The category raced at its local round of the Formula 1 World Championship on a single-year deal with the AGPC, which coincided with its demotion to an infield paddock from Albert Park’s second pit lane.
Said pit lane was handed over to Formula 2, which still undertook its pit stops in front of the F1 garages, while Supercars was restricted to pure sprint races and general admission ticketholders were locked out of its paddock.
The lockout would have been avoided if the Supercars paddock was set up in the outfield but, according to the AGPC, management of the category chose the infield option instead.
AGPC CEO Travis Auld says, having been through the 2024 event and the infield experience, they will now sit down and figure out the best way forward for 2025.
“With F1, F2, F3, and Porsche Carrera Cup, it’s hard to fit everyone in,” he told Speedcafe.
“It’s a juggle. We’re always trying to find ways but there’s compromises everywhere you go.
“For example, we explored putting the Supercars paddock on the outfield.
“Putting it on the outfield would have allowed us to create an exhibition, where you can have all the fans there, and it can be purely focused on Supercars.
“But, the compromise is, you’re not in the motorsport area, there are different exit and entry points for the track, and so you’re trying to juggle those.
“[We were] working with Supercars to say, ‘Hey, you’re going to have to make a choice here about which one of these two things you prefer.’
“It’s not easy for them, by the way; they’re trying to work it out themselves.
“So, this is something we’re pretty focused on and trying to find that point where everyone’s comfortable.
“Can we improve? Yeah, I think we’ll continue to work with them on how we do that.
“But, we love what it [Supercars] brings to the to the event.”
Auld reiterated that the AGPC and F1 itself, including its teams, want to see Supercars at the Melbourne grand prix, while Supercars drivers, and team owner Ryan Walkinshaw, expressed support for staying at the event but would like to see some of the pain points such as fan access fixed.
Spectators at this year’s event could freely access outfield attractions such as the Motorsport Australia Innovation Hub and Legends Lane, which were located behind the Walker Straight grandstands.
In theory, Supercars could have set up there although, with a need to still set up in pit lane for practice, qualifying, and emergency pit stops, that would have made it difficult to transport what little equipment crews were allowed to take.
Auld, speaking during the 2024 AGP weekend, said talks were yet to begin on a new contract, but they will now begin with the knowledge of how the event played out.
“We haven’t started those conversations,” he said.
“I think I made it really clear to them – and made it really clear publicly – that I want them to be at this event.
“But, it’s got to work for everyone, so I completely understand that.
“So, my view would be that we get through this event and go through the learnings that we just talked about, and then sit down and have a conversation with them.
“But, I’d be entering those conversations on the basis of locking back in to our event; that would be my intent.”
The AGPC was able to grant some concessions to Supercars by allowing corporate guests into its paddock at set times.
However, general admission was not allowed due to “operational issues” including vehicle movements near Turn 13, where the Supercars entered and exited the track.
“We have let some fans in there – we’ve had what’s called restricted access – so we’ve given each team and Supercars themselves a number of tickets. In fact, we gave them the number they asked for, after they’d known they can’t get fans in there.
“We said, ‘If you can’t do that, what can you use to service your sponsors, et cetera,’ and so they have got a number of passes in there.
“The point is, there are a bunch of operational issues – some safety-related – given their current location.
“Those issues wouldn’t exist if they were on the outfield – they’d have had a huge access and footprint – but then we’ll have the compromises the other way.
“Last year, we had issues in terms of people getting across to Turn 13 with cars coming in and out – some of those were operational; some created pretty big delays getting in and out – but, more than that, we were worried about the safety. That was the overriding reason.”
Next year’s Australian Grand Prix looks likely to take place on the weekend of Sunday, March 9, which is likely to present Supercars with another set of challenges, in terms of piecing together its own 2025 calendar.
