Organisers say they’re happy with attendance figures at the Gold Coast 600.

More than 170,000 fans turned out for the three-day V8 Supercar event.

Mike Tuckerman reports.

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TRANSCRIPT

The trucks are loaded, the scaffolding is on its way down and road conditions are slowly returning to normal after the V8 Supercars turned Surfer’s Paradise into a cauldron of revving engines for the inaugural Gold Coast 600.

Crowd figures were down from the days of the Indy open-wheelers, but officials are still delighted.

The three-day event was headlined by a performance from veteran rockers The Beach Boys.

Shane Howard, GM Gold Coast 600: “To have that fantastic racing, and then three nights of rock concerts, with very little problems, it was a great start for us.”

Race winner Jamie Whincup says his dramatic tussle with runner-up Shane van Gisbergen was the perfect finish to an intense meet.

Jamie Whincup, Winner Gold Coast 600: “There’s probably only a handful of times in my career where it comes down to the last lap, and it’s all on, and for me that’s what racing’s all about just getting that win in such a tight situation.”

With crowd numbers halving since the roaring days of Indy, organisers say they’re happy with attendance figures, but are hoping to grow the event.

They’ve vowed to stick to the current format, with its mix of racing and high-profile rock concerts.

Shane Howard, GM Gold Coast 600: “We’ll stick with the “600 sounds,” we’ll stick with the rock and race format, we’re already working on the bands for next year and I can assure you, they will be sensational.”

Mike Tuckerman, QUT News.