Latest / Full Credit to the Noise / NEWS: Payne stays put + Darwin night race concerns
Transcript
- Speedcafe Team: Hello and welcome to Full Credit to the News brought to you by Authentic Collectibles. My name is Andrew Van Loren and I'm joined by Speed Cafe's managing editor, Stefan Bartholomew. Stefan, we are in Darwin. We are sitting across from each other. These are my favorite podcasts when we actually get to do it in person. It may be a little echoey in our big Airbnb once again. We do have this problem when we're on site a little bit, but anyway, how good's it to be in Darwin? It's great and I'm glad you're here too. I thought for a while you had something better to do. You've just jetted in ⁓ today, slightly later than ⁓ usual. I was a late arrival. I have spent the last few days out in the Bendelby Rangers in your lovely home state of South Australia, ⁓ doing a bit of test driving of the Ford Ranger Super Duty, which I to say was a whole lot of fun. That's a ⁓ that's a pretty cool part. Ever been up that part of your home state there, Stefan? I haven't I don't get the same junket invites as you. It's a long way to go for a free jacket that you can't use this weekend. ⁓ it wasn't for the it wasn't for the jacket. I went there to drive the cars and ⁓ very good four driving. Very good. It's a pretty impressive part of the world. But ⁓ it did mean a slightly late arrival into Darwin. I haven't even been to the track yet. What was happening out there today? ⁓ well it was ⁓ burning hot. Actually there was a couple of drops of rain bef just before we left. It was wet it was very wet to come flying in. Yeah, so a bit humid out there. But the most spectacular part of the day was ⁓ the little TV filming session they did with all of the twenty four supercars in their indigenous liveries sitting in the pit lane. We sort of see these ⁓ trickle out in the the days leading up online when the team send out photos, but to see them all together as a collective is pretty impressive. Yeah, you'll notice that I was ⁓ basically offline when most of those were coming in and just left you to mid season livery season all to yourself. There was no Fort Junker, was there? You just went into the desert. Yeah. All right, let's ⁓ let's start with the big news of today, which is that Matt Payne has made a statement about his future. Obviously there's been a lot of talk about you know what he's going to do next year, ⁓ because we know there's been this in interest from General Motors and team AD to try and get hold of his services. We know that that is something that Matt and his management have shown some interest in. There's been this kind of tug of war going on. There was the NASCAR offer that was rejected by the team or or blocked by the team, I guess. ⁓ but we finally have some clarity and we do believe it is actual clarity on on on how the next at least year of of Matt's career is gonna play out, and that's that he's gonna stay at Grove Racing, he's gonna honor his contract there. What happens beyond that? Well, we probably still think that he is he is going to move. But ⁓ I guess, you know, from our side, we'd like the fun of this thing rolling on, you know, well into this year, ⁓ to see what happens. But it does feel like the sensible approach to this from all sides, which is to honor the contract and, you know, keep winning races. It does feel like the sensible approach, which is kind of why it was surprising. 'Cause this has been dragging on for basically a year now. Yeah. It was sort of below the surface for a little bit. And then we sort of lifted the lid on it at the end of last season. And yeah, who approached who first about ⁓ obviously GM wanting to boost their their driver stocks, but also some suggestions that Matt's manager, Michael Patrese, was sort of shopping him around and saying that he could get out of this twenty twenty seven part of the growth deal. So it's still seemed like as of last week there was some thought that they could extract themselves in some way. But ⁓ yeah, this this puts a full stop on it. The actual statement where Matt said, I expect to be driving with the team to the end of twenty twenty seven. There's always those little linguistics that just make you think, it did leave the door open slightly, but yeah, we do believe that this is actually not only something to stop the noise about what's going on, but actually this is a a firm statement that he will be there next year. Yeah, it was it really was a it was an interesting but also pretty good position that Matt really was in because, you know, there might have been this desire to to go and tackle this GM project. But when the backstop, like the worst case scenario, is driving for Grove Racing, the form team in supercars right now, potentially winning races and championships, like i it was a bit of a win win, really. Well, that was the bizarre element of it. Yes, he's looking at the next step in his career and so we we understood that team eighteen would be basically putting a a big dollar figure to him to come and drive their supercars, but GM were also dangling some carrots about