THE Bathurst 12 Hour race has such potential that the V8 Supercars organisation might be convinced to take over the promotion of GT car events.
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Speculation was rife yesterday about a possible bid following an article on the Speedcafe.com website.
There has been a history of recent conflict between the Great Race and the 12 Hour event.
According to Speedcafe, the annual Bathurst classic has operated as a partnership between James O’Brien’s Yeehah Events and Bathurst Regional Council since the 12 Hour returned in 2007.
The Speedcafe story said that it was understood that V8 Supercars was in talks to buy the promotional rights to the race in a deal said to be worth as much as $4 million.
It went on to say V8 Supercars had a well-established in-house events business which promotes 10 of the 14 race meetings on its calendar.
“The move follows V8 Supercars’ unsuccessful attempts to buy the Australian GT Championship, which runs separately to the 12 Hour, from Tony Quinn last year,” the article said.
“While O’Brien could not be contacted by Speedcafe.com today [Monday], V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton was tight-lipped on any plans the category has for the event.”
Mr Warburton told Speedcafe.com that he had been talking to Mr O’Brien “about the dates and those types of things, but other than that the rest is just speculation”.
“All I’ll say is that if we’ve ever got anything to say then we’ll say it,” he said.
Speedcafe.com also noted that V8 Supercars controversially held its pre-season Sydney SuperTest on the same weekend in February as the 12 Hour, effectively barring all of the category’s star drivers from racing at Bathurst.
“The date clash came after V8 Supercars had unsuccessfully pitched for the broadcast rights to the GT event in a plan that would have seen the race broadcast on Fox,” the article stated.
V8 Supercars later claimed its offer included combining the V8 test and 12 Hour into one event; a proposal that Mr O’Brien denied had ever been put forward.
The debacle provoked a significant fan backlash against V8 Supercars, while also causing friction between the category and Nissan, which eventually won the race with its GT-R GT3.
Notably, V8 Supercars’ interest in the 12 Hour comes as it prepares to open its rulebook to GT-type body and engine configurations under the 2017 Gen2 rules.
The category is keen to see “hero cars”, such as the GT-R, adapted to its existing control chassis as the Australian road car market moves further away from traditional four-door sedans.
Attempts by the Western Advocate to speak with Mr O’Brien yesterday were unsuccessful.
Western Advocate motorsport guru Brian Nightingale said yesterday it was all speculation “at this stage”.
“But it could have legs considering the changes that are coming in 2017,” he said.
“Promoting the 12 Hour could give the V8 Supercars organisation a crack at muscling in on the GT cars which appear to be the way of the future for both events.
“What it does tell me is that the 12 Hour race has come so far, so quickly in the past few years that it is now a big deal when it comes to motorsport in Australia.”