A Visual Change And More: V8Supercars and Events
Around the world there are various forms of motorsport that are homegrown; NASCAR in the USA, the British Touring Car Championship and here in Oz we have the V8 Supercars. Of recent times the broadcast element of the category has been hosted by the Seven Network and not to universal acclaim. Not that long ago, after much to-ing and fro-ing, a two year deal was signed, for 2013 and 2014. The dollars on offer weren’t that much, in the greater scheme of things at “just” 18 million per year. Today (18 December 2013) it was announced that the rights to broadcast the Supercars would be taken up by the Ten Network and in alliance with Foxtel, Australia’s primary pay television group.
It’s a deal worth around $241 million and spread over six years, allowing the category 
management some much needed certainty in their negotiations with teams in regards to divvying up income. The breakup is said to be $45 million in advertising and a huge $196 million in just plain dollars. It’s an interesting situation with Foxtel broadcasting more useful content in high definition that the free to air networks have so far and with their main motorsport channel, Speed, being shown in both HD and SD,alongside Ten and ONE, it’s an incentive for those that haven’t already got a full HD tv or the HD package from Foxtel to do so. Timing wise is interesting as Foxtel are due to release the new IQ3 set op box/hard drive recorder with extra functionality and a bigger hard drive than IQ2 in early 2014.
More in the world of entertainment and motorsport and tv with the return of the Top Gear Festival to Sydney in early March 2014. On track hosting duties fall to Shane Jacobson, Steve Pizzati, James May and Jeremy Clarkson with the addition of V8 Supercar driver Craig Lowndes. There’s some decent format changes to the event, including the opening round of the Porsche GT3 category, (I wouldn’t be surprised if Mark Webber shows up in some capacity); his replacement at Red Bull F1 Racing, Daniel Ricciardo, will be attempting to break Mark’s lap record and a tribute to one of the most highly regarded Formula 1 drivers ever, the late Ayrton Senna. His championship winning McLaren car will be flown over and his nephew, the talented Bruno Senna, should be in attendance. As the incumbent circuit commentator for Sydney Motorsport Park, I and my co-anchor, John McCoy-Lancaster, will be working alongside the main BBC crew and a local production company holding the show together.
Just a month after this will be a first time event for the circuit, with Ferrari adding its weight to entertaining the south east Asian region by bringing to Sydney Motorsport Park their Ferrari Racing Days. This is scheduled for 11-14 April and will feature the second round of the Ferrari APAC Challenge, hundreds of privately owned Ferraris and five Ferrari Formula 1 cars. Numbers of vehicles are yet to be confirmed however 
there is talk of over four hundred cars taking part in the event. 
It’s a lot of hard work behind the scenes that the NSW Government and the operating board of SMP have done to secure these events; details for the Ferrari event including ticketing will be available soon whilst the Top Gear Festival has already proved itself to be immensely popular. More information can be found here: http://www.topgearfestivalsydney.com.au/
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