Yesterday we reported that the Motorsport Network, via their Motorsport TV service, were in line to become the new official international broadcast partner of the Autobacs Super GT Series starting this Saturday with the Fuji GT 500km Race.
We are pleased to learn that Motorsport TV will provide live coverage of the Fuji 500km and the remainder of the 2019 Super GT season, free to all, starting this weekend – instead of placing the series behind Motorsport TV’s premium paywall.
This comes after a statement from Grand Central Entertainment, the producers of the Let’s Go Racing YouTube channel (formerly NISMO TV), stating that they had an unnamed company – which we now know is Motorsport Network – had aggressively bid for exclusive coverage on their platform while Grand Central had a deal in place with Haro Sports & Entertainment, the English-language broadcast distributors for Super GT.
DailySportsCar editor-in-chief Graham Goodwin reported shortly after that it was Motorsport Network who were the unnamed company mentioned by Grand Central/Let’s Go Racing, and it was believed that the series would be made available only to premium Motorsport TV subscribers at a monthly or annual rate.
But, in what we can assume is a response to intense demand from Super GT’s burgeoning international fanbase, every round of the 2019 season will be made available freely on Motorsport TV – a gesture of good faith that is seen as increasingly rare amidst the various criticisms of their ruthless strategy of acquiring various motorsport media outlets and image archives since 2015.
There will be no coverage of official practice and qualifying sessions for the Fuji 500km, however, just the race itself – it can be safely assumed this will continue throughout 2019.
The broadcast team for the English-language coverage of Super GT on Motorsport TV has not yet been confirmed, other than that Sam Collins and Rob Barff will not be a part of the team.
Super GT World 