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2022 ARG SpeedSeries on Saturday at Bathurst: Nathan Herne wins back to back in the Trans-Am while Peugeots filled up the podium spots in Race 1 & Bailey Sweeny wins Race 2 over at the TCR Australia

by Sports Benches

Nathan Herne is unstoppable in the No.1 Ford Mustang for Garry Rogers Motorsports after he collected two from two wins today so far at Mount Panorama. He never looked out of pace on race day when he passed Tim Brook immediately and held off ever since, even though he wasn’t fastest in any of the practice & qualifying sessions as the cautions didn’t bother him. We love this Herne v Brook side-by-side rivalry. And shoutout to Herne’s team-mate Owen Kelly, who finished 4th in Race 1 just behind No.03 Ford’s Ben Grice, before he took advantage of Grice’s DNF (gearbox issue) the next race & scored the final podium spot in 3rd.

Then we turned our attention to TCR Australia, with Jordan Cox fastest in both practice sessions in the No.33 Peugeot 308 yesterday. Although, he was unlucky not to continue in 3rd when he had to stop his car on top of the penalty that precluded him from starting on the front row before Race 1. Cox’s team-mate Aaron Cameron stole the show with a comfortable Race 1 spell from start to finish, followed by another set of Peugeots rounding the other two podium spots from Ben Bargwanna (No. 71 Burson) & Dylan O’Keeffe (No. 8 GRM).

In the end, though, we witnessed a different winner on Race 2 in Bailey Sweeny over at the No. 130 Hyundai i30N for HNO Customer Racing. Now he may have been unable to get around Michael Caruso at the start from reverse 2nd, having finished 9th in the previous race earlier this afternoon. However, you have to praise his patience as this race goes on when Sweeny finally passed Caruso side-by-side at the Chase (Turn 20); that turned out to be a winning move before Sweeny got to celebrate on top of the podium for the first time.

Race 3 of the Trans-Am and TCR will take place on a bright and early tomorrow morning, before it’s all about the 6-hour feature race in Bathurst.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on when the ARG SpeedSeries highlights from Phillip Island was supposed to be on air this AM on 9Gem

by Sports Benches

I’ve tried to tune in to 9Gem this morning & watch a bit of the two-hour Round 2 ARG SpeedSeries highlights package from Phillip Island. However, I saw normal repeated programming instead, such as a quiz show named Pointless and a classic TV drama.

I don’t know what happened as to why Nine chose to remove from their schedule so late, but it’s still a lack of promise for the fans to those who don’t have the money to subscribe to Stan Sport.

Yes, it’s frustrating not to watch every ARG SpeedSeries race live like it was last season and 2019.

However, the need of $$$ to keep the series afloat amongst teams, drivers and organisers across several categories ARG runs for 6-7 events a year, has to be necessary at the end of the day, as well as benefitting an increase of genuine TV production coverage.

It’s these times we have to get used to it from now on where the good ol’ heydays of watching free-to-air motorsport non-stop are over.

Now I see two more viewing opportunities to watch the Round 2 highlights this Saturday (12.30-2.30pm) and Sunday afternoon (1.30-3.30pm) on 9Go.

But we already know the results from a week earlier by then as this isn’t a great idea to reach out to new audiences like that, especially when most of the content now is behind a paywall.

It’s better to go for a 90-minute highlights package of every other round on Tuesday night at 7.30 pm on either 9Gem or 9Go, as suggested last week.

That way, it’ll be a perfect time to help introduce a casual sports viewer to have a first look at this series, or a die-hard motorsport fan, who may not have a Stan Sport subscription, but can relive these moments from the weekend’s event.

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Motorsport

2022 ARG SpeedSeries Round 2 weekend review with the TCR Australia, Trans-Am & S5000 from Phillip Island

by Sports Benches

If the Australian Superbikes weekend at Queensland Raceway wasn’t enough to keep you excited, why not look back at four-wheel action over in Phillip Island for the ARG SpeedSeries.

We’ll start with the S5000 Open-Wheelers when James Golding enjoyed a fantastic Friday and Saturday run on-track. Not only was Golding 1st in all two practice sessions & qualifying, but he dominated Race 1 from start to finish. Although his Sunday spell wasn’t the same, at least he finished in the Top 5 all weekend long at 5th in Race 2 with four spots behind Tim Macrow & 2nd to Joey Mawson in Race 3. And 17-year-old Cooper Webster was again outstanding to stand on the podium all weekend long (3rd in Race 1 & 3). Webster was close to securing his first race win in this category earlier today on Race 2, but he’s sure he will keep his eye on the prize in a few weeks at Albert Park.

