The prospect of IndyCar returning to the Gold Coast gained new momentum this week after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk invited Mark Miles to meet her for discussions about a possible race in 2020.

“I am opening discussions between Indy and Queensland about the prospect of launching an Indy on the Gold Coast in 2020,” she said. “It’s early days, but it would be wonderful if we can get this signature event back in Australia.”

Miles told RACER that Surfers remains high on the series wish-list as it continues to look for opportunities to add a flyaway to the schedule.

“IndyCar has a great history in Queensland and it is still thought of as a spectacular race venue by our competitors all these years later,” he said. “We are looking for one or two races outside North America, and we are looking forward to exploring the feasibility of returning to Surfers Paradise as we develop calendars for 2020 and beyond.”

Palaszczuk’s invitation comes just a few days after Australia’s Supercars Championship confirmed that it is in the early stages of negotiations to potentially incorporate a NASCAR race into its Gold Coast event in the near future. A 2016 Penske Cup car ran demo laps during the Supercars race weekend at the venue last week.

Surfers Paradise evolved into one of the most popular stops on the CART/Champ Car tours during its 17 years on the schedule. The last championship event was in 2007, however the newly-reunited IndyCar Series made a final non-points visit in 2008.