Speedcafe to broadcast Australian GT in 2017

Speedcafe.com will broadcast the entire Australian GT Endurance Championship (AEC) and the bulk of the Australian GT Championship rounds next year.

Championship organisers have confirmed that all meetings barring the Clipsal 500 (March 2-5) Australian GT Championship season opener and the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix (March 23-26) will be live streamed for the first time.

The announcement follows the release of its 2017 calendar which sees the category move away from Supercars promoted events.

Australian GT trialled a free live streaming service at the inaugural Hampton Downs 101 last month prompting the move to embrace the technology for 2017.

The Clipsal 500 and Albert Park rounds will receive live television while the championship is also keen to secure a broadcast deal for at least three more rounds.

These include the new standalone round at Symmons Plains (September 1-3), Hampton Downs (October 27-29), which was shown live in both Australia (Fox Sports) and New Zealand (TV3) this year, and the Highlands Park (November 10-12) Australian GT and AEC finale.

The Australian GT Championship will continue to feature in post-produced Shannons Nationals television shows for the opening two AEC rounds at Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park (July 7-9) and its twilight sprint round at Queensland Raceway (August 4-6).

Meanwhile, all Australian GT Trophy Series races will remain part of the Shannons Nationals live stream service.

Category manager Ken Collier believes live streaming the majority of its rounds will help boost the championship’s growth.

“I think live streaming is the way to go for sport in general,” Collier told Speedcafe.com.

“It is accessible so easily on mobile devices and we have seen television companies use the streaming technology.

“We wanted to see what the reaction was to Hampton Downs with regards to the live stream before we invested in it more.

“We intend to have live television at Hampton Downs again as it seemed to have worked out really well.

“We are definitely looking into live television for the Tasmanian event and at Highlands Park.

“There was always a risk that live television would stop people coming to the circuit, but I don’t think that is the case and I think Hampton Downs proved that.”

2017 Australian GT combined calendar