Beach volleyball

Mario "El Rey del Volleyball" Dominguez and some of the Miss Indy contestants. It's good to be king.

The girls thought the guys lacked ability and the guys thought the girls were just as bad — in the end it was far from glamorous, but very entertaining.

The Miss Indy finalists joined a host of Champ Car and V8 Supercar drivers for the annual beach volleyball challenge at Surfers Paradise Thursday.

Gale-force winds literally blew away any chance of a lengthy rally, let alone a competitive match, but probably increased the entertainment value.

Serves went backwards, some made left-hand turns and balls continually speared off and hit crowd members.

On the court there were mid-air collisions, plenty of rolling eyes and a number of spills — similar to what's expected to take place on the track during the next four days.

Miss Indy finalist Melanie James, of Adelaide, said the drivers were no better than the girls.

"I don't know if they are any better than what we are," she said.

"But it is all really, really good fun … the wind was crazy."

The 25-year-old said it was a good opportunity to get to know the drivers.

"It's good to relax with them. They are all really nice guys."

Last year's runner-up, Bruno Junqueira, said he made sure he played in the volleyball championship every year.

Unlike Melanie, he thought the girls were the ones who struggled.

"Yes, it's a lot of fun, I like to play volleyball as a hobby anyway so this is perfect for me, although it is hard to play with the girls on the court as well," he said.