Fork In The Road

Two of the three models raced in Supercars are no longer sold in the Australian marketplace. So where is the series heading with the Gen2 rules in effect?

- Bruce Newton

Let’s do a quick health check of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

The administration of the business – it’s only a sport when the cars are actually on the track – is quite solid. James Warburton is its best leader since Tony Cochrane and there’s no doubt he’s notched some solid successes as well as marched boldly up some blind alleys.

The controversial TV deal has bedded in for better or worse, the hue and cry has subsided and the quality of what we see on our screens is unsurpassed.

Commercially, as always, the battle is a fraught one. The pitlane remains divided into haves, have-nots and those somewhere in between. A positive is the arrival of Virgin Australia as championship sponsor and the return of REC money with nearly $600,000 per car being allocated annually.

The teams continue to do a consistently good job putting 26 cars out there on the grid week in and week out and conducting high-quality races that vary between C- processions and A+ thrillers.

The cars? Ah, yes, the cars. If all those other Supercars elements get at least a lukewarm tick, can we say the same about the cars?

The Car of the Future chassis has had dramas undoubtedly. The cost of building up a Supercar continues to be a sore point and side intrusion safety has been an ongoing issue. But we’re more interested here in the top-hats, the different shapes that go over the parity technology underneath.

Sure, the drivers are the stars but the cars are integral to that success and the spectacular nature of the championship. Not only is it important they are fast, sturdy and violent, but also current. The excitement of the introduction of a new-generation racer is integral to the ongoing vitality of the category.