The Gateway Bridge was one of the greatest Engineering achievements of its time. Standing over 70 metres tall, and measuring over two kilometres in length, the bridge was one of the largest in the southern hemispheres.
Spring, 1994
Brisbane, Australia
The chase had started simply. The two cars -a silver Nissan R33 Skyline GT-R and a white Impreza WRX STi with a flashing blue light on top -had come screaming out of the CBD, and proceeded east along Kingsford Smith drive. The chase was averaging 200km/h on that road, and all the local police had backed off.
All except the driver of the white WRX.
The two cars roared along the road, past car dealerships, pubs, houses, and barely missing one of the council's road cleaners. The GT-R was swerving madly, as if trying to shake off the WRX that had become attached to its tail. The Impreza barely noticed this, and expertly blocked the Skyline from behind, not leaving it enough room to turn.
Finally, the GT-R screamed as if in frustration, and the big silver car managed to slide out far enough to turn onto north onto the Gateway Motorway.
The WRX gripped the turn the GT-R had just slid though and kept going, its siren wailing into the night air.
On the Highway, the two cars accelerated even more, topping out at 280km/h, an insane speed on such a narrow road.
The Skyline feinted and dove off at the next ramp, but the Impreza grimly followed.
The Skyline slowed to take the massive roundabout at the bottom of the ramp, but the Impreza merely let its rear wheels slide, the car swinging out to a 45-degree angle. It drifted around the curve, its rear wheels snapping back into place to chase the Skyline back onto the Motorway, this time headed south.
The Impreza's driver snatched up the radio, and gave two terse orders. Confirmation of the first came immediately, the second confirmation came just as the two cars were passing the last, now road-blocked, exit before the Gateway Bridge.
Both cars hit the start of the Bridge, the speed limit of 80km/h blatantly being ignored. Climbing uphill, both drivers were forced into 3rd gear, but the extra torque in the WRX made the difference, roaring like some huge beast, and making up the gap until its nose was at the Skyline's left door. The GT-R's driver immediately recognised the tactic - there was a roadblock on the other side of the bridge.
If he could turn, he could most likely get away, but that WRX was in the way...
The GT-R moved left, and bounced off the reinforced front bumper of the WRX. The GT-R faked right, and slammed again into the nose of the WRX, trying to get it to spin, or just stop. The WRX compensated, and returned to its original position.
The GT-R moved as far right as it could, just reaching the crest of the bridge. For one split second, time seemed to stop. The two drivers could see the half a dozen police cars lined up at the bottom of the bridge, the spotlights from the tollgates. The bright stars in the sky above.
The Skyline screamed one last time, and slid left, but the Impreza was no longer there. The moment the Impreza had reached the top of the bridge, the driver had slammed on his brakes and spun the wheel, coming to a complete stop, side-on, just before the downhill slope. He was lucky.
The Skyline dove across the asphalt, slamming into the concrete barrier with its front left wheel, and kept on going, the force of the impact lifting the front end of the car and sending it spinning slowly though the air. The Skyline made it through one complete revolution before landing right side up and side-on on the road. The driver must had thought he'd been lucky.
Then both left tires blew out, and the front left Eneki rim snapped off the drive shaft. The Skyline skidded for a second, and then momentum caused the car to pitch and start to roll down the bridge.
It kept rolling, and started bouncing. At the bottom of the bridge, police scrambled away just before the Skyline hit the roadblock and bounced several metres in the air, flipping three times before slamming down, upside-down, on the road just in front of the toll booths. A lone police officer scrambled to the wrecked car, and pulled the driver out of the car. They were 10 meters away from the wreck when the Skyline's fuel tank blew.