Next up is the Trans-Am muscle cars in a series of three wild races on show. We look back at this last-lap battle in Race 1 between Nathan Herne & polesitter Ben Grice for the chequered flag; when Herne benefited from these safety car restarts & overtook Grice on the inside line that sealed the winning move en route to victory lane. Meanwhile, we go into Sunday AM for Race 2 with Owen Kelly as the race winner. But it’s Herne who rebounded back on top of the podium in Race 3, which reflected his super weekend at Phillip Island in the No.1 Ford Mustang for Garry Rogers Motorsport.

And we round off with the Touring Car Australia category as this 18-year-old Jay Hanson is a bright whizkid in the No.9 Audi RS3 for Melbourne Performance Centre. He was fastest in Practice 1 and Qualifying before Hanson dominated the entire field from Pole in Race 1 against a mix of more experienced racers with the Saturday afternoon win. But Sunday is all about Fabian Coulthard in the No.24 Stan Sport Honda Civic Type R machinery for Wall Racing, where he collected back-to-back race wins through a fantastic display in Races 2 & 3. Also last but not least, well done to Ben Bargwanna with the rebound throughout Sunday in the No.71 Peugeot 308, after he finished on the podium twice (Races 2 & 3) for Burson Racing.

The S5000s will head off Albert Park in Victoria alone as part of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix support categories on April 7-10. We will see these open-wheelers re-join the ARG group on May 27-29 at Sydney Motorsports Park. On the other hand, TCR Australia and Trans-Am will be part of the Bathurst 6 Hour International schedule on April 15-17 at Mount Panorama Circuit.

If you’re lucky enough to pay $20 a month to watch Stan Sport or if you’re a subscriber right now, go and relive the highlights from this weekend and the previous round from Symmons Plains Raceway before waiting for the next race in Bathurst in a few weeks. Otherwise, the only opportunity to catch these midweek highlights for free is Wednesday from 10 am-12 pm on 9Gem.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on the ARG SpeedSeries free to air highlights on Wednesday morning next week on 9Gem

by Sports Benches

I just checked the TV guide today via the Foxtel website, where the free-to-air highlights of the 2022 ARG SpeedSeries season will be on Wednesday, March 23 at 10 am-12 pm on 9Gem.

Speedcafe reported before the season began last month that the ARG SpeedSeries highlights for the remaining six rounds on 9Gem throughout the year would slot during midweek on prime time, as a way to grow the series’ fanbase, as well as increase exposure to competitors, teams and advertisers.

Unfortunately, it’s going to play on a daytime morning which means most people would have to miss out due to work, with no on-demand content to view afterwards on the free 9Now streaming service.

Perhaps, it would be best slotted for 90 minutes between 7.30 to 9 pm on a Tuesday via 9Gem; that way, it would be a perfect time to help motorsport and causal sports fans reflect the high and low moments from the usual race weekend.

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Motorsport

Looking back at ARG SpeedSeries’ opening round weekend coverage of AWC Race Tasmania on 9Gem

by Sports Benches

Looking back at the ARG SpeedSeries opening weekend coverage of AWC Race Tasmania on 9Gem, it’s great to see Matt White back broadcasting motorsport as well as on Nine/Stan for the first time, after three decades on the air between Seven and Ten.

Alongside Matt is co-host Chris Stubbs, who has decent contacts with drivers and personnel through pit lane, where he delivered top-notch reporting right on the spot.

We would’ve also loved to see Greg Rust joining them this weekend from his current New Zealand residence, he too can be very versatile between the commentary box and pit lane in addition to his usual podcast show online but good to hear that he will be back from Round 2 next month in Phillip Island.

It’s lovely to hear Matt Naulty and Richard Craill run through on commentary with the rules and regulations in each category, while profiling several drivers where some youngsters are up and coming for huge potential. They can also capture every moment both good and bad through play-by-play on the race track.

Then we move onto the expert panel, Molly Taylor is a great example that can help increase the female demographic interest of motorsport in Australia. She brings a vast driving history of her own in rallying as well as a bit of circuit racing & is currently the reigning Extreme E champion for Team Rosberg. Plus, her doing research, knowing these drivers and interviewing them on-air will benefit Taylor’s media contribution to this broadcast coverage.

