Kurt Kostecki played three wildcards with Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2021. Photo: Christian Hartung
Roland Dane, who partly represented the interests of the teams in the sale of the Supercars business, has explained why the starting field will remain limited to 26 cars under the new owner.
Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises Ltd (RACE) recently acquired Supercars after acquiring shares previously held by Archer Capital and the teams in the category.
As part of the exchange, the Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) system was dissolved and replaced by the Racing Charter (TRC) teams.
For various reasons, RACE will only ever have 26 charters available.
“There are all kinds of reasons for having a number around that type of number,” Dane told Speedcafe.com.
“There’s space in some pit lanes, it’s the size of the transport when you go to New Zealand. What is important for everyone is that you know what it is and, of course, have the balance between unlimited cars and too thin a spread and teams that are robust and economically sound in the long run. “
The Supercars field has had no more than 30 full-time entries since the mid-2000s.
For Dane, more is not necessarily better. From his point of view, there has to be a balance between quality and quantity.
“Even in economically difficult times, the starting fields are still among the best supported in motorsport worldwide,” said Dane.
“We didn’t go under 24 cars. We’ll be 25 next year and if we go back to 26 it’s supercars.
“But the days of driving around with 30 cars are over. There have never been 30 competitive cars.
“So if you want to fool around, you have Super2 and Super3. So there are many other categories. If you want professional motorsport, then this is supercars. “
An important change in the composition of the category will be the function of placeholders.
From now on, teams can only have one wildcard participation in a sprint event and one wildcard participation in an endurance event throughout the season.
This means that cases like this year with Thomas Randle and Kurt Kostecki, who each contested three wildcards, will not be repeated.
“Every unit, no matter if it is an existing team or a new team, can drive one wildcard per year in a sprint race and one wildcard per year in an enduro,” explained Dane.
“You can’t do four wildcards and stuff like that, if you want to do it go and buy someone a charter. So the idea is to support the teams by making sure that the values of the charter are improved. “
Speedcafe.com assumes that the terms of the TRC have been agreed on a five year basis.
However, the existing teams, all of which have been transferred from the REC to the TRC, may sell their charter to a party approved by Supercars.
“They’re selling their charter to a third party, an existing team, or a new team that obviously depends on Supercars seeing that person as a reasonable person or entity, and it has always been,” Dane explained.
“That cannot be withheld inappropriately. So if Egglestons want to buy a charter, they have to negotiate a sale with someone and then get supercars for ratification. “
Dane was joined by Rod Nash and Brad Jones to represent the teams’ interests in selling supercars.
