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Supercars is determined to become the major support act at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix – at the cost of a pre-Bathurst 1000 enduro if necessary.
Amid a clash of Supercars owner RACE chairman Barclay Nettlefold and influential ex-team owner Roland Dane over foreign expansion, V8 boss Shane Howard has confirmed that appearing on the Singapore GP undercard is an active goal.
Dane maintains that overseas forays beyond New Zealand are outside Supercars’ remit, while Nettlefold is pursuing a global alignment with F1, starting with the Singapore GP in addition to the Australian GP in Melbourne.
Supercars has come close to deals with the Singapore GP organisers in the past – and this year’s V8 calendar was delayed by unsuccessful efforts to be included on the daytime bill for mid-September’s night-time F1 event.
As well as Nettlefold’s stated desire to align with more F1 events, the prospect of a return of Supercars racing outside Australasia was fuelled by Shane van Gisbergen’s assertion that Singapore and the Middle East were planned destinations.
The simple answer is that appearing at F1 races is being pursued by RACE, with the Singapore GP the main initial offshore target.
Supercars chief executive Howard revealed that talks to join the island city-state F1 support race programme are still very much alive for as soon as next year.
“You look at those opportunities very seriously,” he told Speedcafe.
“We’ve had early discussions and we’d really like to be at the Singapore Grand Prix. I think it’d be a very big stage for us
“It would work really well in regard to [Australian fans] being able to travel there and the TV times here.
“If we get the opportunity to be in Singapore, we’d grab it with both hands. I mean, you’re on the big stage. There’s a lot of global sponsors there. We would certainly like to be in Singapore.”
The main downside to racing at the Singapore GP is that, at its current mid-September scheduling, it would rule out a pre-Bathurst 1000 enduro, as well return shipping logistics to get cars back in time to be prepared for Supercars’ biggest event.
There are suggestions the Singapore GP will move next year, possibly easing Supercars’ dilemma, avoiding a choice between the Sandown 500 and the Singapore GP.
“I don’t jump at shadows,” Howard said. “So when we get to a meaningful situation and that the opportunity is there, then we’ll consider what we would need to do to accommodate that event.
“So we’ll just see how those discussions go and if that opportunity comes to fruition.
“But if it [Singapore GP support races] was offered, we’d jump at it, absolutely.”
