How Many Rounds?

[gomick]

Talking different numbers - how many supercar rounds should there be? Watching Inside Supercars on Tuesday Courtney & Skaife where talking about 18 rounds over 40 weeks, ie : 1 round a fortnight so the game is constantly in peoples minds, like AFL/NRL - 1 round every 5 or 6 weeks & you tend to forget what happened & who rubbed up who the wrong way etc...

[Umai Naa]

Yeah, I think 2-3 weeks is the right balance. Back-to-back weekends is rediculous for the teams, and any longer than 3 weeks is probably too long from the fans' perspective.

You would probably aim to have a 3-week lead-in for Darwin, Barbagallo, Sandown and Bathurst. Maybe Pukehoe too, if possibile. We'd all love a 3-week gap between Bathurst and the Gold Coast, but I think the timing of the event there is pretty crucial as far as getting the crowd figures up.

By having consistant spacing of events, it may reduce the need for teams having to fork out big dollars paying their crews to do all-nighters to overcome the tight turn-arounds. They want cost-savings for the teams, here's an avenue.

[GTRMagic]

The 'every second week' concept is a great one, if the teams follow the sun...

If the events were sequenced in such a way that the teams could still return to SEQ or Melbourne or Albury and then head to the next event, without needing to rush madly on both trips, then the fortnightly schedule is likely able to work.

When teams cant make it back to base, and need to take more days prepping on location either before, or at the next race track, the costs around this are not sensible, additional accommodation & staffing, plus potentially having to pay to use technical equipment that is perfectly duplicated in their own nice warm race sheds.

Major accident damage is an issue to consider.. most teams do have spare chassis in some state of build.. whether they are new, unfinished toys, or last year's rigs.. does having such spares become a cost of doing business?

[PVDA]

It can't be hard to program the calender, after all most series wait for the V8 dates to be announced before sorting out their dates.

Announce early so the teams, fans, tracks and other series can get budgets and other details sorted out.

[Umai Naa]

It wouldn't matter who's doing what at other tracks, as V8SC will just clash with whoever, regardless.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by gomick

Talking different numbers - how many supercar rounds should there be? Watching Inside Supercars on Tuesday Courtney & Skaife where talking about 18 rounds over 40 weeks

How many rounds do they have now?

Did Courtney & Skaife discuss the implications of the continued desire to race overseas on such a calendar change?

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by gomick

Talking different numbers - how many supercar rounds should there be? Watching Inside Supercars on Tuesday Courtney & Skaife where talking about 18 rounds over 40 weeks, ie : 1 round a fortnight so the game is constantly in peoples minds, like AFL/NRL - 1 round every 5 or 6 weeks & you tend to forget what happened & who rubbed up who the wrong way etc...

The "every 2nd week" approach makes complete sense - PROVIDED that budgets can stand up to it and teams are able to turn cars around consistently in that time frame.

One of the original aims of the COTF was to make the cars easier to repair and turn around and this could have led to 2 week turnaround. Not sure about the 18 round / 40 week model but you could see the current calendar working with a Clipsal start and Bathurst or Surfers finish. Whether that is deliverable with various contracts (including Homebush) having date requirements etc is the big question.

Part of the reason that the calendar is not easy to do is the need to honour contracts plus of course the TV broadcaster needs etc, working with team turnaround and travel times and so forth. If it was possible to get the calendar to a "race meeting every 2 weeks" model, it would make it much simpler to get everything programmed.

Tony Cochrane was keen on a similar model, said so many times. Whether it is actually deliverable though........

[GTRMagic]

40 weeks from early March still gets you to a late November/early December calendar finish.

So Clipsal and Homebush could likely still book end the championship within those time parameters..

If the series doesnt have enough events to fill the slot, make a 3 week gap instead.. and reduce it when there are more events.

