History feature: Counting down the top 10 moments motorsports moments 25 years after Indy

THE greatest show on wheels is back in town as GC600 hits high gear. Andrew Potts counts down the top 10 moments from Indy to the V8s.

The high-speed, hi-octane action of motorsports has been a Gold Coast favourite for 25 years.

THIS weekend’s action at the Gold Coast 600 marks 25 years since since the inaugural 1991 Indy Grand Prix. Andrew Potts takes a look at the event’s top 10 moments.

10: Into darkness

After three years of success organisers expected the 1994 Indy to go without a hitch.

But unseasonable wet weather hit the Gold Coast in the early hours of the final day, causing havoc and long delays to the race.

The start of the championship round began at 3.30pm, more than two hours later than sechule, but came to an abrupt halt following a five-car pileup.

The race restarted as night fell, restricting to 55 laps.

9: The new date

By 1998 Indy had become a Gold Coast institution each March. That’s right March.

But changes to the race calendar forced its move to October.

The move allowed Indy to move from a three-day event to a week-long party and cars racing for four days.

The fans responsed to the reschedule with a record 245,000 people flooding to the Gold Coast for all the action.

An extra attraction was the use of the Australian Army’s Blackhawk helicopters which hovered over the streets.

8: Hail

The 2003 race was again marred by bad weather, this time a freak hailstorm.

Scores of animals were killed at Currumbin Sanctuary and cars across the city were damaged. The racing continued, however, albeit under yellow flags.

7: Surviving 9/11

The 2001 Indy proved to be a success in the shadow of 9/11.

The horrors of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and the Afghanistan War were fresh in the minds as Indy rolled into town.

A massive security operation was developed by police and the State Government to prevent incident.

Despite this, threats were made.

In the end, the event went ahead without a hitch, with the main race won by Cristiano da Mattta.

6: The final year

After 2008 there were fears Indy would not be returning to the Gold Coast as the hosting deal had expired.

It did come back in 2009, but the chequered flag for Australian Ryan Briscoe would be the event’s last.

Celebrity driver Danica Patrick impressed the crowds and Gold Coaster Jamie Whincup won the V8 leg.

5: Sign of controversy

The 2004 Indy remains one of the most infamous in Gold Coast motorsport history, and most of the controversy came off the track.

Topless women on the balconies overlooking the track were a common site but one group of fans got themselves in hot water.

The crew aboard an Iroquois army helicopter were disciplined after they held a sign from the chopper as it darted through the Surfers skyline encouraging women to take off their tops.

4: Dire fears

For the first time since its 1991 launch, the future of Indy was in doubt.

The Goss Government was under pressure from the Opposition led by Surfers Paradise MP Rob Borbidge for spending $70 million in just five years to host Indy on the Gold Coast.

With funding to expire following the 1995 race and no new agreement in place, it appeared certain Indy was a goner.

A last-minute deal was secured by the Government to keep Indy on the Coast into 1999.

3: The first race

The first Indy Carnival was one of the biggest events in the Gold Coast’s history when it launched in March 1991.

One-day tickets cost $29.50 and a three-day pass $49.50.

John Andretti won in his Pennzoil z-7 L91 Chevrolet after 65 incident-packed laps in a two-hour plus showdown with 24 other drivers.

Race favourites Al Unser Jnr, Marco Andretti and Eddie Cheever had their race hopes dashed after a three-car pile up.

2: A1GP’s no-show

With Indy at an end, the Gold Coast was on the hunt for a replacement and Premier Anna Bligh thought she had found it in the A1GP.

The new event, marketed as SuperGP, was meant to feature open-wheelers but the London-based series folded just weeks before the event was to start.

The no-show forced a drastic rethink of the series which led the V8 Supercars being elevated to the main event and setting up the current version of the event.

1: Hell on Wheels

The crowds came to Indy not just for the racing and atmosphere but for the often explosive crashes as the open-wheelers blew apart in pieces of metal and fibreglass.

The event’s most famous crash, a nine pileup at 200km/h, was captured in an award-winning image by the Bulletin’s Wayne Jones who narrowly avoided death as the cars hit the wall he was standing behind.

Drivers Tora Takagi and Adrian Fernandez were hospitalised, the latter spending four months in hospital.