The TRC was introduced to replace the Racing Entitlements Contract system which became obsolete when teams joined Archer Capital in selling their shares in Supercars as part of the RACE (Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises) takeover in late-2021.
It represents a contract between Supercars and the competitors, details of which are largely confidential.
However, it is understood to include such clauses as agreements on revenue and stipulations regarding the calendar, while rules/obligations contained within around technical parity are now in the public domain having been reproduced in the 2024 Supercars Operations Manual.
Speedcafe understands that RACE has engaged with teams about potentially changing elements of the TRC.
Notably, the TRC is open-ended whereas Formula 1’s Concorde Agreement, for example, has a fixed term, with the current version running until 2025.
That means that changes to the TRC are not routine/cyclical, but rather there is a level of discretion in instigating such talks.
Speedcafe understands that the committee is comprised of Sven Burchartz (Tickford Racing), Brad Jones (Brad Jones Racing), Ryan Story (Dick Johnson Racing), and Ryan Walkinshaw (Walkinshaw Andretti United).
It is believed that RACE instigated the talks to explore the possibility of changes to the TRC which would make expanding the calendar a less onerous task.
For example, Supercars is obliged to hold a minimum of 12 events per season in its television contract with Fox Sports, but each additional event triggers a payment to teams of $60,000 per TRC, creating a hurdle of $1.44 million per additional event at the very least.
It is also understood that there are stipulations with respect to the timing of events, including that none shall be held on consecutive weekends.
Furthermore, that there is at least a three-week turnaround (Sunday to Sunday) from one event to the next is thought to exist in the TRC, although that would likely be a best endeavour rather than a strict rule, noting that this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000 takes place on the weekend of Sunday, October 13 and the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on that of Sunday, October 27.
Such clauses are intended to safeguard teams, a contrast to the days of RECs where they were paid shareholder dividends (if any there were) and additional events were not necessarily profitable.
Said clauses are, however, understood to be negotiable already, subject to a supermajority of 75 percent of TRC holders approving.
The same 75 percent threshold, Speedcafe understands, must also be reached to vary any of the clauses permanently.
In practice, that means that if three teams vote against a proposed change to the TRC, it would be defeated.
That is because, while there are 24 active TRCs, there are only 23 votes given each TRC holder is granted a maximum of two votes, yet that means the approval threshold is still 18.
Those 23 votes are held by the 10 teams which run two cars each, plus two for BJR and one for SCT Motorsports given the Albury-based squad runs four cars including that underpinned by the Pete Smith (SCT) TRC.
The specifics of what RACE wants are not known, and whether it would be successful in achieving changes in the near future remains to be seen.
The teams would, of course, be in a position to demand concessions due to the open-ended nature of the TRC, although RACE is also said to have asked teams if there are changes which they would like.
The talks are unfolding at a time when RACE Chairman Barclay Nettlefold is pushing for additional events beyond the bare dozen, something generally agreed by teams, drivers, and fans of Supercars as being desirable, if not a necessity.
Of course, as noted above, teams already have the option to negotiate on clauses when a calendar is being formed.
Presumably, then, teams would be willing to accommodate any additions to the calendar which are beneficial to them anyway, without the need for permanent changes to the TRC.
A Supercars spokesperson told Speedcafe, “Supercars maintains a collaborative relationship with all Teams and is actively engaged in ongoing dialogue with them to continually enhance the Championship.”
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