THE Australian Racing Group’s suite of motorsport categories looks set to find a new home for 2022 – on Stan Sport and Nine.
While the racing organisation nor the broadcaster is yet to confirm the deal, V8 Sleuth industry sources suggest a deal has been done that will see its categories – including TCR Australia, S5000, Trans Am, GT World Challenge Australia and Touring Car Masters – appear on Stan and Nine this year as part of ARG/Motorsport Australia Championship events.
Live coverage is expected to feature predominantly on Stan Sport, though the level of coverage on free to air channels on Nine or its digital channels remains unclear.
Stan has recently added a range of motorsport to its Stan Sport service, including the IndyCar Series, World Endurance Championship, World Rally Championship and today it announced Formula E would also be shown on Stan Sport this year.
It’s also understood that Supercars Media will produce the coverage for ARG, a logical development given ARG’s involvement in RACE, the new owners of Supercars.
Supercars had been announced as ARG’s TV partners for 2021, however the deal didn’t eventuate.
Last year the ARG/Motorsport Australia Nationals events, as well as the Bathurst 6 Hour, were televised on 7mate and 7plus streaming, however the new deal will see the ARG categories make yet another move and jump to their third different broadcaster in just four years of operation.
The inaugural TCR Australia and S5000 races were shown on SBS in 2019 before a deal was done for 2020 to show them on Channel 7 (prior to the series’ not running due to COVID-19), an arrangement that carried through into 2021.
The deal is very, very late given the first round of this season, Race Tasmania at Symmons Plains, is only a fortnight away on February 11-13. That event will be headlined by TCR, S5000, Trans Am and three local Tasmanian categories.
The on-air line-up for the broadcasts is to be publicly confirmed, though the move away from Channel 7 means the likes of Mark Beretta, Abbey Way and Brad Hodge aren’t expected to be part of the 2022 line-up.
What the new deal means for the likes of other on-air presenters/commentators involved in ARG’s telecasts last year – Greg Rust, Matt Naulty, Richard Craill, Jessica Dane, Chris Stubbs, David Reynolds and Jack Perkins – remains to be seen.
