Motorsport: Streets paved with gold

Shane van Gisbergen will co-drive his SP Tools Ford Falcon with John McIntyre. Photo / EDGE Photographics

The Armor All Gold Coast 600, this weekend will light up the streets of Surfers Paradise both on and off the track.

The racing will see 18 international star drivers paired with 29 drivers of the V8 Supercar series taking to the Gold Coast street circuit.

Some of the visiting drivers are the best in the world including former Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneueve, three time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, North America's most successful road course racer and 1997 Gold Coast winner Scott Pruett and Indy 500 winner, Gold Coast winner and reigning IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti and Kiwi Scott Dixon, also an Indy 500 winner and two-time IndyCar champion.

They will be joined by World Touring Car and British Touring Car champions Alain Menu, Yvan Muller and Andy Priaulx and a couple of Le Mans 24 Hour pilots.

Dixon has been paired with Todd While all the regular V8 drivers will know what's what, some of the overseas drivers have never been in a V8 Supercar before.

Dixon's partner Kelly isn't in the hunt for the championship so they'll be able to push as hard as they can and not worry too much.

"It's important as there are points involved so you can't just go down there with an 'I-don't-care' attitude. There's definitely a bit of pressure and I'm definitely looking forward to trying something a bit different.

"There's going to be a bit of carnage to be honest, knowing some of the other guys coming," said Dixon.

This year's Gold Coast 600 sees a revamp for the Queensland event that has been held on the streets of the Gold Coast annually since 1991. This year, the event returns to a three-day format, October 22-24.

Racing for championship points, the weekend will see two 300km races complete with driver, fuel and tyre stops held over the Saturday and Sunday, while the rest of the Gold Coast comes alive with entertainment on and off the track.

The circuit has been revamped this year and the footprint of the circuit has been reduced from the previous 4.49km to 2.96km, freeing up around 40 per cent of the site for residents, businesses and other users.

The redesign also sees the introduction of new corners and passing opportunities that have been formulated with closer and more exciting racing in mind. As mentioned earlier, each of the V8 Supercar teams will field an international co-driver during the Gold Coast event.

Joining the rock stars of the series and their international co-drivers on track will be the Australian Legends racers, V8 Utes, Formula Fords and Minis.

Fourteen of Australia's greatest touring cars and some of their original drivers will provide the same entertainment as they did last year. Some of the cars include Allan Moffat's Coca-Cola Mustang, Dick Johnson's Bathurst-winning Tru-Blue Falcon, an original Tony Longhurst Sierra, Kevin Bartlett's Channel 9 Camaro, Jim Richard's Bathurst-winning Nissan GT-R and Glenn Seton's title-winning Ford Credit Falcon.

Eighty-year old Bathurst winner John French will join former touring car and rally ace Colin Bond, Bathurst winner Bob Morris and James Brock, who will drive one of the Bathurst-winning cars of his late father, Peter.

Race format

Friday: Practice will comprise of four practice sessions (including internationals).

Saturday: Qualifying, Top-10 Shootout and Race 19.

Sunday: Qualifying and Race 20.

The grid will be determined by a 20 minute qualifying session held on Sunday. Every car will be on the track at one time, so finding a clear piece of road to record a fast lap time is vital. After qualifying here is another 300-kilometre race. (Approx 100 laps).

Driver pairings

1. Jamie Whincup/Steve Owen - TeamVodafone; 2. Garth Tander/Cameron McConville - Toll Holden Racing Team; 3. Tony D'Alberto/Tiago Monteiro - Centaur Racing; 4. Alex Davison/David Brabham - Irwin Racing; 5. Mark Winterbottom/Luke Youlden - Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon; 6. Steve Richards/Will Power - Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon; 7. Todd Kelly/Scott Dixon - Jack Daniel's Racing; 8. Jason Richards/Andrew Jones - Team BOC; 9. Shane Van Gisbergen/John McIntyre - SP Tools Racing; 10. Andrew Thompson/Mika Salo - Bundaberg Red Racing; 11. Jason Bargwanna/Alex Tagliani - Rock Racing; 14. Jason Bright/Alain Menu - Trading Post Racing; 15. Rick Kelly/Owen Kelly - Jack Daniel's Racing; 16. Tony Ricciardello/Taz Douglas - Stratco Racing; 17. Steven Johnson/Dario Franchitti - Jim Beam Racing; 18. James Courtney/Warren Luff - Jim Beam Racing; 22. Will Davison/Ryan Briscoe - Toll Holden Racing Team; 24. Fabian Coulthard/David Reynolds - Bundaberg Red Racing; 33. Lee Holdsworth/David Besnard - Fujitsu Racing/GRM; 34. Michael Caruso/Patrick Long - Fujitsu Racing/GRM; 39. Russell Ingall /Paul Morris - Supercheap Auto; 47. Tim Slade/Helio Castroneves - Wilson Security Racing; 51. Greg Murphy/Yvan Muller - Castrol Edge Racing; 55. Paul Dumbrell/Jacques Villeneuve - The Bottle-O Racing Team; 888. Craig Lowndes/Andy Priaulx - TeamVodafone