Why Supercars would settle for an anticlimactic title race

Would you rather be a Bathurst 1000 winner or a Supercars champion?

It's a common question in Australian motor racing circles. If you could just choose one, which would it be? The answer often depends on who you're asking and what their CV looks like. A serial title winner will tell you a season's work is worth more than a day's. At the same time, there are plenty that wouldn't trade their Peter Brock Trophy for anything.

As common as it may be, the question carries a little more pertinence this year as, for the first time in two decades, the Bathurst 1000 won't just contribute to crowning a champion but will also play host to the season finale.

There was, of course, a time when the series and Bathurst were entirely separate. Not a single one of Peter Brock's nine Bathurst triumphs are on his tally of 48 Australian Touring Car Championship race wins. It wasn't until 1999, following the Super Touring/V8 Supercars showdown, that the Great Race started counting for points.

Having the event as part of the championship makes sense. It's a heck of a bargaining chip when it comes to doing advertising and broadcast deals. And the opportunity to tell the story of the ongoing championship battle to the biggest TV audience of the year can't be underestimated; the major footy codes finish in October and a casual viewer may be looking for something to fill the void, at least until the cricket starts. It's why that early October slot, a few rounds from home, works so well.

And the reality is that being part of the championship hasn't had much of an effect on the race itself. It will always be the Bathurst 1000. It will never be just another race or just another opportunity to add 300 points to your total. You just don't see drivers cruising around, playing it safe and thinking of the big picture.

That even goes for the likes of seven-time Supercars champion Jamie Whincup, who openly admits he puts the title before Bathurst.

"I've always said the biggest prize of the year is the championship, closely followed by Bathurst," he said earlier this week. "But, you just race. You're not going to do anything different. You just go absolutely all out, and it is what it is."

The thing is, if told he could only win one race all year, Whincup would pick Bathurst. Every driver would. There's an old saying along the lines of how a good result at Bathurst can make up for an entire bad season in one go.

As perfect as it all seems, there's a reason why it was Plan C after Newcastle was called off

Does Whincup, deep in his heart, look back to the final lap of the 2014 Bathurst 1000 - a race he and Paul Dumbrell led after charging through from the back, only to lose out to Chaz Mostert/Paul Morris when he failed to heed team instructions to save fuel in the closing laps - and think 'who cares, I won the championship'? It's doubtful.

Yet, despite being famous for his bad luck/poor decision making (depending on who you ask) at Bathurst, Whincup has won the Great Race four times. Twice those Bathurst wins came in championship years. And that's the sweet spot. Drivers don't want to pick one or the other, they all want both. One of the great things about being a Supercars driver is that you get two cracks at major glory each and every year.

But what happens when they fall on the same weekend?

There are some very good reasons that Bathurst has been granted season finale status this year. For one, it's the race that has to happen for the sport to get through the pandemic. It's the big ticket item required to appease sponsors and broadcasters that, for reasons beyond Supercars' control, haven't got what they signed up for this year.

Sending the Victorian teams, who have all be in exile from their home state since early July as Melbourne battles a deadly second COVID-19 wave, home before Bathurst would be too risky. Australia's internal borders are fickle beasts right now.

Those five teams therefore have to stay on the road, and the best way to convince people who have been away from home for nearly two months already - without seeing their partners and/or kids - to plug on for another six weeks is the promise of a long off-season at the end of it.

There's also the little matter of the New South Wales government, which pays for the right to host the title-decider within its state borders. For years it was the Homebush street circuit on the outskirts of Sydney. It was then moved to the spectacular beachside Newcastle venue, which was meant to host the final round again this season.

When that couldn't go ahead thanks to the pandemic, the first plan was a separate sprint race at Mount Panorama in February next year. That concept was quickly harpooned by the fact that plenty of sponsor/driver/broadcast contracts end on 31 December. Plan B was a night race at Sydney Motorsport Park in mid-December, but when it became clear that even that was a stretch in terms of timing due to the Melbourne outbreak, the Bathurst 1000 became the perfect option.

Perfect in terms of timing, location and even for PR spin; the race so often referred to as Australian motor racing's equivalent to the AFL/NRL Grand Final is, quite literally, now the Grand Final.

But as perfect as it all seems, there's a reason why it was Plan C after Newcastle was called off. When Bathurst was first made part of the championship in 1999, it was to help boost the profile and the significance of the series as a whole. A jewel in the crown is a fine thing to have, but Supercars has spent the past two decades striving to prove to the wider Australian audience that it's more than a one-day-a-year thing - that being the Australian Touring Car Champion really means something.

Internally, to the category itself and it's most hardcore of followers, it's been a success. Once upon a time, the Bathurst/championship hypothetical was a no-brainer. If you wanted your place in Aussie sporting history, you got it at Mount Panorama. These days drivers desperately want to win titles. The perception of the series within its own walls has shifted.

But the harsh reality is that, outside of Bathurst, Supercars is still a niche sport as far as the general public is concerned. For a lot of people, it may as well only happen once a year.

When you crown your Bathurst winner and your champion separately, that can be glossed over. There's no direct comparison. But being effectively forced to crown them on the same day creates something of a doomsday scenario that threatens to expose the category's limited wider relevance beyond the Bathurst 1000.

If, for example, McLaughlin seals to the title with an unimpressive eighth at Bathurst, it won't be what people are talking about after the race. Despite Supercars' best efforts, the champion will be in the shadow of the Bathurst winners

Whatever happens, on the evening of Sunday 18 October, two drivers will be the centre of attention. They'll be the focus of the TV news bulletins. They'll be on the back of the newspapers the next day. And they'll be the Bathurst 1000 winners.

One of them may well be the Supercars champion as well. Title contenders Scott McLaughlin and Whincup will both head into the Great Race well among the favourites. If Supercars is lucky, it's a winner-takes-all showdown and someone is crowned both Bathurst winner and series champion, the ultimate triumph.

But if, for example, McLaughlin seals the title with an unimpressive eighth at Bathurst, it won't be what people are talking about after the race. Despite Supercars' best efforts, the champion will be in the shadow of the Bathurst winners - a stark reminder that the sport's mainstream appeal is still so deeply connected to that one day in October.

Perhaps the best option for Supercars is that McLaughlin, who holds a 123-point lead with four events to go, has the title all wrapped up before Bathurst. It's usually bad news for a series when the champion is crowned early. But you'd think Supercars might just take it this year.