international opportunities and where that could lead for him in the future. But ⁓ yeah, it it would be a step backwards in in the short term in terms of leaving one of these grove cars that are that are super fast and full credit to Crows for sticking to their guns on saying, Hey, you contracted to us. We brought you through back in twenty twenty one. They funded him from Career Cup to Super Two, promoted him to the main game and from their side they have done absolutely everything that they said they were gonna do and they've built the team basically with him to the point where they are a genuine powerhouse. So yeah. There's there's every chance that Matt can Can win a championship with them still. Yeah, I think, you know, from the outside looking in, I I agree with you that I like the aspect of this that a contract has been made to be honoured because as you pointed out a few weeks ago or a couple of weeks ago, drivers do tend to end up where they want to go, regardless of the contract situation. So I don't have any issue with a team digging their heels in and saying, No, this is you signed this bit of paper that said you were gonna do this thing and that's what we expect you to do. So, yeah, it's just been such an interesting scenario and I guess it will be interesting to see what happens into next year as well, because we're gonna have this conversation. Again, we're gonna take the contract part out of it because we know that he's out of contract at the end of next year. But a lot can happen between now and then as well. And I guess we'll kind of see how it plays out. Because imagine if Matt's a two time supercast champion by the end of next year. Well, and the part we don't know is whether there is an actual firm agreement for Matt to go to GM and team eighteen if that's already in place and it was just a matter of putting that timeline contractually. Yeah. Well, these things, people have pre agreements and all this, so I don't I don't know where they're at with that. But yeah, I'm sure on the Grove end there would be just that bit of optimism that hey, we could end up keeping him after all. But it certainly sounds like he's still on the way out. Yeah, no, I agree with that. ⁓ a bit of bad luck for David Reynolds this evening at the track to town in terms of his car overheating on the way in. I think the fan failed. They obviously put a fan in the cars to do the track to town. They don't normally run one. But the for that bad luck, this is all very good news for David Reynolds because it's hard to kind of picture a scenario where team eighteen, if they do think they have got a hold on Matt Payne for twenty twenty eight, would be looking to put anyone else in that car, in the Reynolds car for next year. Yeah. ⁓ a one year assignment is pretty rare. Groves actually did that with Lee Holdsworth when they ⁓ had to wait a year for Matt Payne to get the right licence to move to the main game. But certainly from the conversations I had today, it ⁓ it sounds like this does as good as lock Dave into that car next year. He's he's well liked by Snowy River who are sponsoring that car. The results have still been a bit patchy. It would be a more comfortable conversation for everyone in there if ⁓ If it'd been going a bit better, but that team has taken a little bit of a step forward lately, and there's every chance this weekend that they'll go pretty well. Absolutely. ⁓ let's move on to the night racing here in Darwin, which is set to come into effect next year. The Northern Territory government and Supercars announced a few days ago that the plan is to run a Friday night race at Hidden Valley, a Saturday twilight race, and then a Sunday day race. ⁓ I've definitely got some thoughts. Thoughts on this, Stefan. Obviously, it really feels like this is a government led initiative. They did try this ten years ago, ⁓ and it didn't quite get up, but it is something the government seems very keen on. And I gotta be honest, I still just don't fully get it. And I actually just dislike the idea. Like I think it's a poor decision from the government to to to push this. And I can sort of see the idea of trying to make the Friday into something more consumable for people whether they're watching on TV because it's in the evening or, you know, can come after work ⁓ to watch at the track or something like this. But to me, governments spend money on events like this. There's lots of reasons why they do that, right? But among these reasons, right near the top, is that you give people a reason to travel to Darwin in the first place to come to the event. Or for the people that aren't at the event, you try and create through TV pictures I want for them to travel to Darwin for the event in the future. Or if not to Darwin. ⁓ sorry, if not for the event, just to Darwin. Just paint the picture of what a lovely place this is to come to. And what's the best thing that Darwin can sell the rest of Australia in the middle of June? It's sunshine. It's these bright blue skies. I it rained today, but it's bright blue skies and I just think the night race we're gonna see an illuminated ribbon