The latest on Supercars calendar expansion hopes
SUPERCARS is poised to expand its calendar for 2025, but not by as much as first hoped.
Barclay Nettlefold has not been backward in expressing a desire to get to 14 rounds next year, with domestic expansion the immediate focus before seriously looking to opportunities abroad.
But V8 Sleuth understands 13 rounds – up from 12 this year – is the likely outcome.
Sydney Motorsport Park is set to open the season, with a winter visit to Queensland Raceway and the addition of a Tailem Bend enduro half-offset by the removal of a second Bathurst round.
The topic of how many events Supercars should do continues to smoulder, complicated by financial constraints.
“I think that where we’re at and the deals that have been put in place… it would be fair to say that we all want to grow, to get the championship bigger, but there are commercial outcomes that every time we put on another race, it’s very expensive for Supercars,” said Brad Jones.
“So I feel, and it’s just my personal opinion, that we probably should stay at 12 next year and then when the business has the opportunity to get the deals in place that it needs to so that it’s not really expensive for the business to grow, then that is probably the right time.”
Dick Johnson Racing CEO David Noble urged that more events is a must, although asserting that teams should not have to make financial compromises from their end.
“I look at the start of this year, we had one live race in Australia in the first quarter of the year and we’re trying to compete as a sports entertainment industry at the top end of the market,” he said.
“We need more, in my opinion.
“We need to look at how we bring new demographics in, we need to look at how we’re going to go to pitch our deal next year to TV, we need to look at how we can embrace a new partner in data sharing from an app perspective, we’ve all sort of talked about that.”
Tasmania, which is hosting Supercars this weekend at Symmons Plains, is expected to shift to a warmer slot for 2025.
