Team principals press conference back at Tasmania SuperSprint

Supercars team bosses will again front the media in their own press conference at next week’s Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint.

The team principals press conference made a popular return at the most recent event of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship, the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint, having not been held since 2019, before the pandemic.

Last month at Wanneroo, it was the customary post-practice undertaking except that, instead of the three fastest drivers attending, their bosses sat behind the desk instead.

Next time around, Supercars is adding a press conference on Friday afternoon, before the field hits the track for the first time for opening practice on the Saturday morning at Symmons Plains.

Scheduled to attend are Erebus Motorsport’s Barry Ryan, Tickford Racing’s Tim Edwards, and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Bruce Stewart.

That makes for representation from one Chevrolet and two Ford teams, with Erebus currently leading the charge for the former as both the drivers’ (Brodie Kostecki) and teams’ championship pace-setter.

Team principal press conferences are a standard feature of every Formula 1 grand prix weekend and are also held on a regular, albeit far less frequent, basis in MotoGP.

IndyCar sometimes calls up team bosses/car owners to participate in post-session press conferences with their driver(s), while NASCAR’s feature the winning driver, crew chief, and car owner as a matter of routine.

While drivers are generally regarded as the stars of the show, team principal press conferences can be spicy affairs, and give media the opportunity to ask different types of questions which facilitates broader coverage of the sport for fans.

With Grove Racing’s David Reynolds fastest in Practice at Wanneroo, from the Blanchard Racing Team’s Todd Hazelwood and Erebus’s Kostecki, it was Stephen Grove, Tim Blanchard, and Ryan who fronted journalists after the session.

Track action at Symmons Plains starts on Friday, May 19 with practice and qualifying for support categories, while the Supercars Championship field rolls out on Saturday morning at 09:00 local time/AEST for Practice 1.

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