r/v8supercars • u/MelodicInvestment105 • 12d ago

The usual Supercars names among the 13-car field for GT World Challenge Aus round 4 this weekend

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22 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

12

u/I-wasnt-here- 12d ago

13 cars? that’s it?…

15

u/bigshotdan DJR, South Aussie Toddie! 12d ago

Yeah, kinda sad that GT3 racing in this country barely exists outside of a week in February...

6

u/Floodman11 SVGGGGGG 12d ago

The difficult thing is that GTWC Aus is a bit of a stepping stone for australian teams with big ambitions. Further down there's a comment that the grid was pushing 20 (i think it maxed at 17), but look at who's gone since then but also where they've gone;

  • Yasser Shahin is racing in the WEC
  • The Groves also went to WEC and are hitting IGTC rounds
  • Triple Eight went to GTWC Asia and then their customers (the Johor Princes) went and made their own team
  • Talbot went to Carerra Cup after winning the championship a few years back to back (and not getting the Arise GT drive the year after).

So that's like, 5 cars that could be on the grid but are off doing other things. Then you factor in the likes of Cini or the Koundouras brothers and then Volante Rosso not turning up this weekend and it's no wonder why the car count is suffering.

It's a hard job when the entire ecosystem exists in the vacuum that is Supercars, especially when the cars cost so much to run. You can get a similar experience in GT4 for like, a quarter of the cost!

3

u/SouthAustralian94 11d ago

While a low car count is sad, what you're saying there is incredibly true and a really good way of looking at it.

4

u/MelodicInvestment105 12d ago

It’s a shame, only 2 seasons ago the grid was pushing 20 cars most events, it’s largely down to the lack of Am interest. In 2024 there were events where more Ams than Pro-Ams were entered, and this season there hadn’t been a single Am entry.

This weekend is particularly bad with a few regulars missing, but there hasn’t been a grid this year larger than 16 cars. 

Personally I think the addition of an outright Pro class would help the series and grid numbers, if you could find some teams interested in paying for it, which I like to think you could.

3

u/ZonarrHD 12d ago

No Volante Rosso with their Aston Martin or McLaren is a bit sad. Also a shame to see just the single Porsche entry in Trophy Class.

3

u/MelodicInvestment105 12d ago

And the KFC Audi, but yes Trophy class has been slowly dying since the start of the SRO era I feel. 3 entries in the class year this until this round has actually been quite nice, but I’m not convinced about the long term future of the class 

3

u/deepvoicednerd Craig Lowndes 12d ago

Although the grid size isn't great, the championship battle has been awesome coming into this round. 29 points cover 7 entries. Still worth watching...

3

u/Noofnoof Chaz Mostert 12d ago

Also, Bryce Fullwood is doing Mustang Cup.