It’s finally time to hit the streets of the Goldie, aka, BFeens stomping ground. This weekend is the Gold Coast 500, one of the more chaotic circuits on the calendar. The circuit is tight and narrow, very different from the open space the team has just had at Bathurst. Here are the track need to knows:
Location: Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland
Circuit length: 2.96km
Lap record: 1:10.0480
Number of races & laps: 2 races, 85 laps per race.
The Gold Coast 500 is notoriously known to bring a little carnage, with no race at the Gold Coast, both championship or non-championship ever having a 100% finish rate. Crazy, considering this will be the first race for the series on this circuit was in 1994. It’s not only carnage that the track brings but also the heat. In the backend of Spring, the hot weather definitely makes itself known. This year the forecast is looking slightly cooler, but if you’re still intending on joining us this weekend, make sure you keep on slip, slop, slap, seek and sliding.
The team is excited and ready to hit the track alongside the drivers to hopefully put on some good racing and a podium (or two if that’s not too much to ask). It could pan out to be a milestone weekend for the team who currently sit on a total of 499 podiums, if we reach the 500 mark this weekend, Triple Eight Race Engineering will be the first to do so in the history of the series.
Broc Feeney – Car #88
“Gold Coast is a pretty awesome event. This race is probably one of the craziest for the year, and I am lucky enough to also have it as my home race. It’s pretty special to be at home and have so much support down here. The weather is amazing, the track is carnage, I can’t wait, I’m really looking forward to it. The beach chicane is certainly a challenging part of the track, as are most of the corners for the circuit. The cars this year are a bit wider, a bit lower, and with a bit less vision so hopefully, we put on a good show.”
Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
“It’ll be good to return to a tighter street circuit, it always makes for interesting racing. The Gold Coast is one of the tougher events on the calendar, plus it is normally a pretty hot race. Heading into the races it’ll be important to try and stay cool to conserve energy as much as possible. The event last year was pretty cool not just for me but also for the team, to secure back-to-back championships for both the driver’s and team’s championships was pretty special. Although we aren’t quite sitting where we were last year, hopefully, we can put on some good racing and score some solid points.”
We have a special guest joining us this week to share his thoughts about the event. Please make a warm welcome to the #1 Mechanic on Car 88, Jordy *enter applause*. While down at the Gold Coast for a promotional event last week, Jordy took on many roles, mechanic, cameraman, news assistant and tour guide. He even got some time in front of the camera himself (check some bts out below). With his ability to adapt to any role, we had a quick chat with him about the upcoming event.
Jordy – #1 Mechanic Car 88
“The weather is always excellent, I can’t wait to be changing side mirrors every session, Broc will be putting it next to the wall but that’s what he’s there for. It’s always good to be racing in and around the cities, the crowd and vibe is always good here for the event.”
