V8 Supercars is threatening to quit the Australian Grand Prix if its support races aren’t upgraded to championship status.
When V8’s existing deal to race at Albert Park ends in 2018, its annual appearance on the Formula One undercard will not be renewed unless the races are part of the title series.
“I can’t see us there in 2019 unless it’s a championship round,” V8 Supercars chief executive James Warburton told Fairfax Media. “Obviously, we’ll fulfil our contract, which runs through to 2018, but beyond that I can’t see us racing there unless it’s a championship round.”
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation counters that efforts to gain F1 approval for the V8s to compete for championship points at Albert Park are on-going.
“It’s a continuing effort,” AGPC chief executive Andrew Westacott said. “Once again, contractual complexities got in the way, so we weren’t able to achieve it for this year, but we’re continually open and optimistic for the future.”
The V8s have been the main supporting act at the Melbourne GP for all but one year since the F1 event moved from Adelaide in 1996.
But the races have never counted towards the V8 championship because of conflicting broadcasting deals and logistical impediments.
Last year’s alignment of the F1and V8 broadcast agreements on Fox Sports and Network Ten removed a major obstacle.
However, despite entreaties by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, F1’s commercial rights holder has blocked the move.
V8 Supercars is renewing its push for the support races at the Melbourne GP to be part of the national championship series because of increasing demand for title events. It has capped the calendar at 16 events, expanded this year to include a new championship street race round in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
But with another Asian event on the horizon in 2017, plus new Australian tracks also in the bidding, V8 Supercars is looking at a local cull that will include the Melbourne GP if F1 authorities don’t agree to the Albert Park support races gaining title status.
According to Warburton, new circuits at Tailem Bend, South Australia, and a proposed street race event in Geelong are among the big-money alternatives that threaten V8’s post-2018 participation at Albert Park.
“It’s a big expense any time our teams go to a circuit and we can have much more profitable weekends elsewhere, especially a new event,” Warburton said.
“We’ll have two international events by ’17 and we’ll be looking to reduce what we’re doing here.
“To stay on the calendar, the AGP will need to be a championship event. Otherwise, we have alternatives that want to be part of the championship.”
V8 Supercars is mainly aggrieved that its appearance at the Melbourne GP – four 100km sprints at next month’s event – lacks title status while the lesser Australian GT support races count for its championship.
“The great news about our category is that everyone wants an event,” he said. “It’s a shame [the AGP] is not part of the championship. It’s disappointing when every other major support category on the card is competing for championship points.
“We’ll fulfil our contract, but I can’t imagine us continuing without championship status.”
Fairfax Media understands that money is also an issue, with its current deal to race at Albert Park worth around A$1.7million a year – about $1million less than the previous agreement.
After missing the 2006 event, which coincided with a big fall in attendance, V8s returned in ’07 with a much more lucrative deal, only to suffer a big reduction during its weakened state before the existing five-year agreement was signed.