And how about we applaud a man of many talents in Michael Caruso, where he does double duty both as a driver and analyst when not racing TCR Australia. Love how he interviewed the legendary Marcos Ambrose and arch-rival in the TCR of Fabian Coulthard earlier today in the garage, then finished 9th in Race 2 after a stunning turnaround yesterday from the back of the grid to 12th, despite no practice and qualifying beforehand via a steering issue. Plus, he has a podcast while not racing called “Below the Bonnet” on Kayo with current Supercars driver for Kelly Grove Racing, David Reynolds.

So there’s your broadcasting team for the 2022 ARG SpeedSeries competition. The remaining six of seven races including Phillip Island next month will exclusively be on Stan Sport for $20 a month to watch, if not tune during a mid-week evening for an hour of highlights on 9Gem.

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Motorsport

2022 ARG SpeedSeries, Day 2/Race 2 Review of AWC Race Tasmania in Trans-Am, S5000 & TCR Australia

by Sports Benches

The Trans-Am event on Race 2 was once again filled with a series of wrecks, especially at the tricky hairpin corner that gave no time to resume racing after the first 5-8 laps.

However, we saw a bit of entertainment where Nathan Herne successfully made the winning pass off Tim Brook towards the end of lap one in the No.1 Ford for GRM, having held off top spot through the end on what was been in a yellow flag shortened race. We’d love to see Brook show off his incredible escape like he did yesterday, but just couldn’t hold off this time and end up in 4th.

Then we move onto the S5000 open-wheelers where there was a couple of early race dramas going on. We saw yesterday’s winner Joey Mawson being collected at the opening lap by team-mate Tim Slade for Team BRM, Blake Purdie’s spin at the hairpin on Lap 8 that led to another safety car out on-track & Adam Garwood’s car stopped during the Lap 15 restart.

But how good is Josh Fife in the 88 ACMFinance.com Racing machinery, who was unbelievable from start to finish, not even the restarts bothered him where he unleashed the entire field before Fife held on top spot comfortably through the chequered flag with the win.

And we round it off with the TCR Australia category through a mix of brilliant racing and bumps into the wall.

We saw the opening lap battle for 1st place with GRM team-mates side by side between Jordan Cox and Aaron Cameron, although Cameron may be unlucky to have lost out after he urgently made to pit road for repairs but what a comeback moment though from Race 2 winner Jordan Cox.

Now Cox may have experienced an unfortunate pace lap drama yesterday afternoon where he started on pit lane & finished 17th, but he did a great job holding off top spot comfortably from start to finish. More to come if he manages to keep that race-winning form going into Race 3 a bit later on and the remaining six races of 2022.

Also another shoutout to Tony D’Alberto in the No.50 Honda Civic for Wall Racing. He too made a sensational last lap pass on Will Brown in No.999’s MPC Audi RS3, and that was enough to deliver him a podium finish in 3rd.

Lots to reflect on a great weekend of racing at AWC Race Tasmania.

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Motorsport

2022 ARG SpeedSeries, Day 1 Review of AWC Race Tasmania across TCR Australia, S5000 & Trans-Am at Symmons Plains Raceway

by Sports Benches

What a way to kick off Saturday afternoon of motorsport with Race 1 of the S5000 category in the AWC Race Tasmania at Symmons Plains Raceway, nice to see James Golding dominate through practice and qualifying where he started from pole position but it’s Joey Mawson, who dominated this one from start to finish for Team BRM.

It’s also brilliant to see Cooper Webster’s mum cheer on her son from the garage. He produced a great drive for Versa Motorsport on-track in 4th behind Tim Slade, as he’s 17-18 right now while juggling with another job working at McDonald’s, according to Richard Craill on commentary. Not only he has a great chance to be on the podium or winning tomorrow for Race 2 & 3, but also a bright future ahead wherever he goes.

Then we move into the Trans-Am where it was a race filled with yellows, such as a few spins into the gravel, a fire on the grass with 10 laps to go and a race-ending wreck after Tim Shaw was collected into the wall by Nic Carroll.

We did see some good moments though with Tim Brook’s stellar start to 1st spot in the No.38 Ford Mustang for Wall Racing, having held it comfortably even though he almost lost the lead at one point & made a remarkable recovery through the tricky hairpin on the Lap 8 restart of 22.

