Negotiations to get the Indy 300 race on Australia's Gold Coast back onto the United States-based Indy Racing League calendar have broken down after local backers and series organizers failed to agree on the timing of the event.
The Indy 300, which has been held at Surfers Paradise since 1991 and in its October time slot since 1998, is expected to be replaced by a round of the A1 Grand Prix on the same street circuit.
Queensland state Sports Minister Judy Spence said her government, which had financially backed the Gold Coast Indy, opposed moves by the IRL to move the event to March.
"They have an expanded series of events and our Indy clashes with the early part of the American football season," Spence said. "Moving our race to March as they had requested was not an option."
Australia hosts the season-opening Formula One Grand Prix at Melbourne and a major round of the domestic V8 Supercars series at Adelaide in March.
"In addition, a March race would have involved track construction right in the middle of January school holidays and we would not tolerate Gold Coast residents being inconvenienced in that way," Spence said.
The Gold Coast is one of Australia's most popular tourist and holiday destinations and is usually at peak capacity in the local summer months from late December until the end of January.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said her government had reached an in-principle agreement with the A1GP for the next five years and is expected to make a formal announcement next week.
"The A1GP is a world-class racing series with an action packed race calendar that includes Great Britain, China, Mexico, Portugal, Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia, South Africa and the Netherlands," Bligh said.
The future of the Surfers Paradise race had been in doubt since the unification of the IRL and its fellow-US open-wheel circuit, Champ Car, in February and had not been on the original schedule for the 2009 season.
It was declared a non-points race this year because the IRL season was already scheduled to finish in Chicago in the first week of September, meaning the popular Gold Coast event from the rival Champ Car circuit was almost an exhibition event.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily Novemver 12, 2008)