[mikuni]

It doesn't need to be absolutely set in stone. I think most motorsport fans appreciate the logistical difficulty in shipping such a huge amount of equipment around, so having a 2-3 week delay for an international event (or even shipping far east to far west of Australia) is acceptable. Providing the calendar is set early and people know what to expect. This years delay was a bit of a surprise to me, as I don't think the change of date for Pukekohe was that well advertised, hence the big window between events at the moment.

At the same time, if a Pukekohe event were to be combined with a South Island, NZ event on consecutive weekends for logistical reasons, I think that would be welcomed by both television fans and spectators attending the event, alike.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Whether that is deliverable with various contracts (including Homebush) having date requirements etc is the big question.

Not sure how much longer Homebush will be problem for though - judging off last years 'slow' event

[billybanana]

If V8SC are really serious about doing something like this they would need to get representatives of all events, media and other stakeholders in a room and lay it on the table.

"This is what we want to do, lets make it happen". Unfortunately when many of those stakeholders are politicians, who all have their own vested interests at play, I suspect a consensus would be very difficult to achieve.

[gravin]

It would be good to see more rounds on permanent racetracks.

[Umai Naa]

There aren't that many permanent tracks that can cater for them.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Not sure how much longer Homebush will be problem for though - judging off last years 'slow' event

Agree - it does feel as if that event is simply marking time unless a radical change occurs.

Originally Posted by billybanana

"This is what we want to do, lets make it happen". Unfortunately when many of those stakeholders are politicians, who all have their own vested interests at play, I suspect a consensus would be very difficult to achieve.

Reckon you're right on the money there - it's not easy.

Originally Posted by gravin

It would be good to see more rounds on permanent racetracks.

I'm wondering what other permanent race tracks could be added? Off the top of my head I can't think of any that are not on the schedule and which have the necessary space etc. Wakefield Park probably comes closest but is not quite there & I'm not convinced that it could afford the deal.

[Umai Naa]

WP is too small in the paddock area.

Have been there for a DVS meeting, and the paddock was chockers.

[one five five]

Originally Posted by Umai Naa

WP is too small in the paddock area.

Have been there for a DVS meeting, and the paddock was chockers.

The paddock would be fine if they really wanted to race there.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by one five five

The paddock would be fine if they really wanted to race there.

When DVS raced there, the paddock was packed - with no merch area, small media area, no TV compound, no corporate hospitality etc. I haven't personally been there for a couple of years but unless a vast amount of work has happened since then, it'd be a very tight fit for a main game round.

You have a point though, I would think that for a start the main game would really want to go there and then the track would need to feel that the expense of a main game round was justified.

[D.R.T.]

Wakefield Park has some pretty open areas set up Merch & corporate hospitality and potentially a TV compound for that matter (if they can fit this a Leichardt Oval they can fit one at WP).

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Wakefield Park has some pretty open areas set up Merch & corporate hospitality and potentially a TV compound for that matter (if they can fit this a Leichardt Oval they can fit one at WP).

Yeah possibly, like I said been a few years since I've been there so I'm a bit rusty on it. Bear in mind though that V8 merch area is huge compared to an NRL one due to all the teams rigs etc plus the TV compound can be larger as well due to way more cameras (and therefore people) to film a motor racing event compared to a footy match.

[Matt]

Lakeside?

[gravin]

Originally Posted by Umai Naa

There aren't that many permanent tracks that can cater for them.

Even some repeat tracks would be better than too many street circuits.

[mayhem]

Obviously its been done before, but theres a good track around a hill in country NSW that would make a good sprint round. Infrastructure is fine too.

[D.R.T.]

Ooooooooooooooo - does it undermine the October event?

Tried before & didnt continue.

Similar argument with Indianapolis

[mayhem]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Ooooooooooooooo - does it undermine the October event?

Tried before & didnt continue.

Similar argument with Indianapolis

So make onsite camping impossible for the sprint round, all the campers will still come then for the 1000 which seems to be a large attraction.

Still going to be more successful than rounds at other tracks on the calendar...

[GTRMagic]

Mr R.Kelly seems to think a Mildura race track would be a good idea Here