MOTORSPORT: Queensland entertains IndyCar return

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The Queensland government has shown its willingness to aid the reinvigoration of the annual Gold Coast street race carnival.

It wants the American open-wheeler IndyCars back, but it can't have them before 2020 – coincidentally an election year in Queensland.

And the event probably would need to be brought forward from October to February, which could create scheduling issues with the Adelaide 500, the traditional opening round of the Supercars Championship.

IndyCar likes its season to end in September to avoid clashing with major American sports, especially the NFL.

Next year the Gold Coast event will have one 500-kilometre race on the Sunday, rather than the two 300km races on the Saturday and Sunday of recent years – opening the way for another major category to race on the Saturday.

But the IndyCars won't be available so soon, if a deal can be struck at all for them to return to Surfers Paradise.

However, if a Gold Coast Indy revival happens in 2020 it will be an opportunity to leverage the success of Toowoomba's Will Power – Australia's first winner of the Indianapolis 500 this year, and the 2014 IndyCar champion – and Brisbane-born New Zealander Scott Dixon, now a five-time IndyCar series champion and also an Indianapolis 500 victor.

Supercars chief executive Sean Seamer let it be known during last month's Gold Coast 600 that he had had preliminary talks with American stock car series NASCAR about joining the program for the event in future.

Former Supercars supremo, Gold Coast-based Tony Cochrane, gave the GC600 a fierce touch-up in his weekly column in the Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper on the weekend of last month's event – before the wash-out of Sunday's main race.

"This event needs a serious review and new thinking. Big time!" Cochrane said.

"The GC600 needs to find something 'special' … [it's] now just another street race, albeit in a unique and spectacular setting."

"The contract for the event with the state government [for funding] and specifically TEQ [Tourism and Events Queensland] is coming up for renewal.

"Do we consider finding a new location and expand the event into an international one with maybe an international motorsport partner? I strongly believe that is a debate worth having."

There's been no more talk of a different location on the Gold Coast, and – with the infamous iMETT fairytale about which we wrote years ago having not eventuated – is there an immediate alternative, other than an extension of the existing, shortened street circuit? That cannot even be stretched back to the old layout because of the light-rail line having encroached on it.

In terms of an 'international motorsport partner', Cochrane said there were "really only two choices" – IndyCar or NASCAR.

"Both bring challenges to the track design and costings. Both would involve serious international airfreight, and both will require payment in US dollars.

"Either category would give the event real international appeal and crebility."

What Seamer and Cochrane didn't seem to appreciate was that, because of the packed Monster Cup series schedule in NASCAR with 36 races between February and November, the Gold Coast could only potentially get cars from the second-tier Xfinity series with little-known drivers. And, although the late Bob Jane's stock car troupe performed on the Gold Coast in the early days of 'Indy', NASCAR doesn't do street races – it is overwhelmingly an oval-track sport with occasional road races.

So that leaves IndyCar as the only realistic option for trying to rev-up the Gold Coast event to something like its former glory between 1991 and 2008.

And that's an option that is music to Queensland's Labor premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

"I used to go to Indy, I can remember the tens of thousands of people that would go to Indy, it brought a lot of investment into the city and a huge entourage of fans from South-east Asia and North America," Palaszczuk told the Gold Coast Bulletin this week.

"It's early days, but it would be wonderful if we can get this signature event back in Australia."

Palaszczuk said she had invited IndyCar chief executive Mark Miles to come to Queensland for talks.

"I am opening discussions about the prospect of relaunching an Indy on the Gold Coast in 2020," she said.

Miles told America's Racer.com that IndyCar was looking for opportunities to race outside North America – something it hasn't done since 2012 (in Brazil) – and that the Gold Coast remained on its wish-list.

"IndyCar has a great history in Queensland and it is still thought of as a spectacular race venue by our competitors all these years later," Miles said.

"We are looking for one or two races outside North America, and we are looking forward to exploring the feasibility of returning to Surfers Paradise as we develop calendars for 2020 and beyond."

Long-time – but retired – Channel Seven commentator Mike Raymond, well versed in American racing, brought his unique perspective to the situation on Facebook midweek.

"I was delighted by the news that the Queensland government wants IndyCar to return to the Gold Coast as early as 2020 and Mark Miles is receptive to the idea," Raymond said.

"The recent nonsense about NASCAR considering an approach from the Gold Coast about the inclusion of a demonstration or non-points event is just that.

"Leave the Cup cars in North America where they excel on the ovals and have few peers.

"A Gold Coast concrete-biting demo derby is not where NASCAR needs to be.

"IndyCar though would breathe new life into the weekend and give everyone an alternative to the Lewis Hamilton F1 show.

"All it needs now is for New Zealand to come up with an IndyCar event a week after Surfers and the cost to both promoters would be reduced significantly."

And, furthermore, NASCAR has said this week it has "no plans to run a national series race in Australia".

Move to get Lakeside back on track

A sign of hope has emerged in the impasse which has seen racing suspended at Queensland's famous permanent circuit, Lakeside in Brisbane's north.

Lakeside operator John Tetley is fighting three fines totalling almost $30,000 for exceeding the noise level allowed for his grassroots-level racing at the venue now hemmed in by housing.

He says there has been a general consensus on reclassifying Lakeside as an "outdoor entertainment venue" rather than a sports ground, which would increase the noise limit from 70 to 75 decibels, but that "it has never actually happened".

Moreton Bay Regional Council mayor Allan Sutherland has now said he will meet state members of parliament this month in an effort to resolve the situation.

Sutherland says he is "endeavouring to develop a solution which does not unduly impede the raceway's operations or impact residents who have expressed concern about the noise levels".

Loeb back in Dakar – more WRC too?

Sebastien Loeb, who won his 79th world championship rally last weekend despite not having been a full-time competitor in the WRC for six years, thought his chances of adding a victory in the Dakar Rally were gone after his retirement from that cross-country event last January.

Peugeot has ended its factory participation in the Dakar and lost three of its other stars – Stephane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz and Cyril Depress – to BMW's X-Raid MINI squad, but Loeb will return to the two-week torture test next January with an updated 2017 Peugeot 30008DKR run by independent French team PH Sport. The 2019 event will be run entirely within Peru in South America.

After three attempts in factory entries, Loeb will be vying to become the first privateer to win the Dakar since Jean-Louis Schlesser in 2000, when the event was still primarily in Africa.

"We're probably lacking some preparation compared to the others [MINI and Toyota], but I'm still hungry for the win," Loeb said.

His best Dakar finish was second in 2017, five minutes behind Peterhansel.

"I couldn't go with the 3008DKR Maxi from this year due to the latest regulations, so we go with the 2.2-metre wide car from the year before, maybe with a few small evolutions on the engine similar to this year," Loeb said.

Peugeot has also withdrawn from the World Rallycross Championship, but Loeb is still under contract to PSA Group, parent of Peugeot and Citroen.

Citroen is keen for him to do several WRC rounds next year after his success with its C3 in Spain last weekend, while M-Sport would happily field him in a Ford Fiesta.

Meanwhile, six Australian Rally Championship drivers are cross-entered for this season's WRC finale at Coffs Harbour starting next Thursday.

They are series leader Eli Evans (Skoda Fabia R5), Harry Bates (Toyota Yaris), Steve Glenney (Skoda Fabia R5 for the first time), Lewis Bates (Toyota Corolla), Wayne Morton (Toyota Corolla) and Tony Sullens (Citroen DSR R3).