It starts with the 27-year partnership between the Supercars Championship and Coates, Australia’s leading equipment hire and solutions provider.
Fans might look at a street circuit and think it’s just some concrete blocks lining public roads, however there are a multitude of steps and considerations that need to be taken in the build.
Coates’ Cam Zacka describes the Gold Coast event as ‘probably the most challenging to set up’ on the Supercars calendar.
“When you consider we have a live traffic flow through the event, for the entirety of the event, and being able to do that where the residents still have access to the facilities, the beautiful beaches, and Surfers Paradise itself – [that] is the challenging part,” Zacka said.
Over the course of the weekend, the Gold Coast 500 sees close to 200,000 spectators through the gates, which uniquely wrap around residential streets, creating the logistical challenge of opening the facility to allow resident access.
Over 23,000 individual pieces of equipment were used during the event in 2025, a project that took over 750 labour hours to complete.
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Coates supplied and installed 10.5km of temporary fencing, 7km of crowd control barriers, 57 portable buildings, over 200 portaloos and 14 toilet blocks. Eighteen generators were set up throughout the precinct providing a combined capacity of more than 1200kVA in power – enough to power a small village.
Install crews use forklifts to move and arrange fencing, while elevated work platforms such as knuckle booms and scissor lifts were utilised throughout, including by the Supercars broadcast crew.
For streets circuits like the Gold Coast, the build starts as early as eight weeks prior to race cars hitting the track.
Joel Couacaud, Sales Manager – North at Coates, described one Gold Coast track build where last-minute fencing changes were required.
The team responded immediately, reallocating fleet and labour to meet the updated requirements in time for race week – demonstrating the agility needed for these complex builds.
Every amenity or piece of temporary infrastructure fans see or interact with at the event – from toilets and power to lighting and temporary facilities – is there thanks to Supercars’ long-running partnership with Coates.
More than 600 volunteers staff the Gold Coast Supercars event each year, and Coates supports them through the Coates Supercars Volunteers Program, including hosting appreciation events at the end of each round.
Supercars Event Manager Matt Ramsden noted the importance of Coates’ reliability, not only in equipment and support, but also in staffing.
“Coates are our trusted equipment hire provider for the simple reason of reliability,” said Ramsden.
“The nature of events is obviously very fluid, so Coates’ support in that area is invaluable.”
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