Tasman Series paving return
AMBITIOUS S5000 powerbrokers have declared their intentions to revive the defunct Tasman Series that once brought Formula One stars Down Under and have identified the Gold Coast as a key part of the concept.
The new open-wheeler series on Monday unveiled a sixround 2019 championship, with Matt Braid of the Australian Racing Group – under which banner S5000 falls – talking up the prospect of adding a glitzy exhibition race at the GC600.
The category’s launch has been met with a wave of scepticism from high-profile motorsport figures, given that only one car has been built and no drivers have been locked in.
However, Braid is pushing on with promoting S5000, which he said would feature some of the world’s most powerful cars, and believes they could create a summer calendar that would attract star drivers, as the old Tasman Series did from 1964 to 1975.
It was particularly in vogue in the 1960s, with Formula One world champions including Sir Jack Brabham, Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Sir Jackie Stewart taking the opportunity to stay behind the wheel during their off-season at a mix of Australian and New Zealand circuits.
“We’re looking to revive a Tasman-style series and that’s where I think the Gold Coast could very much play into that,” Braid said.
“It’s the back end of the year; by combining a couple of rounds in Australia plus some rounds in New Zealand, you create a Tasman Series.
“If you go back … the Tasman Series was literally attracting Formula One drivers.
“I’m not going to say that we’re going to do that but the Tasman Series was such a high-profile series of its time, we believe that it would almost be a natural thing that at that stage of the year you could see some very high-profile drivers go, ‘yeah I’m going to come down and race in it’.
“That would be our ultimate aim and I think it is certainly achievable.”
The GC600 is held annually in late October, with Supercars the main act – S5000 hope to join the Surfers Paradise grid as a support category as soon as next year.
One factor going against a relaunch of the Tasman Series is that motorsport calendars including F1 and Supercars span a longer part of the year than they did in the ‘60s but if it could be achieved, would undoubtedly draw international interest to events such as the Gold Coast.