CRASHING THE PARTY
There have been plenty of thrills and spills since the first Indy Carnival in 1991 but the spectacular nine-car demolition derby of 2002 was unforgettable
NEXT week’s GC600 Superfest marks 25 years since the first Indy Carnival was held on the streets of Surfers Paradise. There have been plenty of thrills and spills on the famous Glitter Strip circuit across a quarter of a century, with plenty of rubber burned and cars destroyed.
Who could forget the famous 2002 crash in which multiple Indy open-wheelers disintegrated in midair as they hit the barriers at around 200km/h?
Bulletin photographer Wayne Jones captured a famous “Hell on Wheels” image of nine cars disintegrating on the main straight during torrential rain.
Drivers Tora Takagi and Adrian Fernandez were taken to hospital, with the latter remaining in medical care for more than four months.
But many people do not realise how close the famous race came to not being held at all in 1991.
Securing a stage of the Indy 500 series for the Gold Coast was proposed by the Ahern government in the late 1990s during the final days of the National Party’s threedecade rule in Queensland.
Premier Mike Ahern and local MPs Rob Borbidge and Judy Gamin were supportive of the project and tried to use it as a means of shoring up support on the Coast following devastating government corruption revelations of the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
The Nationals, led to the December 1989 election by Russell Cooper, lost power to Wayne Goss’ s Labor Party which was initially non- committal on whether the event would go ahead.
The uncertainty reigned in the early months of 1990s as the Goss government refused to commit to hosting Indy.
In March 1990, it appeared that the carnival would abandon the state in favour of NSW.
But following last-minute negotiations, treasurer Keith De Lacy announced a deal which secured Indy through until 1995, with $1 million locked in for 1991 on a 50 per cent equity basis, and a further $6.5 million to cover the remaining years.
Mr De Lacy and Mr Goss said Cabinet had decided to back the proposal because it was too good to pass up and there would be extraordinary potential for international visitors.
The treasurer admitted there had been doubts at first but the government had ultimately been convinced to go ahead because of the expectation of a 450 million worldwide television audience.
Indy went ahead in March 1991, with the inaugural race won by John Andretti, the nephew of famous Formula One driver Mario, in his Pennzoil z-7 L91 Chevrolet after 65 incident-packed laps in a two-hourplus showdown with 24 other drivers.
Race favourites Al Unser Jr, Mario Andretti and Eddie Cheever had their hopes dashed in a threecar pile-up.
The first Indy, attracting more than 50,000 people, was hailed a “sensational success”.