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Supercars rev up $55 million boost to economy as Gold Coast 500 returns to streets

Fuelled by the crowning of Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth in the Bathurst 1000 at the weekend, the Gold Coast has confirmed Queensland’s biggest motorsports carnival will return in 2022.

Dec 06, 2021, updated Dec 06, 2021
V8 Supercars will return to the streets of the Gold Coast with the GC500 resuming next year after a two-year absence. (Image: Destination Gold Coast).

V8 Supercars will return to the streets of the Gold Coast with the GC500 resuming next year after a two-year absence. (Image: Destination Gold Coast).

The Gold Coast 500 will return to the streets of Surfers Paradise after being cancelled for the past two years.

Supercars organisers confirmed the 2022 season will feature 13 rounds of racing between March and November under the 2022 Championship calendar.

The three-day Gold Coast street circuit event will return from 28 to 30 October 2022.

The Bathurst 1000 will return to its traditional October date, which will allow the GC500 to return to its original post-Bathurst October slot.

Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said fans were excited for the 2022 calendar after two years of the pandemic disrupting the sport.

“The 2022 season will follow an unprecedented two years for Supercars in which the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in two revised calendars – a huge achievement given the nature of the sport,” he said.

“It has been fantastic to welcome fans back to events this year, and we will continue to ensure this is done safely and in line with national guidelines as we welcome more fans back in 2022.”

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said the return of GC500 would be “music to the ears of every Aussie motor race fan.”

“I know the drivers rate the street circuit as the toughest in the calendar given the millimetres between success and a wipe out on our tight concrete canyon circuit. I can’t wait.”

The GC500 is worth more than $55 million to the Gold Coast economy.

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The 2021 event was scheduled to be held over the 3 to 5 December weekend and was to have been its first year of night racing and the grand finale to the racing season.

However, it was dropped at the eleventh hour from the Supercars schedule due to Covid-19 restrictions and border closures.

The loss was the hardest hit suffered by the major events city that has dealt with a slew of event cancellations over the past two years. The ditching of the GC500, the Gold Coast Marathon, and Pan Pacific Masters Games alone has cost the city a combined $110-million annually.

Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the event’s return would be a boon for business.

“I know Queensland motorsport fans are ecstatic about bringing the nation’s best street circuit back to the Gold Coast in 2022,” he said.

As well as the return of major sporting championships, business events are also starting to pick up on the Gold Coast.

Figures released by Destination Gold Coast at the Annual General Meeting last show that the Gold Coast secured 104 conferences with an estimated economic impact of $99.3 million in the twelve months to June 2021.

 

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