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V8 Supercars boss Tony Cochrane says the adoption of the foreign A1GP series on the Gold Coast will set the race apart from any in Australia.
The Europe-based league, dubbed the World Cup of motor sport, will take to track at the famous Gold Coast motor race next year as a replacement to the IndyCar series.
Cochrane said he was confident fans would appreciate the new V8 and A1GP line-up at the event, known for 18 years as the Gold Coast Indy.
“It does give the Gold Coast (race) a point of difference that perhaps other races in this part of the world don’t have,” he said.
The A1GP, while poorer and less established than IndyCars, boasts a worldwide audience ranging in the millions attributed to its racing format that pits nation against nation.
Cochrane expected the Gold Coast race would attract the same level of interest in 2009 as in previous years, with V8 fans helping to pick up the slack.
“V8 Supercars give the event a sense of solidarity, that’s a known fact,” Cochrane said.
“You only have to come here to see how many fans are wearing V8 Supercar merchandise.”
Former F1 champion Alan Jones, who is the seat holder for the Australian A1GP team, was confident the burgeoning league would attract its own fans.
“We are not an alternative (to Indy), we are the preference,” he said.
Series officials also denied reports of the league’s financial viability, which was called into question several months ago because of the shaky status of a major investor.
Both the A1GP and the V8s are set to feature on the Gold Coast for the next five years.
Cochrane used the opportunity to take another swipe at Indy officials, who he accused of holding Australia to ransom in the protracted and ultimately failed, negotiations.
“They took an awful lot of money from us over those 18 years and the government stuck by them during periods when they were looking pretty sick and poor,” he said.
“Then to just turn around to make ridiculous demands about dates and money and scheduling out of the blue I thought was the height of rudeness.”
He said he was certain Indy would never return to the Gold Coast.
“Quite frankly, goodbye and good luck,” he said.
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