Lexmark Indy 300

The Lexmark Indy 300 is a Champ Car event that takes place each year on a street circuit at Surfers Paradise in the Gold Coast region of Queensland, Australia. The challenging 4.47 kilometre track has several fast sections and four chicanes.

It has been an annual event since 1991. Each of the sixteen events has been won by a different driver with no repeats. This significant statistic has been reported in the media before each event, and previous winners aspire to be the first to win it twice.

In the 2002 event there was a frightening incident when a 9 car pile-up occurred at the start in very wet conditions - however no significant injuries were sustained.

The weekend events include a number of Australian racing categories in support of the international Champ Car race. This has often included V8 Supercars. Since 2002, the Gold Coast race has counted for points in the V8 Supercar championship and they have claimed a better billing with the Champ Cars.

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Lexmark Indy 300 2006

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It's not all about the cars!

Lexmark Indy 300 2006

Lexmark Indy 300 2006

Previous winners

Champ Car race

Season	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine
1991	USA -- John Andretti	Lola	Chevrolet-Ilmor
1992	BRA -- Emerson Fittipaldi	Penske	Chevrolet-Ilmor
1993	UK -- Nigel Mansell	Lola	Ford-Cosworth
1994	USA -- Michael Andretti	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth
1995	CAN -- Paul Tracy	Lola	Ford-Cosworth
1996	USA -- Jimmy Vasser	Reynard	Honda
1997	USA -- Scott Pruett	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth
1998	ITA -- Alex Zanardi	Reynard	Honda
1999	Scotland -- Dario Franchitti	Reynard	Honda
2000	MEX -- Adrian Fernandez	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth
2001	BRA -- Cristiano da Matta	Lola	Toyota
2002	MEX -- Mario Dominguez	Lola	Ford-Cosworth
2003	USA -- Ryan Hunter-Reay	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth
2004	BRA -- Bruno Junqueira	Lola	Ford-Cosworth
2005	FRA -- Sébastien Bourdais	Lola	Ford-Cosworth
2006	FRA -- Nelson Philippe	Lola	Ford-Cosworth

V8 Supercars race

• 2002 - Jason Bargwanna
• 2003 - Russell Ingall
• 2004 - Greg Murphy
• 2005 - Craig Lowndes
• 2006 - Todd Kelly

Circuit Construction

The Lexmark Indy 300 track during construction

The construction of the Gold Coast circuit has been acclaimed internationally and is used as a benchmark for new temporary street circuits world-wide. Over a full 12-month period plans are laid and then implemented to transform a bustling residential, commercial and holiday destination into a temporary street circuit capable of facilitating high-speed motor races and hundreds of thousands of people.

In a two-month period leading up to the event, seven bridges are erected, 2515 concrete barriers installed, 11,500 grandstand seats fastened, more than 140 corporate suites furnished, 10km of debris fencing and 16km of security fencing placed, many more temporary structures fitted, and large-scale power and telecommunications systems activated.

The Lexmark Indy 300 street circuit is also an international leader in motor racing safety standards applauded by CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motorsport) and the FIA (the international governing body of motorsport). One of the major advancements over the past few years has been an increase in double height debris fencing including an additional 610 panels in high impact areas in 2005.

Trivia

• Since the last 4 years, the Lexmark Indy 300 had recieved a forecast of rain during the final racing day.

• There has never been a multiple winner at the Surfers Paradise track.

External link

• Official Event Site