A1GP snaps up Surfers Paradise date

The Surfers Paradise street race will become a round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport next season.

A1GP has taken over the event on Australia’s Gold Coast from the IRL Indycar Series, which was unable to agree terms with the Queensland state government. The disagreement centred on the IRL’s insistence on moving the event back to its original March slot.

A1GP boss Tony Texeira said: “We wanted to go back to Australia and this is the ideal venue. We’ve been given a perfect opportunity to showcase our series to Australian fans.”

The Surfers event started out as a CART fixture in 1991 and remained a lynchpin of the Champ Car schedule until the death of the series. Former winners include Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell, Michael Andretti and Alex Zanardi.

Surfers was incorporated into the 2008 IRL schedule on its takeover of Champ Car, but the race did not count for points.