Motorsport isn’t something that is synonymous with Australian summers, however that’s a fact that Supercars intends to change with a mooted shift for the touring car category in 2020 to a summer series.
A topic of discussion which was put into the spotlight at the Townsville event earlier in the year, the concept of a summer series for Supercars is being worked towards, which would effectively see a season run over two calendar years.
Speaking about the shift to be a summer sport, the new CEO of Supercars in Sean Seamer said that “we’re looking to bring the start of the 2020 season forward.”
“We want to be able to get our races into the best possible weather windows as possible, so we’ll be looking to start 2020 a little bit earlier.
“For us it’s about evolution not revolution. You’ve got the be very careful when you’re moving events around. Over time, if we can evolve to getting events to the right time for fans to come and watch, at the track or at home, we’ll look to make those changes.
“Initially in 2020 what we’re looking at is more likely to have a break over winter, rather than a shift to a summer series. If we’re able to achieve that, and it works for our fans and our viewers and our teams, then we can look to the transition to a summer season from there.
“There’s a million reasons why. If you think about rounds that are typically challenged by weather – a Phillip Island, a Winton, Tasmania – there’s a lot to be said about moving to the warmer months for fans to ensure we’re putting on really good racing.
“It also means we can play around with the format and innovate a little bit more because we’ve got more daylight.”
Having cited weather at venues such as Phillip Island and Symmons Plains as being factors for the switch too, it makes sense from a spectator point of view to want to attend these events in more desirable conditions.
The adverse side of that would be the scorching conditions that certain parts of Australia endures, particularly in the northern parts of the championship in Darwin and Townsville.
Another immediate benefit would be that Supercars would no longer clash with the major footy codes during the winter, in the AFL and NRL. There’d also have been a clash with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics across July and August – which has now been avoided.
From a motorsport fan’s perspective, those months are typically quiet on the racing front with the major categories such as Formula One in its off-season. So having a premier series such as Supercars on, would be of great satisfaction at that time.
Should the Supercars change season? (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
There is the chance of a shortened calendar too, reducing the workload on teams and the extensive travel across Australia and New Zealand for the Pukekohe round of the championship.
It would mean though that potentially, the season would commence with the Enduros at the top end of the schedule, if the iconic Bathurst 1000 is to retain its traditional October timeslot. However, with the shape of the calendar yet to be presented, anything could be on the cards.
One thing that is certain, is that the omission of Sydney Motorsport Park from the 2019 calendar and its successful night race from this year, will ensure that the Sydney SuperNight event will feature early in the 2020 season as one of the marquee races.
There will be need though for Supercars to avoid any clashes with the Bathurst 12 Hour, which is traditionally staged in early February and has been growing in international stature over the past few years.
Controversially, despite the ownership of the 12 Hour being by Supercars, there was a pre-season test scheduled on the same weekend as the endurance spectacular back in 2015 – which had prevented some of the GT regulars from the Supercars field to contest the race.
The only concern is that being in the middle of a season, whether the high-profile Supercars teams will be hesitant to let their drivers contest the 12 Hour, especially if in championship contention. Despite the presence of many global heavyweights, the event’s popularity is boosted with the addition of household Supercars names too on the grid.
Overall, this would be a bold shift for Supercars and for a sport that has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence in viewership number in the past few years and it would be another step to increasing the profile of the category.
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