I’ve sent a letter off to the North Pole asking Santa for a brand-new Ferrari 296 GT3, but I’ve also got a wishlist headed to North Sydney where the elves at Supercars are hard at work preparing for the 2025 season.
Now, I know we don’t always get what we want for Christmas, so think of this wishlist as just that, a few things I would really like — some wishes are perhaps more fanciful than others.
I’ve been good this year I promise. Hopefully, Supercars doesn’t deliver me a box of coal when it sees this.
Wish #1: A downtown Sydney season launch
The New South Wales Government already spends a bit of dough with Supercars to put on its season opener at Sydney Motorsport Park. Surely Premier Chris Minns would be okay shutting off a couple of roads for a season launch.
Supercars should take inspiration from three events to kick off the 2025 season.
Once upon a time, NASCAR ended its season with a spectacular show – Burnouts on Broadway – where Cup Series drivers did skids in a similar vein to Summer Nats. Cars were lit up with neon lights and let rip in a spectacular season send-off.
One of the best exhibition events I’ve ever been to was ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett’s Drift Shifters in downtown Auckland. How he and Red Bull crammed a drift circuit into Quay Street always amazed me, but what it showed is that it’s possible.
IndyCar did its own downtown display with live pit stops, not too dissimilar from what Supercars did at this year’s Bathurst 1000.
The template is there. Imagine if Supercars did a downtown season launch. Park the cars up at Martin Place, do some live pit stops somewhere nearby, make some noise. Sometimes you’ve gotta bring the party to the people.
Wish #2: Investigate Calder retro round
Okay. Hear me out Supercars Santa. Supercars, all dressed up in weird and wonderful old school-inspired liveries, at Calder Park.
I know I keep harking on about NASCAR, but it’s for a good reason. They’ve not been afraid to innovate. Some ideas worked, some ideas didn’t. Their willingness to try should be commended, however.
NASCAR has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance in recent years with classic venues like North Wilkesboro Stadium and will revive Bowman Gray Stadium for its all-star “Clash” in 2025.
It’s one thing to be innovative, but leaning into your roots is important. Supercars should be obsessed with trying to build a new audience, but it shouldn’t forget its day ones.
Imagine a retro round at Calder Park. The circuit has been given a makeover recently but still has an old-school vibe about.
Make it a one-day affair. Give it some atmosphere with period-correct cars on track too. We saw at Bathurst that it can be done.
Wish #3: More media rights freedom
Supercars was lauded decades ago for innovations like Race Cam and growing the sport internationally in the 2000s.
However, in the era of engaging new audiences through TikTok and Instagram, Supercars has dropped the ball.
Its archaic, Formula 1-style media restrictions limit what teams and content creators can do.
It’s always been the case that media members cannot film on track, supposedly due to rights restrictions. That rule has to be scrapped when Supercars signs its next broadcast deal.
Whether it’s a Fox directive has never been clear, but the same rule doesn’t exist in other ball codes where sideline, in-game footage is prolific on social media.
Supercars is one of the only high-profile domestic racing series that has such restrictions. When it’s fighting other codes across the country and globally for attention, there has got to be greater freedom for video-based content.
Wish #4: Fix the Bathurst 1000
Okay, I’ll admit, I don’t actually know how to definitely do this – and I don’t think Supercars Santa does either yet – but, some changes have to be made to add jeopardy.
Let’s start with the start. Supercars has got to scrap the mandate to have the primary drivers in the cars for the green flag. It makes a lot of sense TV-wise, you don’t start your bench players, but the reality is it puts everyone on the same or similar strategy from the outset.
Jeopardy plays a big part in the Great Race, and removing that disparity between primary and co-drivers and the strategy play it brings weakens the entertainment value.
In most instances, a primary driver will be faster than a co-driver. When that disparity disappears, it puts all the cars on an even keel.
The two Bathurst 1000 races we’ve had with Gen3 have been pretty boring, let’s be honest. Reliability was a non-issue despite the post-Sandown 500 scare for Ford teams.
Wish #5: V8 Supercars 4
What’s a boy’s Christmas wish without a video game or two?
It’s been almost two decades since V8 Supercars 3 came out is still regarded as one of the all-time great racing games.
The TOCA Race Driver 3 reskin for the Australian market hasn’t been bettered since. Supercars has had deals with Forza Motorsport and iRacing, but nothing to stand on its own two feet.
A generation of fans were inspired by V8 Supercars 3 – I was one of them and I’ve got a bunch of mates who feel the same too.
Could we get a V8 Supercars 4? Probably not. Some will argue the market is far too small for a game like that.
If there’s one example of what could be done, it’s the World of Outlaws Dirt Racing game that was produced in conjunction with iRacing.
A new NASCAR game made by iRacing is also in the works. Perhaps Supercars could get its own version.
A boy can dream.
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