Gold Coast 500: Inaugural Boost Mobile Pro Drift Slam set to shake-up, fill void left by Super Trucks

It’s hoped a shiny new drifting event can emulate the success of a previous crowd favourite and show the nation how the sport has evolved as the Gold Coast 500 aims to regain its “point of difference”. Details.

The cars that will compete at the new Boost Mobile Pro Drift event at the 2024 Gold Coast 500. Picture: Kass Brumley/EDGE Photographics.

It’s hoped a shiny new drifting event can emulate the success of the Super Trucks as the Gold Coast 500 aims to regain its “point of difference”.

The Boost Mobile Pro Drift Slam will feature eight of Australia’s top drifters, including Mitch Pullen and Rob Whyte.

Whyte will be one of the event’s headline drivers given his status as a two-time Australian drifting champion, and has also played a major role in the establishment of the inaugural Pro Drift Slam.

“When Supercars approached me to bring a drifting concept to the Gold Coast 500 I was super excited … It’s almost surreal what we’re bringing to the Gold Coast 500 this year,” Whyte said, adding that this event will be something rarely seen on Australian shores.

“I’ve raced various motorsports before but drift racing is just on another level. It’s one of the fastest growing motorsports in the world, in Europe and America it’s a big deal, so it’s great to bring that excitement to Australian shores and show them what professional drift racing is in 2024.

“We’ve seen it before with lower power cars, but the cars that are coming to this show are all high-end, high power cars that will produce a lot of smoke and a lot of noise, and really great precision driving.”

Rob Whyte speaking ahead of the new Boost Mobile Pro Drift event at the 2024 Gold Coast 500. Picture: Kass Brumley/EDGE Photographics.

It is hoped that the drifting can emulate the success of the Super Trucks event, which hasn’t featured on the Gold Coast since 2019.

“I was a part of the stadium trucks years ago when they came to the Gold Coast, they were a crowd favourite,” Whyte said.

“I think that’s what this is going to be this year, people are going to see the Boost Mobile drift sessions and be like ‘wow, that’s something I’ve never seen before in real life’ … it’s a good variation.”

“There’s a lot of racing that goes on at the Gold Coast 500 every year but there’s not something that will have a big point of difference and I think that will have the big point of difference that everyone wants to see.”

The event will also be broadcast with a focus on educating the general public of the technical side of drifting, while also highlighting to young people who may drift illegally that there’s a professional route they can follow instead.

The cars that will compete at the new Boost Mobile Pro Drift event at the 2024 Gold Coast 500. Picture: Kass Brumley/EDGE Photographics.

“What we’re hoping to do on the broadcast is educate people that there’s a lot more than a car just going sideways,” Whyte said.

“You’ve got to be within a metre of clipping zones and things like that, once people learn about the technical side and how hard it is to do there’ll be a new appreciation for the sport.

“We’re hoping to show that there’s a professional component to it so we can inspire the younger generation to get out to the track and to aspire to events like this.”

GC500 Supercars event manager Matthew Ramsden described the Pro Drift Slam as a “feature event” that will return the “massive entertainment piece” the GC500 has been lacking.

Matthew Ramsden speaking ahead of the new Boost Mobile Pro Drift event at the 2024 Gold Coast 500. Picture: Kass Brumley/EDGE Photographics.

“We’ll be doing some really spectacular entertainment around the final turn of the hill, its going to be big DJs, pyrotechnics, atmospheres, the works, and eight of Australia’s best drift drivers going up against each other,” Ramsden said, adding that he hopes this inaugural event will be beginning of a long-running GC500 tradition.

“That’s certainly the plan, we’re looking to build that entertainment product back into the Gold Coast 500 and this is one of the first things we’re doing to look at bringing that back,” he said.

“We’re always looking to innovate and really broaden the entertainment product that we can offer our patrons,” Ramsden said.

“We’re always known as the party round of the Supercars series, we’re looking to bring back that party, that’s certainly something we’re very excited to do.”