of ribbon of tarmac. We're not gonna see the red dirt and the green grass and people in their shorts and shirts sitting on the hill and the blue skies, like I just think that it's that that's the marketing. And I don't get why the government wants to move away from that. Yeah, I was surprised by this and mainly because as you referenced, they did have a bit of a dip at this before where the government and supercars had gotten together and gotten all excited about it and even announced it and then ⁓ It was the feedback from those running the pubs and clubs and restaurants in town that put the handbrake straight on it because they're the ones that ⁓ that benefit from the people being at the racetrack during the day and then in the being at Mitchell Street at night. At night. So I'm not sure what's changed there for the government, if it's a case of there are different priorities in terms of wanting people to explore further afield during the day and then come to the track at night. Or whether it's a case of those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. And the people in there now weren't in there before when this lesson was actually learnt. Yeah. But ⁓ we'll see. It is not a full night format. Again, as you reference, it's night Friday and then a bit of twilight and then day. So maybe they'll find the right balance for everybody. Because I mean the cars under lights do look spectacular. And it is good to I think if you're there, I think if you're there they do. And I think there's certain like Sydney obviously is a no brainer to run a night race because who really needs to see the surrounds of Eastern Creek. Like it's just, but this is one of those. It was like when they were talking about this on the Gold Coast, and it just made no sense because it is the beach and the sun and the sand that set that event apart. And you don't want just an illuminated circuit to be the TV pictures. And you know, like that there was actually a quote ⁓ from someone from the NT government in the release about how this is great for the sunset markets and the pubs and all, and you know, and it's like, how? People are gonna be at the racetrack instead of like you're racing when the sun's setting. Not people aren't at the markets. So I don't like if I owned a pub on on Mitchell Street, I'd be sitting there trying to work out what benefit I get from the fact that all the people that used to pack my pub out, well not all of them, but a portion of the people that used to pack my pub out on a Friday night are now gonna be at the racetrack drinking beer and eating chicken, nuggets and chips there instead of being in my restaurant or pub or whatever. And then on sa even on Saturday You're still closing down the window in which these people can be spending money in the city because they're gonna be at the track longer, even if it's just a twilight race. And you're gonna get more tail off from people that go, you know, when the race finishes at four thirty or five, that's prime time to hit the town. But if it's an hour or two hours later, suddenly there's indecision about whether it's worth going out. And even if they do still go out, you've cut out two hours of economic benefit to the city. And that's the bit that just doesn't quite sit right with me. So maybe this is why they announced it during the middle of State of Origin on a Wednesday night while all the pubs and clubs were full of people watching State of Origin hoping that the owners of those places didn't ⁓ hear the announcement and sort of give their feedback. Yeah. Yeah, I know I don't actually think it's I know the cars look good under lights, but I don't see it as a massive uplift in the spectator experience either, to be perfectly honest. Like Darwin always has this day at the races feel to it. Like that's Kind of what feels like. And I'm not yeah. I couldn't imagine standing outside in that burning thirty three degree heat for three straight days though. There is probably an element of that that people really want to do that with their lives these days. But the venue's set up for that. There's shade there. They've done a lot of work on that sort of stuff. Like that's not some sort of new problem that's come along for the Darwin triple crowd. And crowds are generally pretty. pretty strong. So I don't know, like I I I can I can understand supercars agreeing to do it because again, from a T V audience point of view, that Friday night prime time thing is better than doing trying to have a Friday afternoon race when people are still at work and all that sort of stuff. So I do get it and obviously the government's come to them and said, Can we do this? And they've gone, Yeah of course we can but to me the the misstep is more on the government side of having an appetite to do this in the first place. Well it is good on T V if they light it right. Yeah. And so they do have some permanent lighting in there along the front straight which illuminates the drag strip. So that's kinda already sorted and the rest of it we believe will be some temporary lighting. And you remember the first time supercars did SMP under lights