 Supercars Street Circuit (2010–present)  Original Street Circuit (1991–2009) | |
| Location | Surfers Paradise, Queensland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 27°59′23″S153°25′40″E / 27.98972°S 153.42778°E /-27.98972; 153.42778 |
| FIA Grade | 2 |
| Broke ground | 1988 |
| Opened | 15 March 1991; 34 years ago (1991-03-15) |
| Major events | Current: Supercars Championship Gold Coast 500 (2010–2019, 2022–present) V8 Supercar Challenge (1994, 1996–2009) Former: S5000 Tasman Series (2022) Australian GT (2012, 2019) Australian F4 (2015–2017) Champ CarGold Coast Indy 300 (1991–2008) |
| Supercars Street Circuit (2010–present) | |
| Length | 2.960 km (1.839 mi) |
| Turns | 15 |
| Race lap record | 1:08.8255 ( Chaz Mostert,Ford Mustang S650,2025,Supercars) |
| Original Street Circuit (1991–2009) | |
| Length | 4.470 km (2.778 mi) |
| Turns | 20 |
| Race lap record | 1:31.093 ( Graham Rahal,Panoz DP01,2007,Champ Car) |
TheSurfers Paradise Street Circuit is a temporarystreet circuit inSurfers Paradise, inQueensland,Australia. The 2.960 km (1.839 mi) beach-side track has several fast sections and twochicanes, having been shortened from an original 4.470 km (2.778 mi) length in 2010. It is the third of three motor racing circuits that have existed in theGold Coast region, after theSouthport Road Circuit (1954–1955) andSurfers Paradise International Raceway (1966–1987).
From 1991 to 2008, the circuit hosted anAmerican Championship car racing event, theGold Coast Indy 300. The circuit has also hosted touring car races since 1994, with theSupercars Championship currently contesting the annualGold Coast 500 at the circuit.[1]
Ron Dickson, the president of D3 Motorsport Development held the rights forCART internationally in the 1980s. Following lobbying from prominent Queensland businessmen, and a brief meeting withState PremierJoh Bjelke-Petersen, the event was confirmed for Queensland, and Surfers Paradise was chosen overBrisbane, the state capital. The original circuit layout was designed by Ron Dickson of D3 Motorsport Development, and was the fourth concept put forward for the Surfers Paradise area. The originally accepted design, see image to the left, had what is now known as the second chicane being the first chicane. The design was modified late in 1990, to include what is now known as the first chicane, due to concerns that the speeds reached towards the southern and northern parts of the circuit were too high for the amount of run off provided. Preliminary work was carried out in 1988, and the circuit was opened on 15 March 1991 for the1991 Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix.
The construction of the circuit has been acclaimed internationally[citation needed] and is used as a benchmark for new temporary street circuits world-wide.[citation needed] Over a full 12-month period plans are laid and then implemented to transform a bustling residential, commercial and holiday destination into a temporary street circuit capable of facilitating high-speed motor races and hundreds of thousands of people. The circuit construction since 2009 has been project managed by local Gold Coast firm iEDM who specialise in motorsport venue engineering and delivery.[2]
In constructing the original circuit, over a two-month construction period, seven bridges were erected, along with 2,515 concrete barriers, 11,500 grandstand seats, more than 140 corporate suites, 10 km (6.2 mi) of debris fencing and 16 km (9.9 mi) of security fencing, as well as many more temporary structures being fitted, and large-scale power and telecommunications systems being activated.
The circuit is also an international leader in motor racing safety standards applauded by theConfederation of Australian Motorsport and theFIA (the international governing body of motorsport). One of the major advancements over the later years of the Champ Car era was the installation of double height debris fencing, including an additional 610 panels in high impact areas in 2005.
Since 2010, theSupercars Championship has run a notably shorter layout of the circuit. At the Turn 2 chicane, the circuit enters a hairpin to the left and rejoins the original track at the Esses. The then-CEO of V8 Supercars,Tony Cochrane, suggested this layout after theA1 Grand Prix cars dropped out of the 2009 event.[3] This was an effort to reduce the cost of running the event without an international drawcard series. This was achieved by reducing the construction time, amount of materials needed and also limits the impact on local residents and tourists. It is no longer possible to use the full circuit with theG:link light rail line having been built over it.[4]
An annual event had been held here beginning with the opening round of the1991 IndyCar season. Following the merger of theIndy Racing League andChamp Car World Series in February2008, the future of race had originally been secured until 2013 as an IRLIndyCar Series event, however the race was dropped from the calendar after the first demonstration race, and theA1 Grand Prix was signed up as a replacement, severing its eighteen-year history with American open wheel racing.[5]
On 11 November 2008 after extensive negotiations with the IRL broke down, theQueensland Government reached a new five-year deal withA1 Grand Prix to stage a race at Surfers Paradise. The firstA1GP race was supposed to take place on 25 October 2009.[6] To accommodate the new link with the A1GP series and subsequent removal of the Indy name (which is a registered trademark of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway), the entire four-day event was called the Nikon SuperGP.[7][8] However, on 17 October 2009, A1GP Chairman Tony Teixeira announced that the UK operating arm of the series went into liquidation in June. Access to the A1GP cars and the ability to pay its suppliers had been impeded. That caused the cars to be impounded the UK.[9] A1 Grand Prix subsequently failed to arrive and were removed from the program, replaced with additionalV8 Supercar races.[10]
Since2002, the Surfers Paradise race has counted for points in the V8 Supercars championship, now known as Supercars. V8 Supercars and the precedingGroup 3A touring car category had previously appeared as a support category in 1994 and from 1996 onwards.
From 2003 to 2007, the touring cars officially shared top billing with the Champcar World Series, and then with the Indy Racing League in 2008. The 2009 race was amended after the demise of A1GP, moving to a 600-kilometre (370 mi) format of four 150-kilometre (93 mi) races, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. From that year on, Supercars are the major category at the event. For 2010 the format was changed to consist of a single 300-kilometre (190 mi) race on each day, with two drivers per car.
In2011Sébastien Bourdais became the first and only driver to win at Surfers Paradise in both a Champ Car (in 2005 and 2007) and a V8 Supercar (in 2011, and then again in 2012).
As of October 2025, the official race lap records at Surfers Paradise Street Circuit are listed as:[11]
