TCR and Trans Am trying to join Supercars program

Could the front-wheel-drive turbo TCR terriers play in front of a new crowd and bring different corporate support to the Supercars program?

In what is being viewed as a shock move by industry insiders, it appears likely that the Australian Racing Group (ARG)-owned TCR series could join the Supercars undercard in 2025, with its Trans Am series also a slight chance to join in the fun as well. 

The ARG categories have joined the loggerhead of categories trying to run with Supercars, leaving the nation’s premier category with a good headache as it tries to determine the right mix for its race weekends.

The Supercars race weekends this year featured Super2 at six rounds with two levels of Porsche Carrera Cup, Toyota GR86, Touring Car Masters, V8 Utes, Aussie Racing Cars and Sports Sedans also regular support categories. 

ARG looks to finally have gained a compliant audience after years of trying to get TCR onto the calendar, but it appears Trans Am is being looked upon less favourably at Supercars. 

The change in heart at Supercars is being triggered by key personal changes over the past few years, with the TCR now seen as expanding its reach rather than threatening its market dominance by pulling in different levels of corporate support and maybe even expanding the fan base.

Given this possible partnership was what ARG originally envisioned when Garry and Barry Rogers bought into Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises Ltd (RACE) which owns Supercars, but was met with deaf ears, it is an abrupt about turn by all parties to make it even possible, but our sources reveal the approaches so far have been viewed favourably, although it is far from being a done deal.

ARG has ramped up its approach to Supercars on the back of the SpeedSeries being handed over to the SRO Group which has a focus on longer semi-endurance GT3 and GT4 racing.

The SpeedSeries previously featured TCR and Trans Am, and perhaps naively, all assumed the ARG categories would move over to the SRO-run series. 

Motorsport Australia has confirmed its withdrawal from running the series after losing in the region of $400,000 on its series during 2023.

We believe ARG feels it would be pushed to unfavourable time slots for its race to accommodate the long GT events, and that without suitable TV or fans at the track, its competitors would rather it pursue Supercars where it thinks it will get a better deal while also contributing to the Supercars bottomline. 

Competitors and category managers have also expressed concerns about the costs for categories to participate on the SRO program, with significant entry fees being discussed.

We can confirm that ARG has made a formal approach to Supercars, with a Supercars spokesman saying the categories are now under consideration for several rounds in 2024, but said it was far from a done deal. 

The need for an about-turn for Supercars with regards to TCR attitude has been talked about among industry insiders, but there was always an ‘us versus them’ situation, and that Supercars would never want to give the battling TCR tourers any oxygen … Let along expose TCR to its own audience.

That stance is now softening and the stars are aligning just as the Rogers, father and son, had hoped when they originally got involved with RACE. 

Trans Am cars already have exposure to Supercars audience via their participation at the Vailo Adelaide 500. A number of Supercars drivers also run the series and occasional races, with some calling for Trans Am to be treated as a third-tier category for Supercars, which doesn’t seem to excite Supercars but could happen as a de facto arrangement.

In an even bigger surprise, the likely outcome of TCR joining the Supercars program could also see the return of a TCR World Tour round at The Bend as part of the Supercars endurance event next September.

Two rounds of the TCR World Tour were run in Australia last year at Sydney Motorsport Park and Bathurst, but Australia was not put on the schedule for the seven round series this year.

The owners of The Bend, the Shahin family, are keen to continue to showcase the venue with ‘international style events’ and the addition of an international event to the Supercars enduro would attract the sort of attention they are seeking.

With the Supercars series now pretty much locked in for 13 rounds next year and revisions to the race formats now almost confirmed, the next step is to lock down the support categories. 

We expect an announcement on the calendar before Bathurst, but not have the makeup of the undercard for a month or two after that.

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.