Surfers Paradise International Raceway

Surfers Paradise International Raceway
Location Surfers Paradise, Queensland
Time zone UTC +10
Opened 1966
Closed 1987
Major events Tasman Series
ATCC
Australian Grand Prix
Length 3.219 km (2.000 mi)
Turns 7
Lap record 1:04.3 (John Bowe, Veskanda-Chevrolet, 1986)

Surfers Paradise International Raceway was a motor racing complex at Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The circuit was designed and built by Keith Williams, a motor racing enthusiast. It was located opposite the Surfers Paradise Ski Gardens at Carrara.[1] The complex included a drag strip along the main straight, with a very fast right-hander under a Dunlop Bridge leading to a tight corner that turned the track back to a medium-length straight. Then a fast-ish left hander before rushing into a series of rights and lefts that skirted the only hill on the property. A slow right that opened up brought the track back to the main straight. Within the circuit lay an airstrip and quarter-mile dirt speedway similar to the one that used to sit within the lower part of the Amaroo Park circuit. Drag racing commenced at Easter in 1966.[2] Keith Williams sold the raceway in 1984.[1] After years of neglect it was finally destroyed in 2003. The site has since been redeveloped as Emerald Lakes canal estate.[2][3]

Contents

Major races

Tasman Series

With Lakeside well established as a Queensland's round of the Tasman Series it was not until 1968 that the series visited Surfers Paradise. As typified the 1968 series Jim Clark (Lotus 49T) and Chris Amon (Ferrari 246) filled the top two positions with Clark's team mate Graham Hill completing the podium. Formula 5000 Tasman Series rounds were also held at the circuit each year from 1970 to 1975.[4]

Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix visited just once, in 1975. In torrential rain Max Stewart took his Lola T400 Formula 5000 to victory from John Leffler, who was second on a day when the F5000's were badly out-handled by Ray Winter driving his AF2 Mildren AMF1 Ford.

Australian Touring Car Championship

The circuit hosted rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1969 to 1987.

Endurance races

Numerous endurance races were staged at the circuit, most notably the Rothmans 12 Hour events.

Event Winning Drivers Winning Car Date Category
1966 Rothmans 12 Hour International Sports Car Race Jackie Stewart, Andrew Buchanan Ferrari 250LM 21 August 1966 Group A Sports Cars
1967 Surfers Paradise Four Hour Kevin Bartlett, Doug Chivas Alfa Romeo Giulia Super 9 April 1967 Production cars
1967 Rothmans 12 Hour Bill Brown, Greg Cusack Ferrari 250LM 3 September 1967 Group A Sports Cars
1968 Surfers Paradise 4 Hour John French Alfa Romeo GTV 9 June 1968 Production cars
1968 Surfers Paradise 6 Hour Leo Geoghegan, Ian Geoghegan Ferrari 250LM 1 August 1968 Group A Sports Cars
1969 Rothmans 12 Hour Classic Bill Gates, John Bertram Ford XT Falcon GT 5 January 1969 Production cars
1969 Chevron Paradise 6 Hour Kunimitsu Takahashi, Yoshikayo Sunago Datsun R380 Mk. 2 2 November 1969 Group A Sports Cars
1970 Rothmans 12 Hour Colin Bond, Tony Roberts Holden HT Monaro GTS 350 4 January 1970 Production cars
1970 Rothmans 250 Production Classic Allan Moffat Ford XW Falcon GT-HO Phase II 1 November 1970 Production cars
1971 Rothmans 250 Allan Moffat Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III 7 November 1971 Group E Series Production Touring Cars
1972 Chesterfield 300 Allan Moffat Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III 26 November 1972 Group E Series Production Touring Cars
1973 Chesterfield 300 Peter Brock Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 12 November 1973 Group C Touring Cars
1974 Chesterfield 300 Colin Bond Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 10 November 1974 Group C Touring Cars
1975 Rothmans 300 Allan Moffat Ford XB Falcon GT 9 November 1975 Group C Touring Cars
1976 Rothmans 300 Peter Brock Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 7 November 1976 Group C Touring Cars
1977 Rothmans 300 Allan Moffat Ford XC Falcon 500GS 6 November 1977 Group C Touring Cars
1978 Rothmans 300 Peter Brock Holden LX Torana SS A9X 5 November 1978 Group C Touring Cars
1979 Rothmans 300 Charlie O'Brien Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X 4 November 1979 Group C Touring Cars
1980 Compact Tennis 400 Charlie O'Brien Holden VC Commodore 2 November 1980 Group C Touring Cars
1981 Surfers Paradise International Resort 300 Allan Moffat Mazda RX-7 1 November 1981 Group C Touring Cars
1982 Gold Coast 300 Allan Moffat Mazda RX-7 7 November 1982 Group C Touring Cars
1983 Gold Coast 300 Allan Grice Holden VH Commodore 30 October 1983 Group C Touring Cars
1984 Motorcraft 300 Peter Brock Holden VK Commodore 4 November 1984 Group C Touring Cars
1985 Motorcraft 300 Jim Richards BMW 635CSi 27 October 1985 "Group A" Touring Cars
1986 BP Plus 300 George Fury, Glenn Seton Nissan R30 Skyline RS 24 August 1986 "Group A" Touring Cars

References