Former champions Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin have backed a radical shake-up to the Supercars championship format that will see the introduction of a “finals” series.
But fans are far from impressed, with social media labelling the changes a “gimmick” that “nobody asked for” that would make a “mockery of the championships (Mark) Skaife, (Dick) Johnson, and Whincup won.
Under the new format to be introduced from next season, the top-10 in the championship after the Bathurst 1000 will make the ‘finals’, and have their points reset.
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After the next race meeting at the Gold Coast, the lowest three will be eliminated, leaving seven to do battle at the next round at Sandown. Three more will then be eliminated, leaving four to contest for the championship at the “grand final” in Adelaide.
It’s the biggest overhaul to the category’s format in its three decade history.
Speaking at a launch event in the Mount Panorama pit lane ahead of this weekend’s Bathurst 1000, Triple Eight team boss Jamie Whincup said team owners had collectively been pushing for Supercars to “get out and have a crack”.
“They have certainly done that. We expected a small swing, but they have had a massive swing,” he said.
“A sport that doesn’t keep changing and evolving eventually becomes uncompetitive.”
NASCAR has run a similar system for more than a decade, and fans are still polarised.
On social media, three-time champion Scott McLaughlin backed the change, even when it was pointed out under the new format he would not have won the 2019 championship, despite winning 18 of the 32 races held that season.
At the Gold Coast 500, McLaughlin had a massive crash during qualifying on the Sunday morning, and did not take part in the race. The forces of the crash were so big, a piece of suspension was launched onto a ninth-storey balcony.
The crash would’ve been enough to put him in the bottom three, and eliminated from contention.
“I like it, gotta be good and consistent at the end over three super tough tracks. Everyone hates change, but I feel this will be a good one,” he said on X.
“I probably would’ve not sent it that hard through the (Gold Coast) chicane in qualifying and sent a RR damper through someone’s porch window on the 9th floor.”
At the launch event, Supercars chief executive Shane Howard said the format was devised after consultation with fans, and wasn’t concerned about criticism.
“There’s some complexity to it, and we get that, but at the end of the day it’s going to deliver some very exciting racing and a grand final everyone will love in Adelaide,” he said.
https://twitter.com/smclaughlin93/status/1843804124305035428
“We consulted with a lot of fans and a lot of stakeholders and had an extreme amount of support.
“I think, like any change, it can come with some degree of criticism. A lot of people don’t like change and that’s a fact.
“We’ve made the change, we’ll go through it next year, it may need some tweaks. Let’s see. If something needs an adjustment, then we’ll look at it.
“The longest march starts with the first step, and we’ve started here today.
He said the overhaul was also “very well received” by drivers during a briefing.
It’s not just the points format that will get a shake-up, the format of race weekend will also get an overhaul.
With the exception of the Bathurst 1000, the number of practice sessions will be slashed, in favour of an extra 1200km of racing spread over the course of the season.
There will also be races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Sydney, Townsville and Adelaide meetings.