Zak Brown’s advice on Supercars’ overseas ambitions

The Australian touring car championship will this weekend race on the support bill at its home Formula 1 event at Albert Park but has, for years, yearned to also be part of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Supercars would run as part of at least three F1 events if some within the championship’s parent company, RACE, have their way, with the November 14-17 date of this year’s Adelaide 500 evidence of Qatar Grand Prix desires.

Brown likened Supercars’ situation to that of IndyCar, of which he is a stakeholder in his capacity of CEO of McLaren Racing, which competes in the North American competition.

Both are domestic categories with a history of events a long way from their shores, and both have eyes on racing beyond their respective home markets again in the near future, although IndyCar’s more recent focus was South America, specifically Argentina.

Brown believes there is merit for Supercars in Asia-Pacific events such as Singapore but that Middle Eastern sojourns are not worthwhile because of the interests of Australian sponsors.

“When they went to Abu Dhabi, it’s the same thing that I say to IndyCar,” he told Speedcafe.

“People sponsor North America and then [if] they’re like, ‘Oh, and by the way, we’re going to go to South Africa,’ I’ve never met anyone who’s like, ‘I’m in charge of the North American marketing budget and South Africa.’

“I think there was talk of [Supercars] going to Singapore – that would be awesome – but also when they went to Abu Dhabi, I’ve never met someone who’s in charge of [marketing for] Australia and Abu Dhabi.

“So, if it could expand a little bit around like the night race in Singapore, that would be cool.

“I think if we could get out of Australia once or twice, within AsiaPac – like a Singapore – I think would be really cool.”

PremiAir Racing’s Peter Xiberras made a similar point when Speedcafe quizzed several team owners/principals last year on the subject, although he had even less tolerance for international Supercars events.

“My view is 90, 98 percent of all sponsorship on everyone’s cars is homegrown, and unless there’s some funding from overseas, I can’t see how it’ll work,” he told Speedcafe.

Others were more open to at least the idea of Singapore, which is on the same timezone as Western Australia and hence is television-friendly for regular Supercars viewers.

Whether or not the championship and the promoter/F1 could ever arrive at a deal which is mutually commercially beneficial is, however, questionable.

Supercars’ last genuine overseas races occurred at the Circuit of The Americas in 2013, with a five-car demonstration at the 2015 KL City Grand Prix proving a one-off appearance in Kuala Lumpur once that event collapsed before it became a fully-fledged stop on the calendar.

Practice 1 at Albert Park starts tomorrow at 11:25 local time/AEDT.