Introduction

The Queensland Gemini Series is on of the most competitive and value for money forms of motor sport in Australia today. Geminis, in 20 years of competition have started the careers of many championship winning drivers including Tony Longhurst, Paul Morris, Kevin Heffernan and Wayne Wakefield, and have thrilled the crowds where ever they race with side by side racing and thrilling overtaking moves. Why drive in the Gemini class? For many drivers it is an excellent starting point to a career in motorsport, while for others it is a chance for them to fufill dreams of racing and following the steps of their childhood heros. Who drives in the series? Well anyone can, men and women of all ages race, and these range from business men and women to mechanics. The two things which attract spectators to become drivers is the closeness of the rcaing and its cost. The category is excellent value for money in comparison with any other category in Australia. Says former competitor and two time Queensland Sport Sedan Champion Chris Donnelly. The closeness of the racing is half the attraction...parity amongst competitors in Gemini racing provides for exceptionally close racing. You learn good car control skills for slides, breaking, wet weather driving, and it teaches you to drive watching furthur up the road. Says current Gemini series driver Bradley Searle.Go-karts were a good grounding, but Geminis teach you more about car control for going onto higher tintop categories. The cars reach a top speed of around 170-180 km/h, which is not quick for a racing car. But this is relative to faster cars, because Geminis run on 5.5 inch wheels, have small brakes, and only have a 1600cc engine. But that is why the racing is so close. It is the perfect training ground for drivers to develop their skills at speeds that won't get them into to much trouble. Say UK based Formula Ford star Brett Francis, It also means that the cars are more forgiving when driven on the limit, resulting in spectacular driving for spectators to enjoy. But once a spectator becomes a driver in the Gemni series, they become aware of how much the fun the cars are to drive and how friends are easily made. The dice I had with Lauren (Donnelly) in the last race at Willowbank was terrific. We passed each other numerous times, never touched, finished 0.2 sec apart and both had huge grins on our faces. Thats what it's all about, having fun. Says Colin Smith. History of the class The Gemini series was born out of the need for a cost effective form of motorsport to cater for up and coming drivers. Grahame Ward, a motorsport jouranlist and Barry Nixon-Smith, a well known racing car driver, got together with south-east Queensland Holden dealers to provide 12 cars for a series of races supporting the 1975 Australian Grand Prix. Held on the old Surfers Paradise circuit, the three races with Grand Prix drivers driving the cars, were an outstanding success, with eventual main event winner Max Stewart taking the victory over Kevin Bartlett in wet conditions. Despite the success, the cars were sold off to Melbourne where the series took off. It was not until 1979 that the need for something new to indcrease interest in motorsport in Queensland, as competitor numbers had dwindled to an all time low. So it was decided that the first race for the Queensland Gemini Series would be held at Lakeside in March 1980. 13 cars started that race, and the fastest lap time was a 1 minute 13.1 seconds. This compares very favourably with the fast cars of 1999 only just creeping into the high 1 minute 7 second range. The rules over the time of 20 years have changed very little, the time gain is only due to improvements in the track, improvements in tyres, driver skills and set-up knowledge of the cars. Also, with 20 years of competition it is one of the longest running single make classes of motorsport anywhere in the world. In 1986 the QGRA (Queensland Gemini Racing Association) started promoting its own race meetings. 1998 was a big year for the QGRA with the reintroduction of endurance racing to Queensland with the first of the Castol 2 Hour relay race for Geminis and HQ Holdens. Also the Geminis visited two different race tracks in the one season for the first time since the demise of Surfers Paradise in the late 1980s, with 2 very successful meetings at the Morgan Park circuit just outside of Warwick. All 3 new initiatives were incredibly well received, and look like they are going to be reappearing for many years to come. With nearly 600 drivers racing in the 650 races aboard the 150 cars which have been built to series specifications, the future of the Gemini series looks set to be secure for many years to come as a fixture on the Queensland motorsport scenery.