TAKE a deep breath and run yourself through the almost overwhelming list of compelling storylines the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship presently has to offer.
And you’ll need a deep breath because there’s plenty.
In no particular order, there’s McLaughlin-versus-Van Gisbergen, the forthcoming Mustang introduction, Craig Lowndes’ retirement, Tickford’s struggles and the return of night racing night racing.
Once you’ve collected all of that, you also realise there’s the Simona factor, the summer series question, who-does-what at the new circuit at Tailem Bend, rumblings about a Walkinshaw Camaro and the annual who-goes-where silly season shenanigans.
And, breathe.
It’s a lot to take in – but if you block out the daily news cycle and look more broadly at the sport a better picture presents itself: That some of the fiercest competition of an age is unfolding.
The news headlines often take discussion away from the actual product, which in this case is going car racing.
Take Sunday’s 200km race at Queensland Raceway, for example.
As a show it probably wasn’t the best of the year, then again not every race can be an all-out thriller. Having said that, there was enough varying strategies and mid-field squabbles to keep it interesting for the (very large) crowd watching.
However, the race deserves a deeper dive because it highlights everything good about the championship at the moment.
A cursory glance showed a dominant day from the Triple Eight and DJR Team Penske cars, a starring performance form Chaz Mostert and a plucky sixth from Tim Slade, from much further down the field.
Look closer and you will note that the race showcased seven drivers from five teams covered by less than eight seconds at the finish line.
Of course, there has been plenty of races where the pointy-end of the grid has been closer; but rarely after 78 minutes of racing with no Safety Car hesitation and with each car making two pit stops.
You don’t need to be a maths expert to realise that mean David Reynolds, in seventh, gave away just over 0.1 seconds per lap to winner Shane van Gisbergen and that includes taking tyres, twice, and 120-litres of fuel in two separate gulps.
It’s a testament to the intensity of competition amongst the Supercar field that 0.1 seconds advantage per lap is classed as significant. Imagine how excited the world’s media would be if a Grand Prix featured that kind of contest? They’d lose their proverbial marbles.
I am convinced we’re amid a great age in Supercars racing, where the powerhouse local team of the last decade is responding to a challenge from one of the world’s most successful racing organisations.
Triple Eight versus DJR Team Penske is mouth-watering stuff and is driving the level at the pointy-end to a higher standard than ever before. They are organisations at or near the peak of their respective powers and undergoing a competitive battle both on and off the track the likes of which is usually reserved for Formula One.
That drivers the calibre of McLaughlin and van Gisbergen and Whincup and Coulthard are driving them forward makes it even better, and I haven’t even got to Craig Lowndes or David Reynolds yet.
And while the best teams are doing most of the winning (as they should in a sporting contest), it’s also a nod to teams like Erebus and Brad Jones Racing who continue to prove that if you get the right people on the tools and right nut behind the wheel, you can still be competitive against these giants.
It’s great stuff and, again, F1 would kill for that possibility.
Yes, it’s a parity formula where the cars are designed to be as equal in performance as possible, so close margins should be par for the course. And yes, Queensland Raceway is one of the shortest laps on the calendar.
Yet the variables at hand could have spread the field so much further than it did.
Supercars are often an easy target for the internet, but those comment sections on notable news websites or social media channels aren’t worth wasting your time on.
Revel instead in fierce competition between great teams and drivers and a compelling sequence of races that adds the sporting side to the often more theatrical news cycle that the media feed on.
You’ll find it to be a refreshing break from the doom-and-gloom merchants to suggest the sport is dying.
Does it have issues? Of course. But the racing product is world class and for as long as that remains so the sport will be in decent shape.
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