And we wrapped up Day 1 of the AWC Race Tasmania season-opener with the TCR Australia cars on display when 18-year-old Jay Hanson won his first-ever race in an Audi for MPC Racing, Love how he instantly overtook Polesitter Nathan Morcom as soon as the race began under green before Hanson extended his lead and held top spot comfortably caution-free until the end with the win.

Plus credit to Josh Buchan on his P2 finish ahead of team-mate Morcom in a Hyundai for HMO Customer Racing, when a decent qualifying run in 4th gave him ample time to nail down a podium spot.

There’s also another special mention to Michael Caruso in the No.10 Alfa Romeo Giulietta for Ashley Seward Motorsport, he too may have missed practice and qualifying over a power steering issue but what a remarkable recovery from the back end of the grid to 12th after Race 1 thanks to a caution-free spell & the way he manages his use of tyres count under green. There’s more to come from Caruso tomorrow both as a driver and also on-air as an analyst when not racing TCR on Nine/Stan’s ARG SpeedSeries coverage, he’s a man of many talents.

Plenty of bright youngsters making a name of themselves today against predominately experienced entries through the field, looking forward to the 2nd and final day of the season-opener weekend tomorrow.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on Matt White back covering motorsport on Nine/Stan Sport’s ARG SpeedSeries coverage this season

by Sports Benches

It’s great to see Matt White cover motorsports again, who will be the face of Stan Sport and Nine’s ARG (Australian Racing Group) SpeedSeries coverage, for all seven races this season.

He will be in a co-hosting role alongside Chris Stubbs, but no plans to bring him on commentary like he did in previous years, such as the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix on Network 10 from 2015-19 & V8 Supercars on Seven from 2007-2014.

There‘s a few on-air talent out there that will do double duty on Nine/Stan, with Stubbs also reporting on pit lane, Greg Rust splitting his time both on commentary/pit lane & Michael Caruso doing both colour commentary for various categories other than his TCR Australia driving duties with Ashley Seward Motorsport.

And we round it off with veteran commentators such as Richard Craill and Matt Naulty, plus legendary rally driver and defending Extreme E champion for Nico Rosberg’s team, Molly Taylor.

It’s the first time that we will see Matt White on Nine after his long-running stints in the past with two other commercial rivals at Seven & 10, even though he’s not on contract there as Supercars Media is handling the production/on-air talent.

We would also love to see Rust back on Nine where he once made his breakthrough as announcer during the support races at the 1996 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Eastern Creek, NSW. He has had an amazing broadcasting career involving motorsports ever since, such as at Network 10 for 18 years before he moved onto Supercars Media and now doing freelance.

However, he won’t be able to travel to Tasmania this weekend due to border restrictions from his current residence in New Zealand. We should able to see/hear him throughout the season via one-hour highlights shows on 9Gem, but hopefully he makes a live return next season.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on Stan Sport and Nine Network acquiring more motorsport on Australian Racing Group’s SpeedSeries

by Sports Benches

Huge progress from Stan Sport and the Nine Network today with their Motorsports content, not only they added Formula E last week in addition to IndyCar, World Rally Championship & World Endurance Championship but they also just secured the Australian Racing Group’s SpeedSeries competition.

But it won’t be the same though unlike previous TV deals with SBS and Seven Network, when all seven races throughout 2022 will be behind a paywall on Stan Sport. Meanwhile, Nine will air the opening race live at Symmons Plains in Tasmania next weekend alongside one-hour highlights shows a week later after every round.

It’s good news if you’re a Motorsports fan willing to pay $20 a month for all of the auto racing/motoring content Stan can offer that includes a new season of same day Top Gear episodes. However, not only they will have to wait one week to watch the remaining round’s highlights for free but even though some subscribed to Stan Sport, they may have to fork out another $25 a month at Kayo for Formula 1, Supercars & MotoGP.

Then there’s the beauty of competition in a bid to try and boost subscribers when the Formula 1 rights are up for renewal at the end of this year in Australia, Kayo/Foxtel have been reported several times as the winner to extend their contract that goes back to 2015 with Network 10 but it’s still not official just yet.

If Nine/Stan managed to beat Foxtel for the Formula 1 rights, it will work out a similar mix of free and paid content model such as every race live on Stan plus the Australian Grand Prix and a few selected races simulcasted on Nine.

For now, Motorsport is back on Nine since the World Rally Championship was previously there during the Australian Round a few years ago.

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