HAPPY New Season! That’s the best way to start my first column of the 2013 season on SportzPower. This column started way back in mid-2010 and I am happy that I am entering my fourth F1 season for all SportzPower readers and subscribers.
Pre-season testing commenced in early February, however, it wasn’t before the sad news of HRT shutting shop came through towards the end of last year. The news is sad for two reasons; first, we will have one less team and two less cars on the grid, not to mention the few hundred F1 staff that will be unemployed! Second, Narain Karthikeyan, India’s only F1 driver in 2012, doesn’t seem likely to have a slot on the grid for 2013. In the past few weeks, there have been rumours linking him to India’s only team Sahara Force India, but these are yet to be confirmed.
This would also mean that for the first time since 2010, we could have no Indian driver on the racing grid. I wonder if this would impact ticket sales for the 2013 Indian Grand Prix or TV viewership of the sport in our country.
On the topic of TV viewership, the sport saw an overall decline in viewership last year. From 515 million viewers in 2011, the total figures for 2012 were down to a little over 500 million. Yes, while there is a dip in the audience reach, the sport still does reach out to about half a billion people around the world! The two primary reasons for this drop are programming clashes (primarily for the Chinese market) and a switch from free-to-air to pay-per-view channels (for the European markets).
While the first issue can be dealt with, it is the second change that interests the sports marketer in me. F1’s viewership figures have traditionally been built on free-to-air channels, but a move to the likes of SKY TV in the UK, have seen a drop in the numbers. However, there are two interesting pointers I take away from this. First, pay-per-view TV channels pay FOM more money for the TV rights, which in-turn increases revenues for the teams (they get a share of the TV revenues, remember?). Second, the profile of the audience increases significantly (more educated, focused, etc.) and hence could change how sponsors evaluate their sponsorship contracts with the teams. Given how sponsorship patterns are evolving, in my view, sponsors wouldn’t mind paying that extra buck if they know they are targeting a very specific audience with a higher rate of conversion towards using their brand / services.
Away from the business of television contracts in Formula1, I expect 2013 to be a very competitive season and that is because of the consistency of rules and regulations from last year. While we may not see seven different winners win the first seven races this season, I do expect competition to be closer than it was last year, both at the front and the middle of the grid. Pre-season testing in Jerez and Barcelona hasn’t revealed much and it will only be during the Australian GP weekend in mid-March when we will be able to pin-point the form factor for the first few races of the season.
Sticking to the point of form factor, Mahi Racing, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s racing team in the World Supersport Championship won the opening round of the 2013 season at Philip Island in Australia. The team was guided to a hard fought victory at the hands of their Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglo. The other Indian two-wheeler racing team, Mahindra Racing, has shown promise in the pre-season tests in the Moto3 season and I hope that 2013 is when they take the obviousness of ‘Mahindra Rise’ slogan and deliver podium performances. I am sure that the success of both these teams will spur the growth of two-wheeler racing in India.
On the four wheeler front, Sahara Force India will enter their 6th full season as a Formula1 constructor. While the team is yet to confirm their second driver alongside Paul Di Resta, the team is hoping to build on to the success they enjoyed in 2012 where they scored more than a century of championship points, their highest ever since inception.
Indian kart racers, Kush Maini and Jehan Daruvala have achieved early success in their categories in the World Series Karting races in Europe with Kush creating history to become the first Indian to win a WSK race. Saloon racer Sailesh Bolisetti has set his eyes on the Euro RaceCar Championship, whereas Audi’s racer Aditya Patel is yet to announce his plans for the upcoming season. While I might have missed out on mentioning other deserving racers, I am sure India will be well represented across the world’s best racing championships in open wheel, karts and saloon car racing. This also means that Indian companies will have a list of drivers that they can choose to support and sponsor in 2013. (Will they?)
And last but not the least, where will Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok be? For Narain, if he doesn’t get a seat in Formula1, I believe he will head to the USA where he has achieved past success in competitive racing. As for Karun Chandhok, I expect him to repeat a season in the World Endurance Championship with a works team (I hope!) and better his performances from last year. In short, 2013 will have the Indian Motorsport fan entertained more than he (or she!) has ever been before! Are you ready?
