THE Gold Coast 600 is a great event. There, it needed to be said.

Ever since this year’s race – NASCAR and IndyCar have been wined and dined to entice all the way to Surfers Paradise to return the street race to its former glory.

Even what’s there at the moment has been floated for change – from a pair of 300 kilometre races across Saturday and Sunday, to one sole 500 kilometre endurance race on Sunday.

We’re told this is to make the Enduro Cup easier to understand – rich from a sport who want everyone to understand what is and isn’t a rotating wheel in pitlane, which is currently as clear as mud.

I’m here to defend the Gold Coast 600 for what it is – still one of the world’s most spectacular places to race, still one of the sport’s blockbuster weekends, still a thrilling weekend of Supercars racing, and still an event that attracts close to 200,000 across three days.

And after a decade of holding 300 km races across the weekend – it’s a unique format that works. And I for one want it retained.

Why in this generation of millennials who have short attention spans – you’d want to dish up a sole 170 lap race is beyond me. The multiple races across both days work – to help make Saturday just as big as Sunday.

Under the proposed format Supercars want to implement for 2019 and beyond – this year’s thrilling Saturday race wouldn’t exist – and we’d all be the poorer for that. Especially Chaz Mostert and James Moffat.

So please, can we keep the GC 600 at 600 kilometres – and race them across both days.

Which leads me to an international category.

Tony Cochrane penned a controversial and scathing article on the state of the GC 600 on the Saturday of the event – where he told us how good he was, and pointed out everything we already know.

Of course the event was bigger and broader on an international stage when it had IndyCar in pit lane. It would obviously be really cool if

NASCAR headed down under, but for a raft of reasons that’s unrealistic, and to be honest not going to happen.
Primarily, look at the circuit.

As soon as a council boffin ticked off on tram tracks demolishing the old part of the circuit on the run down Surfers Paradise Boulevard, returning to the old “Indy” circuit was finished forever.

Would the circuit be expanded further north in Main Beach to make a longer track? That in itself triggers enormous cost and cause further angst with locals. But it would be required because, short of building the Great Southern Stand along the beachside chicane, the joint can’t fit too many more in its shortened version.

IndyCar has already left Queensland once – and as much as it’d be fantastic to bring the open wheel series back, the exact problems remain for the Queensland Government.

And that remains money.

The asking appearance fee we’re told remains as extravagant as ever. That’s in addition to the huge expense of bringing the IndyCar field across the globe from the USA. That of course is on top of the yearly cost to erect the circuit. I hope Premier Palaszczuk has deep pockets.

Especially when you look at the current state of the Aussie dollar right now, and the overall fee skyrockets further.

The sheer cost of the exercise just wouldn’t make sense.

And as good as Joey Logano’s Ford Fusion sounded running around the Gold Coast in October, let’s be honest – NASCAR ain’t interested in coming out here. They don’t need it. They’d charge even more than IndyCar. And the prospect of freighting up to 80 race cars would be astronomical.

That’s not to mention the size of the track – which doesn’t suit the monstrous NASCARs one bit. Although it’d be FUN to watch 40 of them barrel down into turn one.

Cochrane’s article was dangerous because it fuels doubt on an event that has had a rocky future throughout its existence. And it fuels uneducated opinions from politicians like John-Paul Langbroek – who said: “If you are not a real Supercars aficionado there is an anonymity about the people in it”. I’m backing Aussie sports fans know Craig Lowndes, Garth Tander and Scott McLaughlin a hell of a lot more than say, Mario Dominguez. No disrespect to the former winner.

And then there’s talk of exhibition races. Or as one veteran suggested, an invitational Australian IndyCar Cup. If it’s not a fully blown championship round, forget about it.

So for those doubting the GC 600, consider this.

It’s still a magnificent bullring on a spectacular stage with the premier touring car series in the world as its headline act. Let’s build on that.
Keep Supercars racing on both days – not Mickey Mouse qualifying races. Smoke the peace pipe with Stadium Super Trucks and CAMS to return those entertainers to the support card. They are quintessential Gold Coast fodder, and the fans absolutely love them. Maybe add Super 2 to a Supercar heavy schedule. Touring Car Masters would also be a treat.

And use the extra cash left over from failed attempts to entice international race cars, to get showstopping international entertainers. Aim for the stars – I’m thinking JT, Tay-Tay or the Foo Fighters to help swell crowd numbers towards a quarter of a million people and beyond. And while I’m at it, put the stage out the back of the back chicane – and have people spill out onto the beach rather than have to trudge down to Southport. Now that would be a sight that could sell Surfers Paradise globally.

In short, the Gold Coast 600 works. It works bloody well. And with a little TLC, it can continue to thrive.

WORDS: TIM HODGES
IMAGES: MARK WALKER

Tim Hodges is the producer of AFL360 on FOX Footy and covers the game for ABC Radio. A long-time motorsport enthusiast, he’s worked in and covered the sport extensively and regularly promotes motorsport to the football audience through Supercar segments on 360.