The ARC is part of Motorsport Australia’s push away from event promotion, the governing body set to hand over control of the series at the end of this season.
The move is similar to what it has done with the SpeedSeries, with SRO Motorsports Group to take over the promotion of the second-tier national racing series next year.
The ARC will also leave the Motorsport Australia umbrella and instead be run as a joint venture between MA and Innate Event Group.
Innate is owned and run by current ARC chief Adrian Coppin and his wife Jill, with Coppin leaving his full-time MA gig to bring the joint venture to life.
“My wife and I have an events business and she’s been running that and doing a great job, but it’s time for us both to jump back into that,” Coppin told Speedcafe.
“But I didn’t want to leave the ARC, it’s my passion project and I didn’t want it to be left when there’s more potential to be unlocked.
Click here now.
“I also think there’s more potential to be unlocked with it run as a private entity, because it can really be commercialised as opposed to falling under the broader Motorsport Australia event arm.
“There are strategic partnerships that more broadly align with the ARC that would not otherwise be possible under a Motorsport Australia-promoted event, given it’s the governing body and the ASN.
“I started having those conversations with [Motorsport Australia CEO] Sunil [Vohra] and we agreed, similar to what has happened with the SpeedSeries, that this was the best way forward for the ARC.
“And that led to this agreement for a 50-50 joint venture from 2025, but with Innate Event Group having full operational and majority share to run it and take it into hopefully another successful chapter.”
Given Coppin will continue to run the series the short-term operational changes will be minimal.
That’s not to say it won’t be a new era for the ARC, though, with Coppin harbouring grand plans to better promote the series.
They include more enticing service parks, inner-city super special stages and more live coverage from events.
“We want to focus on enhancing the event experience, not just for competitors but for spectators,” Coppin explained.
“So uplifting the service park to make it more family friendly, making it more appealing to come to rather than being stuck at a showground where typically these events have to be run out of because of their size and scale and the location to the forest.
“We want to amplify the experience so it is something people want to come to and experience and get a drink and have a walk around and see some of these cool cars being worked on.
“We want to work with promoters to put on better rally shows and kick off events in the centre of town with super special stages. We want to amplify the at-event experience.
“And we also want to look at media and how we can evolve with the trends, and have more live content, whether that is broadcasting the whole stage or segments of a stage.
“I think the whole world wants here-and-now content. If you look at any other form of motorsport, domestically or internationally, it is all live.
“That’s something that’s been a challenge for ARC to do over the years, but that’s where the focus has got to be.
“Are we going to get there in Year 1? Absolutely not. We’re going into this with the bigger picture and in Year 2, Year 3 we can start to live stream full stage lengths and super special stages, and bring it to people in real time.
“That’s a focus for us.”
Discussion about this post