WORLD'S BEST KART RACERS LAND ON THE GOLD COAST

Some of the world’s best kart racers are set to fly on the race track in the 2018 Race of Stars International Karting event on the Gold Coast later this week.

Today, it was flying of a different type that the highly credentialed internationals sampled at one of Surfers Paradise’s newest tourist attractions – iFly.

Designed to simulate an outdoor skydive from 14,000 feet, the indoor skydiving experience was a real thrill ahead of this weekend’s event.

Dual World Champion Paolo de Conto in full flight at iFly (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Italian dual World Champion Paolo de Conto, who is this weekend aiming for his third consecutive Race of Stars crown – was blown away by the experience

“Indoor Skydiving is a new challenge and something I’ve never done before, last year we were up very high on the Q1, this year we are flying. I really enjoy the activities around this event here on the Gold Coast,” said de Conto.

“Today was a lot of fun and great to get some good publicity for the sport but I’m here to win and take home another surfboard.”

For Frenchman Anthony Abbasse, making his Australian debut this weekend is something he is excited about – nearly as much as meeting some of the native wildlife at Paradise Country.

“Today has been a very nice welcoming to Australia. I have really enjoyed it,” said Abbasse.

12-time French Champion Anthony Abbasse with a native koala at Paradise Country (Pic: Coopers Photography)

“I have followed this race for several years now through the internet. There are a lot of good European drivers here but I’m not sure about the level of Australian drivers but I am very curious to discover what they are look and really looking forward to the racing.”

Practice for the Race of Stars at the Xtreme Karting Complex gets underway tomorrow ahead of qualifying and heat races on Friday. The finals will be contested on Saturday afternoon.

The Race of Stars will launch the Gold Coast into a ten-day celebration of motorsports with the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 Supercars event being contested on the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit the following weekend.

All of Saturday’s action from the finals will be streamed on www.karting.net.au