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SurfaceUnits
10-30-08, 09:46 PM
350km/h Le Mans flyers eye Coast

October 31st, 2008

ANOTHER rival motorsport series to replace IndyCars on the Gold Coast has emerged with news that billionaire race series owner Don Panoz would be willing to race in Surfers Paradise.

Mr Panoz, a pharmaceutical magnate who 10 years ago founded the American Le Mans series, told The Bulletin that while he was not seeking to slot into Surfers should the Indy Racing League decide not to return in 2009, he would be happy to talk to organisers about bringing his sports cars Down Under.

Mr Panoz, who lives on the Gold Coast for almost four months a year, had a five-year deal to stage his race in Adelaide from 2000, but the South Australian Government reneged on the contract after only one event which, as a stand-alone race, attracted 162,000 people.

He said the axing was to do with timing.

ALMS racing in the US attracts a high-income demographic in the 25 to 51-year age bracket and was a 'better spectacle' than IndyCars, said Mr Panoz.

"I am not contacting people to say 'hey, you need our series', but if they arrive at a point where they want to talk to the American Le Mans Series about coming here, sure, we'll talk to them," he said.

pchall
10-31-08, 12:34 PM
They really should try to put together a two event visit to Surfers' and Adelaide with a weekend between the races so everybody can get all toasted and tanned.

Trevor Longman
10-31-08, 11:10 PM
Forget Adelaide, how about Bathurst! :D But seriously though, I doubt this will become a yearly thing, it's more likely a warm up for the australian crowd for a future event in the asian le mans series which is starting up in November next year. I can't see ALMS making this a yearly trip as a lot of their teams are already pretty tight on money. It would be a great track for those cars though. Heck, it's a great track for any car! :)