The Supercars Are Set To Rack Up The Frequent Flyers

Aussie born and bred - and having conquered New Zealand - the Supercars are now looking further abroad.

After yesterday's Formula 1 announcement, bosses are hungry to race (again) in Asia, even if it means running Championship rounds at events like the Chinese or Japanese Grand Prix.

“From our point of view, now we have a very good relationship with Formula 1 management and it does open up other opportunities for us,” Warburton told Supercars.com.

As it stands, China and Indonesia are top of the list as the series eyes off not one but two Asian races in 2019.

“Obviously the longer term ambition is to have two on the calendar from 2019 moving forward," he said.

“We won’t give up on that ambition and we’re working hard to see if one of the irons in the fire will deliver for 2018.”

A long-term agreement is a done deal for Indonesia assuming facility upgrades are completed at Sentul in time for racing in '19.

While a Supercar return to China's been a long time coming.

The series was last there in 2005 for a round at the Shanghai International Circuit and could go back, although circuits at Zhuhai and Zhejiang are also being considered.

“We’ve got lots of MOUs signed with various countries, but there’s a lot of background work, tracks needing to be improved," said Warburton.

All the talk is about 2019 but Asian racing could resume as early as next year if talks with the owners of the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia are successful.

And with Tailem Bend in South Australia hotly tipped to join the calendar in 2018, the Championship appears all but certain to expand to 16 events.

“The most likely outcome is we’ll have 16 championship events across the 37 weeks,” said Warburton of next year’s calendar.

“That seems to be the right mix. The fact that we can come and count the Australian Grand Prix as part of that is fantastic news.”

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