It was inevitable that the controversial date clash between the Bathurst 12 Hour and V8 Supercars pre-season test was going to lead to incessant chest beating over television ratings and crowd figures.
The Bathurst 12 Hour broadcaster, Channel Seven, bragged about a big ratings win with an average audience of 238,000 and a peak of 368,000, in contrast to the averages of 97,000 and 19,000 for the V8 Supercars test on Network Ten and Fox Sports respectively.
But the ratings win, it should be remembered, came against a test day; an event never broadcast before, in what amounted to a pre-season training drill for the new broadcasters in addition to V8 Supercars teams and drivers.
This, in effect, is the equivalent of Fox Footy dedicating a whole day to an AFL pre-season training session – hardly a spectacle to trouble the highest rating shows – and being out-rated by an NRL premiership match.
Putting aside diehard V8 Supercars, it stands to reason most motorsport fans and general sports watchers would have tuned into to a race at Australia’s best circuit over a test day of little significance.
But despite the ratings victory, there were no real winners from both events. The Bathurst 12 Hour went ahead without Australia’s best domestic-based drivers and V8 Supercars suffered a backlash for what many perceived to be an on purpose date clash.
Next season there won’t be an Asian Cup or Cricket World Cup for V8 Supercars to try and avoid on the Fox Sports calendar in February, which means there will be no excuse for a date clash.
This will hopefully end the debate over the reasons for the clash and the two events can co-exist – the Bathurst 12 Hour with the boost of a sprinkling of V8 drivers and V8 Supercars without the negative response to a clash.
In terms of crowd figures, Bathurst’s three-day attendance of 32,294 may have been an increase on the previous year, but how many more could there have been had some of the 27,000 at the test travelled to Mount Panorama instead?
In the past, the test day has been held a fortnight before the V8 Supercars season starts, so a week after the Bathurst 12 Hour. So without a clash, will V8 Supercars allow its drivers to participate in the 12 Hour?
Australian motorsport is too small for this type of infighting and division. And V8 Supercars nor the Bathurst 12 Hour can substantially grow if in direct competition with another form of motorsport.
The competition for drivers, fans, ratings, sponsors and press only weakens both events. Hopefully 2015 will be a never to be repeated clash.
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