Down Under Diary – Day Five

It was a crazy day in Australia! The fans went wild when Will Power clinched the pole position for tomorrow's race. But the Toowoomba-born driver demonstrated his wisdom and refused to get excited with today's performance. He knows that it's tomorrow that counts. I know that we must remain neutral, but 'Good job mate!'. He was flying out there!

Paul Tracy and Oriol Servia who joined Will at the top-three press conference were raving about the Champ Car event in Australia and how great it is. Both drivers agreed that it is a unique event that cannot be replicated. It's not everywhere that helicopters can fly overhead only 300 feet from the ground! Oriol even said that it was the best race on the planet all categories combined and Neel Jani described it as more challenging and difficult than Monaco.

This event really is special and the crowds that come here prove it. We had a crowd of 89 948 today, putting the three day – Thursday was 'People's Day – total to 211 819.

The who’s who of the Gold Coast donned their finest Friday night to kick off the Indy weekend in style. There were brightly coloured frocks and smart tuxedos as the guests prepared for a night of dancing, drinking and dining at the official Indy Gala Ball at Conrad Jupiters. Ministers Margaret Keech and Judy Spence looked regal with their respective partners in tow while MP Steven Ciobo arrived grinning in anticipation of a great night to be had by all. The real glamour of the evening was added by this year’s Indy girls and also former Miss Indy Sarah Buller. Looking breathtakingly beautiful in white, she and her beau, Indy driver Nelson Philippe, whispered sweet nothings in each other’s ears. Conrad Jupiter’s public relations manager Rebecca Gordon added more glitz to the evening in a sparkly pink and tulle dress and said despite all appearances she was exhausted.

“Indy is one of the biggest events of the year so it has been go, go, go all week," she said.