Open-wheel ace Scott Goodyear might not have raced on the streets of Surfers
Paradise since 1994, but he has not lost his love of Queensland’s Gold Coast or
the state’s number one event.
The future of the Gold Coast Indy 300 has
been secured for at least another six years with a deal being reached with the
Indy Racing League’s new-look IndyCar Series and V8 Supercars Australia today.
Now regarded as one of the world’s iconic motorsport events, the Gold Coast Indy
300 is now secure until and including 2013 with major plans already underway for
a massive 20th anniversary celebration in 2010.
This year’s event will
be held from October 23-26 and will include talented young Australian drivers
Will Power and Ryan Briscoe.
Goodyear, EPSN’s IndyCar Series driver
analyst in the US, is a former driver in both CART and IndyCar Series events,
and was full of praise for the Australian event in a column which was published
on www.indycar.com, the official site of the IndyCar Series.
“If Surfers
Paradise is added to the schedule for 2008, I know this race will quickly become
a favourite for all,” said Goodyear.
“For my first event there, my wife
Leslie and I went down early so we could spend a week enjoying the beach and the
outback.
“For me, the highlight of the season would be returning to
Surfers Paradise. Even though I had a couple of adventures there, this is a very
cool track and a great event.
“Sure it's a long haul to get over there,
but as the final event of the season everyone will want to take some time to
hang out and enjoy one of the prettiest places on Earth.
“Stay and
experience the ocean and the beaches. Leslie and I even went horse back riding
in the outback. I have an eventful story of that experience that I will share
with you closer to the event.”
Goodyear drove four times in the Gold
Coast race from the inaugural event in 1991 through to 1994, posting three
top-10 finishes.
The talented Canadian is probably best remembered for
his “closest ever finish” result at the Indianapolis 500 in 1992 when he
finished just 0.043 behind Al Unser Junior after starting last on the grid.
After driving his last CART race at Laguna Seca in 1996 he moved to the
IndyCar Series where he had 39 starts for one pole and three wins and a
second-place finish in the 2000 title chase. He retired from racing after a
crash in 2001 at the Indy 500.
“The IndyCar Series of the future will
bring all the best open-wheel drivers together in the same series, on the same
tracks, driving the same cars, making it easy for fans to understand what they
are watching,” said Goodyear.
“We know we will bring all the die-hard
fans together, either at the racetrack or in front of the television sets. For
the casual fan, now there is no confusion about what series they are watching.
”Thankfully, it's the beginning of the revival of open-wheel racing. Now
let's go have some fun.”
Indy Racing League founder and CEO, Tony
George, welcomed the inclusion of the Queensland event with open arms.
“The Gold Coast Indy 300 has become one of the world’s truly great
motorsport events and we are delighted that it will be part of the IndyCar
Series schedule,” said George.
“I know so many of our teams and drivers,
who have been to the event previously hold it in high regard and we are
delighted that it will be one of the highlights of the IndyCar season.”
About Gold Coast Indy 300
The annual Gold Coast
Indy 300 is a partnership between the Queensland Government and IMG. The Gold
Coast Indy 300 will be held from October 23 to 26 in 2008.
IMG is the
world's premier Sports, Entertainment and Media Company. IMG is a diversified
global business with two major business segments: IMG Sports &
Entertainment, and IMG Media. IMG employs over 2,300 people in 30 countries.
Forstmann Little & Co. purchased IMG in 2004.
IMG Sports &
Entertainment includes: consulting services; event ownership and management;
fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; client
representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, European football, rugby, cricket,
motorsports, coaching, Olympic sports and action sports. In addition, IMG
Academies are the world's largest and most advanced, state-of-the-art,
multi-sport training and educational facility, delivering world-class sports
training experiences to over 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult and professional
athletes each year.
IMG Media, which includes our content production
subsidiaries TWI, Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) and Tiger Aspect Productions
(TAP), is recognized as a global leader in the delivery of traditional and new
media content and services, with Internet, broadband and mobile expertise,
transforming how audiences access and interact with content.
IMG Media
produces and distributes over 10,000 hours of sports, documentary, drama,
comedy, entertainment, popular factual and children’s content annually, over
multiple platforms across 200 countries, including award-winning television and
radio programming. It also represents the broadcast rights to many of the
world’s premier sporting events and has the world’s biggest sports archive with
more than 200,000 hours of footage.
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