and it was very dodgy. Yeah. Not great for T V not great for sponsors showing up on race cars, which is one of the first things that the teams think about when this gets announced. So there'll be a bit of cost in all that too, making sure the lighting's good enough. Yeah. Interesting. We'll see how this plays out. I wouldn't be all that sad if ⁓ if it didn't go ahead. ⁓ because I just I just like those Darwin days out there. I think it's Well you just like getting to the pub as soon as possible. Yeah, well exactly. Exact that's my point. I'm a great case study. let's move on to the Bathurst fifth event. Now this has all sort of unfolded while I was out in the desert driving four drives. So what's ⁓ what's going on here, Stefan? Well, we did think this ⁓ had fallen by the wayside because there was talk a couple of years ago that SRO Australia wanted to take over that dormant fifth Bathurst event date that was left after the Bathurst International ⁓ turn turtle. But ⁓ it's come roaring back to life and ⁓ the deputy mayor of Bathurst, Ben Fry, has spoken openly about the fact that they're entertaining a a one-off deal for twenty twenty seven, which we believe they are in discussions with SRO Australia. about and then they're gonna run a process to try to get a permanent deal up for a fifth event there at Bathurst. So yeah So what do we think that is? It's an SRO event obviously. I I would imagine the the SRO event in twenty seven if they get that going would be basically a litmus test for doing it ⁓ ongoing, which would be a G T World Challenge Australia round, G D three and also then the G D four series as well. And could be a slot for a G T four in Duro, which has been talked about a lot. Yeah, which we've s sort of thought that that may end up on the Bathurst twelve hour support card. But again, I think this is really driven by the fact that the Bathurst Council is looking for revenue anywhere it can find it right now. Yeah. Because a couple of years ago the conversation was around, well, the Bathur International didn't work. Any fifth event would need to have a really different flavour it would need to bring something different to Bathur than what the existing suite of events do. And yeah, it was it was something they weren't looking to rush into, but now they're pretty openly saying, well if we can turn a dollar out of this we'll we'll open the gates, which there is that philosophical argument around is Bathur this sacred site that needs to be used really sparingly so we don't overfish it, so to speak. Yeah. Or ⁓ is just more the merrier at Bathurst. Let's finish up with a bit of chat about Gen 3 Evo. There is fighter jets flying over our house, by the way, if anyone can actually hear that. It's it's quite distracting. Gen3 Evo, Stefan. Now this came out of a conversation that we had with Barclay Nettelfold about what sort of what's the next step of the current supercar's technical platform. and yeah, it is something that is not necessarily fully on the table, but at least partially on the table in terms of thinking about what comes next for these Gen 3 cars. Yeah, and Barclay Nettelfold was talking about twenty twenty eight for some changes and he did say everything is on the table. Yeah. But it's not really that far away when you look at it. So Definitely. Yeah. ⁓ th it's also sort of mixed in with they're still trying to work on some sort of international series. Obviously when James Warbon was in there they announced this Asia series plan, which was gonna be for twenty twenty seven and then got pushed back. But again there's no real detail on all that. Yeah. But there was a bit of work done there on seeing if they could do a batch of Gen three cars at a lower cost. Yeah with a bunch of lower cost components in them. So whether some of that transfers across to to what they're doing here. But I just don't expect there to be wholesale change. Yeah, no, that does make sense. I mean cost has been the bugbear of Gen three outside of parity, I guess. So it makes sense that Trying to streamline that sort of stuff is the next step that you would take and try and make it a more marketable car. Because that was the whole point, remember, at the start of this was trying to create a global car that you could actually sell to other series around the world. Yeah, and twenty twenty eight obviously is when they're talking about bringing Gen three into Super Two as well. Yeah. So ⁓ if there are any changes to control components or or the rear end of the car or anything like that, it would be a chance for the supercars teams to To buy new stuff while having a market for their old stuff too. So I'm sure that's part of the thinking with all of that. Yep, absolutely. All right, I reckon we'll leave it there. We have a few very busy days coming up. We'll be back with our daily podcasts each of the next three evenings. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So make sure you stay tuned to this podcast feed for those. And also stay tuned to speakcafe.com because we'll have all the news and race reports and reaction. during each of the race days at Hidden Valley.