MOTORSPORT: New drive for Supercars

A return to the streets of Adelaide and a renewed international push are two of the key objectives for the new leadership at Supercars.

Twenty-year Supercars veteran Shane Howard has just been promoted to CEO after the $90 million ownership buyout by RACE, a marketing-based consortium that is promising an aggressive push to extend the reach and following of Australia’s premier motorsport category.

A born-again Adelaide 500 is already on the books for 2023, but waiting for a potential change of state government to the pro-Supercars opposition party led by Peter Malinauskas.

Meantime, Supercars’ international ambitions hinge on the change to the new Gen3 technical package and a switch to Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang – likely using bodywork from the all-new Ford muscle-car coming to showrooms in 2023.

“I’m here to make a difference,” says Howard, who has been Supercars’ chief operating officer for close to 20 years and has four times served as the sport’s interim CEO.

He is emphatic about the commitment to a return of the Adelaide 500, which was one of Supercars’ marquee events for more than a decade.

“Obviously, we’d embrace that and grab it with both hands. That was an amazing event and we would love to be back in Adelaide with a street circuit.

“If the opportunity comes to us, then we will deliver it and do whatever necessary to deliver that event at its highest level.”

Howard also confirms that the COVID-19 situation in NSW is unlikely to affect the season start at the Newcastle 500 from March 4-6, and his team is also pressing ahead with a scheduled return to New Zealand in September.

“We will work with governments to deliver the events and governments want major events to go ahead. We're working on Newcastle to be on the scheduled dates,” says Howard.

“We will be having an event in New Zealand. We're in conversation with the New Zealand government constantly.

“We have a very strong supporter base, they're a very loyal base, and we've raced there for a number of years and that market is extremely important to us. We’ve navigated the last two years and we will comply and adjust if necessary, but we are planning to execute that event on the nominated date.”

The international push could include anything from sales of the Gen3 cars or Intellectual Property, with support from Supercars team owners for new championships or fly-in races similar to previous visits to China, the USA and the Middle East.

“We’re the best people to promote our category internationally and take up those opportunities and I'm really looking forward to that,” says Howard.

“[Gen3] allows us to open up to more manufacturers and then an international strategy supports all that. I think that's very important. It's very important for our growth and our expansion.”