourist season for the Gold Coast. It was an insurmountable clash of priorities," she said.
"The Government invests in this event because we want to foster and increase tourism. To have track construction in peak season would have defeated the purpose."
Sports Minister Judy Spence said it was disappointing the hurdles in relation to timing of events and funding could not be overcome with the owners of the Indy Racing League.
"They have an expanded series of events and our Indy clashes with the early part of the American football season," said Ms Spence.
"Moving our race to March as they had requested was not an option due to the clash with the F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne and the Clipsal V8 race in Adelaide.
"In addition, a March race would have involved track construction right in the middle of January school holidays and we would not tolerate Gold Coast residents being inconvenienced."
She said the Indy Carnival had undergone many incarnations in its 18-year history and this promised to be one of the most exciting.
"We have had Indy Cars, Cart, Champ Cars and the Indy Racing League," she said. "However, the A1GP series is one of the newest and most exciting in the world.
"The audience for A1GP continues to grow each year with the broadcast reaching more than 700 million households across the world during this year's season.
"Television exposure equals tourism dollars and more international tourists to our shores.
"Our motor racing carnival generates around $60 million for our economy each year and in these tough times it provides a terrific boost for the local economy and community."
AFTER 18 years, the checkered flag has come down on the Gold Coast Indy with the international A1 Grand Prix series to take its place alongside the V8s next October.
Premier Anna Bligh last night revealed exclusively to The Bulletin that negotiations with the Indy Racing League had broken down due to insurmountable hurdles over funding and dates.
Instead, a new five-year deal had been reached with the A1GP for the Gold Coast to join its race calendar that includes Great Britain, China, Mexico, Portugal, New Zealand and South Africa.
"We have reached in-principle agreement with the A1GP and expect to finalise contractual arrangements within the next week," she said. "The A1GP is a world-class racing series with an action-packed race calendar that includes Great Britain, China, Mexico, Portugal, Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia, South Africa and The Netherlands.
"As a result of this deal Queensland will now be a permanent fixture on the calendar as well."
Ms Bligh said while some people might be disappointed at the loss of Indy, which was little known in Australia before coming to the Gold Coast, the A1 Grand Prix would soon be just as well known and would have far more benefits for the local economy.
"This race has an international reputation and because the cars are competing on behalf of their countries instead of on behalf of a sponsor I think it is a real opportunity to expand the fan base," she said.
"The A1 has all the glamour, all the international pizzazz and excitement.
"It also has a larger television viewing audience and a larger and more diverse television audience -- Indy was overwhelmingly an American audience. A1 brings not only an American audience but a very big European and Asian audience.
"It will give a new lease of life to our event on-track with all the fun and excitement off-track also set to continue."
The A1 Grand Prix series has already raced in Australia at Eastern Creek under the guidance of former F1 world champion and Gold Coast resident Alan Jones.
The open-wheeler cars, which will use Ferrari engines next season, are the same for each driver and 23 nations are represented in each race.
Some of the drivers in the series which pits nation against nation will be familiar to Indy lovers, with the famous Andretti family fielding a team with one of this year's most popular drivers at Indy, Danica Patrick.
The Australian team is currently ranked ninth in the series of 23 teams.
The deal comes at no extra cost to the State Government, which is expected to maintain the $11 million a year funding it provided for the Indy Carnival.
Ms Bligh said there were strong indications Indy could have come back to the Gold Coast but in the end the issues over funding and their demand for the race to be moved to March were not acceptable.
"The date issue would have meant major track construction right in the middle of the January school holidays, that is peak tourist season for the Gold Coast. It was an insurmountable clash of priorities," she said.
"The Government invests in this event because we want to foster and increase tourism. To have track construction in peak season would have defeated the purpose."
Sports Minister Judy Spence said it was disappointing the hurdles in relation to timing of events and funding could not be overcome with the owners of the Indy Racing League.
"They have an expanded series of events and our Indy clashes with the early part of the American football season," said Ms Spence.
"Moving our race to March as they had requested was not an option due to the clash with the F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne and the Clipsal V8 race in Adelaide.
"In addition, a March race would have involved track construction right in the middle of January school holidays and we would not tolerate Gold Coast residents being inconvenienced."
She said the Indy Carnival had undergone many incarnations in its 18-year history and this promised to be one of the most exciting.
"We have had Indy Cars, Cart, Champ Cars and the Indy Racing League," she said. "However, the A1GP series is one of the newest and most exciting in the world.
"The audience for A1GP continues to grow each year with the broadcast reaching more than 700 million households across the world during this year's season.
"Television exposure equals tourism dollars and more international tourists to our shores.
"Our motor racing carnival generates around $60 million for our economy each year and in these tough times it provides a terrific boost for the local economy and community."