Sentul to host V8 touring-car races

Sentul to host V8 touring-car races

By Russell Williamson

INDONESIA moved one step closer to hosting a round of 5000cc
V8 touring-car racing following the takeover of the management of
the Australian series by the International Management Group
(IMG).

IMG is the largest producer of prepackaged sports programs for
television in the world and will now have responsibility for
promoting and managing V8 touring-car racing in Australia and
overseas.

IMG's senior international vice president, Australasia, Tony
Cochrane, said the company planned to expand the series to
include two races in Asia and two in New Zealand next year.

He said this could also be followed by a race in South Africa,
although this was unlikely to happen before 1998 or 1999.

"We are only going to do two races in Asia, so it is really
going to come down to a whole range of issues but certainly,
Indonesia is one of the places that we are very keen to go into,"
Cochrane said.

"Indonesia is one of the countries we have targeted and we
have a pretty good working relationship, through various
connections, with Sentul," he said.

IMG is also having discussions with other racetracks in the
region, such as in Malaysia, China, the Philippines and Macao.

Tony said there would be a decision on which tracks would hold
the races by about the end of November.

If successful, Indonesia's Sentul track could see the
thundering V8s plying its tarmac towards the end of next year.

In Australia, the V8 touring-car series -- consisting of 10
races held on a number of circuits around the country -- is one
of the most popular forms of motor sports and attracts large
television as well as live audiences.

However, Tony said, it was now time for the series to expand
beyond Australian shores as it had a very wide appeal.

"The racing and the product is very good, it is world-class
and it has just been a well kept secret," Tony said.

He said there were two major attractions in setting up races
in Asia.

"Firstly, we are very confident we can get a couple of Asian
drivers into the series, who will bring some sponsorship money
into a couple of cars and secondly, if you can be successful in
Asia, there is a booming market for sponsorship opportunities,"
he said.

He said the series currently had a viewing audience of about
600,000 people in Australia but with races overseas and the sale
of television rights around the world the audience could grow to
as much as 35 million.

In order to achieve this he said, IMG were negotiating
television rights with both free-to-air and pay providers and
were close to signing contracts, including a three-year deal with
a United States television station.

"We are currently selling the package in every country that we
can and in some of those key markets we are trying to focus in on
some very large and long-term commercial arrangements," Tony
said.

In terms of the championship, he said that although IMG had
yet to hold discussions with teams and drivers, it was likely the
Australian series and overseas races would remain independent of
each other.

However, he said, there may be a possibility for a situation
where drivers and teams earn points for the Australian series,
the overseas races and a final endurance race, which would then
be tallied up for a type of "world championship" trophy.

One of the leading drivers in the series, John Bowe, welcomed
the expansion of the series overseas.

"I feel that five-liter touring-car racing is ready to go to a
bigger audience and ready to be promoted better and I think with
someone like IMG involved, with their worldwide experience in
this sort of area, it has got to be good for the sport," Cochrane
said.

"Asia in general is an area that is going right ahead in terms
of development and there is no reason why we shouldn't take our
best form of motor sports over there. I'm sure it would open up
other avenues in terms of sponsorship for the teams," he said.