01/07/2016
IndyCar could return to Australia's Gold Coast in 2017
The IndyCar Series could return to Australia's Gold Coast as soon as next year.
The Surfers Paradise street circuit was a mainstay on the CART/Champ Car calendar between 1991 and 2007, with IndyCar visiting for a non-points race in '08 after a merger between the two parties.
IndyCar was due to be replaced by A1GP in 2009 before that series folded, and the event has been the domain of the local Supercars since.
The domestic series now has a deal with the Queensland government through to 2019, but a private consortium is investigating the return of open-wheel cars.
"We are talking to [Tourism and Events Queensland] and the US-based IndyCars," a consortium spokesperson told the local Gold Coast Bulletin.
"All our concern at the moment is on securing the approval through government to hold the event with IndyCars as the major attraction — 2017 is a possibility, 2018 is more than possible."
A number of issues would need to be resolved, namely that the Gold Coast event's traditional late-October date is more than one month after the last race on the 2016 IndyCar calendar.
Similarly, Supercars now races on a slashed 1.85-mile version of the circuit, down from 2.79 miles, to accommodate a new tram line over what was the southern end of the Champ Car layout.
"IndyCar is in the process of investigating potential venues for the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule, which includes a number of conversations with international parties interested in hosting an event," a statement issued by the series on Wednesday read.
"IndyCar has an extended history at Surfers Paradise and many of its teams and drivers fondly recall the great events and large crowds in Australia.
"However, at this time, we are not going to comment on specifics as it pertains to the status of any prospective venue."
