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ARG’s categories have been a staple of the Motorsport Australia-run SpeedSeries, which will next year be taken over by GT promoters SRO Motorsports Australia and rebranded.
With the SRO’s own categories, GT3 and GT4, set to become the headline acts and demand the bulk of the track and TV time, ARG is among category managers looking to alternatives.
ARG owners Garry and Barry Rogers have long expressed a desire to work in collaboration with Supercars, having hoped that a period of cross-ownership would result in a ‘whole of motorsport’ approach.
While the entities are now separate, ARG has held talks with Supercars in recent weeks as both attempt to map out their 2025 plans.
Supercars is expected to reveal a 13-event 2025 calendar in the lead-up to next month’s Bathurst 1000 and is currently riding high on news that Toyota will join the championship in 2026.
TCR would provide a point of difference to the current suite of Supercars supports, which include Super2, Carrera Cup, Toyota 86, SuperUtes, Touring Car Masters and Aussie Racing Cars.
The two-litre, front-wheel-drive TCR category also enjoys connectivity to brands such as Hyundai and Honda, which may one day be tempted to join Toyota in Supercars.
Following Speedcafe’s initial report of a potential Supercars/TCR tie-up last month, a Pirtek Poll asking fans whether they’d like to see TCR and Supercars events brought a near 80 percent positive result.
The fan support comes despite the TCR category’s struggle for grid sizes in recent seasons and questions over its viability.
Trans Am is generally viewed as a stronger entertainment product than TCR, but is deemed by some in the Supercars paddock as a threat to the more expensive Super2.
ARG will continue to run two race meetings of its own in 2025 – Race Tasmania at Symmons Plains and the Bathurst 6 Hour production car event at Mount Panorama.
The Rogers appear keen to fill the remainder of their TCR and Trans Am calendars with Supercars events, but could run more of their own race meetings if that does not come to fruition.
Mooted locations for possible Supercars-TCR tie-ups include Sydney Motorsport Park, Wanneroo, Townsville, Tailem Bend and the Gold Coast.
Trans Am’s calendar could include Supercars events at Hidden Valley, The Bend and Adelaide (which is also on its 2024 calendar). All of those events are individually promoted rounds.
Barry Rogers confirmed to Speedcafe that talks with Supercars are ongoing, but declined to be drawn on details while discussions play out.
The SRO has already announced its six-round calendar for 2025, which includes a finale at Hampton Downs in New Zealand.
