Schoolies week for adults

Australia's number one party strip roared into gear yesterday with about 50,000 people arriving in Surfers Paradise for the country's most colourful motorsport carnival.

The first cars screamed on to the track for practice yesterday but, with more than 300,000 people expected in the tourist mecca by Sunday, Indy week is as much about partying as it is racing.

The best hotels in Surfers have been booked out for months, while landing a flight to Coolangatta airport is like finding full-strength beer at the cricket.

For all the latest coverage on Indy this weekend, go to www.goldcoast.com.au

But while the hard stuff might be privy to the members at the SCG, getting a drink in Surfers Paradise is no harder than finding a bad pick-up line on Cavil Ave at 3am.

With about 100 bars; not to mention the strip clubs sure to be packed over the next three nights, Indy week on the Gold Coast has been dubbed “Schoolies week for adults.”

But you won't find any fake IDs in town this weekend, just a sea of black and white as grid fever grips the Gold Coast. The streets have been swamped with checkered race flags while local burger joints are serving up motor racing happy meals “V8 burgers” and “burnout fries with a large serving of high-octane cola.”

The V8 Super Car Challenge; the fourth last round of the V8 championship; will take place after the Lexmark Indy 300 on Sunday afternoon. Regarded as a feeder competition to Formula One, the Indy series features the world's best up-and-coming drivers who race on tracks throughout the world in Champ cars.

Although they look very similar to Formula One cars, the Champ cars are far less advanced and come at a fraction of the price.

Those new to motorsport could have been forgiven for thinking Bathurst champion Craig Lowndes had parked his car in their hotel lobby; with about 15 replica 888 Fords doing the resort rounds.

But V8 star Lowndes was yesterday dining with the stars of Australian motorsport at a lavish lunch at Jupiter's Casino.

And while admitting even the drivers had been swept up by the party atmosphere, Lowndes declared Team Vodafone was on track to make it back-to-back series wins.

“Our championship was lost here last year so we want to turn that from a negative to a positive,” Lowndes said. “We walked the track this morning and had a good chat about what went wrong last year and we have learnt from that.

“We have always had a good car here and, as everyone will say, it is a great circuit because it is a street circuit with a lot of concrete walls and the crowding of the road.

“We really need to put a lap together and I think it is really going to be a great weekend. We have four rounds remaining and I think this will be one of the most crucial ones.”

After Holden's showing at Bathurst two weeks ago, you could forgive the red army if they decided to watch the girls instead of the race, with 30 Miss Indy finalists set to join the Gold Coast's famous meter maids for an eye-candy extravaganza. But HRT star Mark Skaife yesterday gave Holden fans a glimmer of hope when he declared the Holden team could still win the series.

“We have had some opportunities to win some events and we haven't,” Skaife said.

“Our speed has been good and now we have to get on with the four last rounds. Mathematically we have a hope. It is pretty remote but we are going to do the best job we can.”

Fellow Holden driver and last year's Indy champion Todd Kelly said the new VE would be suited to the deadly track known as concrete canyon.

“The cars are very good at Indy every year and I think our car will work well for this style of track,” Kelly said. “I can't wait to get out there.”