Yesterday, we announced a landmark deal to collaborate with the biggest publisher in the country, News Corp Australia.

It’s an incredibly exciting arrangement that will see News Corp Australia tap into the wealth of experience in both publishing and motorsport that we have here at Speedcafe.

Understandably, a deal of this magnitude caught the attention of many of our loyal readers… and equally understandably, it raised questions and concerns.

The most common question-slash-concern regarded the dreaded p-word. Not parity. Paywall.

I’ll start by being remarkably clear on this – we will not implement a pay wall. That is not part of the deal or part of our wider strategy.

Speedcafe’s success is built on the mantra of being first, fast and free.

We do all of those things better than anybody else in our industry. By a long margin. That’s why News Corp Australia turned to us to enhance its motorsport content and coverage.

Yes, plenty of News Corp’s outlets use a pay wall model. But this isn’t an ownership change. We are still 100 per cent independent and our ownership structure is unchanged.

If anything, this deal strengthens our position to remain free for all motorsport fans around the world.

This arrangement is about Speedcafe supporting News Corp in its endeavour to cover motorsport. Between the global popularity of F1, the ongoing interest in Supercars and the likes of Scotty Mac and Giz starring in the US, News Corp sees an opportunity in the sport that we specialise in.

And why wouldn’t it to turn to the best in the business to bolster its coverage?

We have reinforced this year that we report on the stories that matter. We get to them first and we report without fear or favouritism.

This deal is the outcome of a lot of hard work and something everyone at Speedcafe is immensely proud of.

To circle back to the original question – what does this mean for Speedcafe readers? – the answer is… nothing. Speedcafe, as enjoyed by our huge audience, will remain as is.

Any changes off the back of this deal will be positive ones (watch this space, that’s all I can say for now).

And they certainly won’t involve you spending any money to enjoy our content.