THE SUPERCARS eSERIES has provided three weeks of high-quality entertainment since it’s inception and even if you’re not a fan of the concept and don’t watch, it’s impossible to argue that it hasn’t done good things for the sport.
The third round, on Wednesday night, was no exception as the field went to a virtual version of Mount Panorama, Bathurst, for three races.
Predictably, they were the best of the series so far – it turns out Bathurst in a simulation is just as good as it is in the real world as well when it comes to creating drama, intrigue and generally just brilliant racing.
One of the added bonuses about the Bathurst eSeries round was the addition of four wildcard entries – just like Supercars offers in the real-life Bathurst 1000 each October.
Former full-timer Simona de Silvestro, IndyCar Team Penske ace Will Power and Super2 Series regulars Brodie Kostecki and Thomas Randle joined the 25-full timers and for the most part they were all valuable additions to the show – Kostecki, in particular, racing right at the front of the field and contending for the win in the final race.
They were great additions to a field at a circuit that can handle a few extra cars, which begs the question – is this the year to mix things up further and open the real-life Bathurst event up even further.
Supercars have allowed wildcard entries in recent years, notable additions including Walkinshaw Andretti United fielding IndyCar drivers James Hinchcliffe and Alexander Rossi in a third car.
However, with the expected changes to the way the sport operates post Coronavirus, perhaps 2020 offers an opportunity to take it a step further.
With the struggles the Dunlop Super2 series is facing – they only had 13 cars at their opening round in Adelaide – perhaps it’s time to ditch their support category participation at the October event and just make them part of the show.
While you’re unlikely to get the full field to compete, if you could add another six to eight cars from Super 2 to the back of the main-game grid then it would be a worthwhile addition to the race.
There’s an argument to be made that the standard of Supercars racing hasn’t suffered since the field retracted to its current 24-car size – even at Bathurst.
Just about every Bathurst 1000 has been a thriller recently whether it’s had a larger field or not; it’s just the nature of the place.
But as I said earlier, if there’s one track that could stand a few more cars running then it’s Mount Panorama.
So, let’s say Matt White can get one of his Nissan’s on the grid, Eggleston Motorsport can field a Triple Eight-supported Commodore, Tickford adds a Mustang and a few others can build a program in and around their existing Super2 campaigns.
It would be a good addition and bring some of that privateer spirit back to the race which is one of the few things many people miss from the days of grids 40 or larger.
Once again, I’m not suggesting the race lacks anything at the moment and certainly I don’t miss the days of a completely unreliable, poorly prepared and driven Privateer entry wobbling around 10-seconds off the pace at the back of the field, generally making a nuisance of themselves.
The race has evolved beyond that and it should be a privilege to start the Bathurst 1000, Australia’s premier race.
However, such is the standard of the Super2 series it’s unlikely this would be a problem; the teams and a majority of the drivers within are highly professional and up to the job of doing a good job in the Great Race.
Throw in another wildcard from Walkinshaw Andretti United, Penske or Triple Eight and things look even better.
There will be many changes made to the way the world goes racing in the second half of 2020 but perhaps this is a tweak Supercars can make to add value to what will be, on the basis that I have to believe it will go ahead as planned, an already utterly compelling Bathurst 1000.
E SERIES SUCCESS
WHILE we all wait for the real world of racing to return, the Supercars eSeries has been an enormous success and has given the sport a leg-up against the footy codes in this unscheduled off-season.
Because motorsport is the only sport where the virtual world translates very, very similarly to the real one (you can’t virtually kick a soccer ball, but you can virtually lap Bathurst with a steering wheel and pedals) it translates brilliantly to TV.
Close your eyes and listen to the product Supercars has been delivering and it’s the real thing.
Even the entire production looks and feels like the real thing, save for real imagery replaced with iRacing pixels and polygons.
The best thing is, it’s working with ratings on Fox Sports Australia rising each week it’s been on.
And they’re good numbers, too: Australia’s subscription TV ratings are measured on an average basis per show, with the top-20 shows released to the media each day.
Since the first of April, there have been 23 of these top-20 lists, meaning 440 shows have been ranked in terms of their ratings.
The absence of live Sport has hurt the six Fox Sport Channels badly: usually they dominate the pay-TV rankings but since all major sport shut down, within those 440 shows Fox Sports content features just seven – yes, SEVEN – times.
Five of those are Supercars eSeries shows produced over the last five weeks.
It’s a huge cudos to Supercars for delivering their major TV partner a product that works and can keep the eyeballs on the sport, when no one else is watching any at all.
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