IT MAY SEEM crazy, but Mallala should be at the top of the list to get back on a revised Supercars calendar in a post-Covid world, argues unofficial South Australian (and fiercely parochial) motorsport ambassador, Richard Craill. Here’s why.

WORDS: Richard Craill
LEAD IMAGE: Nathan Wong
IMAGES: Nathan Wong & Richard Craill

MAKE NO mistake, one of the toughest jobs in the post Covid-19 world will be working out where and when the racing world goes back to business.

The unpredictable world in which we currently live isn’t helping things because there remain so many variables.

When will we be able to cross borders? Will gatherings be limited initially, and to how many people? When will crowds be allowed to return to watch the sports they love, live? Who’s got any money left to do it in the first place?

The challenges for Supercars are both added and aided by the fact that they self-promote a good number of events on their calendar – which both gives them flexibility and forces them into difficult decisions.

Tough Choices

For instance: If we’re allowed back to racing by July but there’s no indication of when you’re allowed to bring crowds back to events, you’d be seriously considering the expense of running the Gold Coast and Newcastle street race events.

While both are brilliant, they’re geared towards recouping the significant investment required via spectator attendance and corporate sales which wouldn’t happen if they are TV only. So as good as they are for promoting the various regions, surely, you’d park them for a year, race elsewhere and just run some TV ads instead.

You could argue Perth, Darwin and Tasmania are in similar situations.

Sure, they’re all permanent circuits and could operate without a crowd – but all three are also expensive and time consuming to reach. For the teams, supports and the series itself – justifying the costs of travel for the sake of putting on a TV-only show would require significant lists of pro’s and con’s.  

The outcome – as hypothetical as it is at this point, but lets roll on – is the possibility of a condensed series, run primarily on the Eastern Seaboard and South Australia and geared towards TV rather than drawing punters through the gate.

Don’t get me wrong, I want crowds to go to the racing. But given the current world we just don’t know when that is likely to happen.  

Made-for-TV shows are the more likely scenario in the short to mid-range time frame and will be the priority.

In his Sunday feature, TRT’s Mark Walker floated some interesting ideas about where Supercars could travel in a post-Covid world to get a 2020 season away. It’s an interesting read and while some of the options seem far-fetched, necessity is indeed the mother of all invention.

So, with that and considering all the various requirements outlined above – cost, time, logistics, TV – in mind, I hereby submit Mallala for consideration, ladies and gents, to work its way back onto the Supercars calendar.

Why Mallala?

Mallala hits plenty of positive notes if Supercars are looking to get a minimum number of rounds away in the back-half of 2020.

For starters, it’s got a great history dating back to the 1960s which opens up the potential for plenty of storytelling.

From a cost perspective, a dry hire of the circuit would be an affordable proposition. Rent the track for three days, roll in what little infrastructure you need and send them.

From a travel perspective, it works too.

In fact, the potential to decamp the series to South Australia for a few weeks would make plenty of sense – especially for the Queensland teams.

Lets say you race at Mallala, then after that the series could shift to The Bend Motorsport Park for a fortnight, using the spacious pit garages to work on cars during the week.

Then the series could then run a two-day event on The Bend’s West circuit (which is crying out for more use – it’s a cracker) before shifting into enduro mode a week later for The Bend OTR 500.

(I only leave out the epic 7.77km circuit for the added costs of covering it for TV – it would need further investment and we’re all about saving money. But hey, if they can do it then I’m on board!)

That’s only one trip to and from Queensland or Melbourne for the teams and while there would be added expense in accommodation surely there’s deals to be done here: The Bend Rydges + Air BnB Super400, anyone?

I’ll take 15% if it happens, thanks.

From a racing product point of view, there’s no reason Mallala wouldn’t be up to the job.

Could you have pit stop races? Not likely. But as much as the calendar will likely change the formats, too, are likely malleable. Let’s just go sprint racing again, it might be fun.

A new surface at Turn 5 has improved the Northern Hairpin while the rest of the track remains in decent condition. It’s not billiard-table smooth and wide as a highway – but who cares? Neither is Sandown and we still race there.

Mallala always produced cracking Touring Car racing and there’s no reason why that would change.

Finally, then, we come to the money item; the real reason this should be seriously in the mind of Supercars.

I see the light!

Mallala has lights.

If we’re talking TV-only events, then doing it in the dark will be at the top of the list: Put the races in prime-time on Fox and Channel 10 and watch punters gobble it up from their couches in droves.

Are the lights as good as Sydney’s permanent set-up is likely to be? No. Are they adequate to get it on TV so you can still see the sponsors on the cars? Probably. And there are plenty of Coates Hire depots in Adelaide to bring in some additional lighting towers if required. It would be no better or worse than Sydney’s SuperNight debut two years ago.

So there you go. Run sprint races Friday and Saturday nights, under lights, at Mallala and then decamp to The Bend for a fortnight.

Actually – this could be the chance to experiment with a one-day, mid-week show on a Wednesday night. That would be sensational and the eSeries has proved people will consume mid-week Supercars action.

There’s been no better nor opportune time to take some risks with the product and see what works and what doesn’t.

Either way, it would be three rounds ticked off, while being mindful of costs for the series and teams and keeping the TV partners that pay the bills very happy indeed.

And that’s not even considering that by September we may be able to see live sport in person, too.. but that’s another story.

You know it makes sense. Beers at my place afterwards.