 The track layout used from 1966–1987 | |
| Location | Carrara,Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 28°0′59″S153°22′34″E / 28.01639°S 153.37611°E /-28.01639; 153.37611 |
| Opened | 1966 |
| Closed | 27 August 1987; 38 years ago (1987-08-27) |
| Major events | Tasman Series (1968, 1970–1975) Australian Touring Car Championship (1969, 1971–1977, 1979–1987) Australian Grand Prix (1975) Australian GT (1982–1985) Australian Drivers' Championship (1966–1969, 1971–1975, 1977) |
| Full Circuit (1966–1987) | |
| Length | 3.219 km (2.000 mi) |
| Turns | 7 |
| Race lap record | 1:04.300 ( John Bowe,Veskanda C1,1986,Group A/C) |
.jpg)
Surfers Paradise International Raceway was a motor racing complex atGold Coast,Queensland, Australia. The 3.219 km (2.000 mi) long circuit was designed and built byKeith Williams, a motor racing enthusiast who also designed and built theAdelaide International Raceway (AIR) inSouth Australia in 1972. It was located opposite theSurfers Paradise Ski Gardens atCarrara.[1]
Surfers Paradise Raceway included adragstrip along the main straight (a design later incorporated into the Williams owned Adelaide International Raceway), with a very fast right-hander under theDunlop Bridge leading to a tight corner that turned the track back to a medium-length straight. Then a fast left hander before rushing into a series of rights and lefts that skirted the only hill on the property (commonly known as Repco[2] Hill). A slow right called that opened up brought the track back to the main straight.[3]
The right hand turn under the Dunlop Bridge was widely considered the fastest and most daunting corner in Australian motorsport until the building of the Chase chicane at theMount Panorama Circuit in 1987, with many top drivers includingAllan Moffat,John Harvey andTony Edmonson all having crashed there over the years.
Within the circuit lay an airstrip and quarter-milespeedway similar to the one that used to sit within the lower part of theAmaroo Park circuit inSydney.Drag racing commenced atEaster in 1966, with the June meet, the Winternationals, beginning in 1968. The Winternationals became the largest drag racing meet outside the United States.[4][5]
Keith Williams sold the raceway in 1984, and the circuit closed at the end of 1987 after 21 years of operation, with the final meeting held on the 27th of August.[6] At the end of its life, the outright lap record of 1:04.3 was set in 1986 and was held byJohn Bowe driving theChevrolet poweredVeskanda C1Group A/Group Csports car.[1] The Winternationals moved toWillowbank Raceway in 1988, where the race continues to this day.[7] After years of neglect, it was finally destroyed in 2003. The site has since been redeveloped as Emerald Lakes canal estate.[4][8]
In 1993, after years of neglect, volunteers andpolice helped get the drag racing strip back to a usable state for "Operation: Drag" to stop hoon drag racing on streets. This involved the Blue Light foundation who helped run the event which was a $10 entry to drag race against someone else in a safe environment instead of on public roads.
WithLakeside well established as a Queensland's round of theTasman Series it was not until1968 that the series visited Surfers Paradise. As typified the 1968 seriesJim Clark (LotusFord) andChris Amon (Ferrari) filled the top two positions with Clark's teammateGraham Hill completing the podium. Formula 5000 Tasman Series rounds were also held at the circuit each year from 1970 to 1975.[9]
TheAustralian Grand Prix visited just once, in1975. In torrential rainMax Stewart took hisLola T400Formula 5000 to victory fromJohn Leffler, who was second on a day when the F5000's were badly out-handled byRay Winter driving hisAF2Mildren Mono Ford.
| Year | Winner | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Max Stewart | LolaT400Chevrolet | Max Stewart Motors |
With the demise of the Tasman Series after 1976, the void was filled with the Rothmans International Series from 1976 to 1979. The first race scheduled for Surfers Paradise on 29 February1976 was cancelled.
| Year | Winner | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Race Cancelled | Race Cancelled | Race Cancelled |
| 1977 | Warwick Brown | LolaT430Chevrolet | Racing Team VDS |
| 1978 | Warwick Brown | LolaT332Chevrolet | Racing Team VDS |
| 1979 |  David Kennedy | Wolf WR4Ford Cosworth | Theodore Racing |
The circuit hosted rounds of theAustralian Touring Car Championship in 1969, 1971–72, 1974–77 and from 1979 until the circuits closure in 1987.
* The 1976 and 1977 ATCC rounds at Surfers were the Rothmans 300 endurance races
Numerous endurance races were staged at the circuit, most notably the Rothmans 12 Hour events.
Rounds of various Australian motor racing championship were held at the circuit. Winners of the Surfers Paradise round of a selection of these championships is shown below.
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Frank Matich | Matich SR4Repco | Rothmans Team Matich |
| 1972 | John Harvey | McLaren M6BRepco | Bob Jane Racing |
| 1982 | Chris Clearihan | KaditchaChevrolet | Chris Clearihan |
| 1983 | Chris Clearihan | KaditchaChevrolet | Chris Clearihan |
| 1984 | Bap Romano | Romano WE84Cosworth | Bap Romano Racing |
| 1985 | Chris Clearihan | KaditchaChevrolet | Chris Clearihan |
| 1986 | John Bowe | Veskanda C1Chevrolet | Bernard van Elsen |
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 |  Allan Moffat | Chevrolet Monza | Allan Moffat Racing |
| 1977 | Bob Jane | Holden HQ MonaroChevrolet | Bob Jane 2UW Racing Team |
| 1978 | Allan Grice | Chevrolet Corvair | Craven Mild Racing |
| 1979 | Phil Ward | Holden HQ MonaroChevrolet | Channel 10 - NSW Building Society |
| 1980 | Tony Edmondson | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTVRepco Holden | Donald Elliott |
| Year | Driver | Car | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Alan Jones | Porsche 935/80 | Porsche Cars Australia |
| 1983 | Rusty French | Porsche 935/80 | John Sands Racing |
| 1984 | Allan Grice | Chevrolet Monza | Re-Car Racing |
| 1985 | Bryan Thomson | Chevrolet Monza | Thomson-Fowler Motorsport |
| Class | Driver | Vehicle | Time | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International Circuit: 3.219 km (1966–1987) | ||||
| Group ASports Car (Over 3 litres) Group CSports Car | John Bowe | Veskanda C1Chevrolet | 1:04.3 | 24 August 1986 |
| Formula One | David Kennedy | Wolf WR4Ford-Cosworth | 1:04.7 | 18 February 1979 |
| Group ASports Car (1.6 to 3 litres) | Bap Romano | Romano WE84Cosworth | 1:05.8 | 13 May 1984 |
| Australian GT | Allan Grice | Chevrolet Monza | 1:09.8 | 26 August 1984 |
| Group ASports Car (Up to 1.6 litres) | Andrew Roberts | Roberts S2Ford | 1:13.4 | 13 May 1984 |
| Group CTouring Car (3001–6000cc) | Allan MoffatPeter Brock | MazdaRX-7 HoldenVHCommodoreSS | 1:15.0 | 15 May 1983 |
| Group ATouring Car (Under 2500cc) |  Jim Richards | BMW M3 | 1:15.5 | 31 May 1987 |
| Group CTouring Car (Up to 3000cc) | George Fury | Nissan Bluebird Turbo | 1:16.1 | 15 May 1983 |
| Group ATouring Car (Over 2500cc) | George Fury | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 1:16.4 | 31 May 1987 |
