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Former Bathurst 1000 winner David Reynolds has called on his fellow drivers to unite to form a driver’s association to help make the sport safer and more exciting for fans.
He is calling for a unified organisation similar to the successful Grand Prix Drivers Association and AFL Players Association, which would allow the sport’s stars to work together on issues such as track safety, car design and off-track fan and media relations as well as supporting drivers after their career is done.
“In our sport the drivers have no say. Zero,” Reynolds told CarsGuide.
Reynolds believes creating an association would allow drivers to communicate their opinions and feedback to both Supercars management and Motorsport Australia (the sport’s national governing body) in a clear manner which would help the drivers feel more engaged.
“We 100 per cent need to do that now,” Reynolds said. “We need some sort of standing arrangement with the governing body so we can influence things, in terms of making it safer and better.”
He added: “For the sport to progress, it has to happen. Otherwise, you’ll have people disgruntled and you can’t have that.”
It’s not the first time such an idea has come up. In the early 2000s, then drivers Steven Richards, Greg Murphy and Russell Ingall led an attempt to form a V8 Supercars Drivers Association. The trio managed to sign up approximately 60 per cent of the field - which included paying a membership fee - but without a unified front it eventually fell apart.
“You’ve got to get everyone involved,” explained Murphy. “It’s almost got to be compulsory; if you’re in the field, you should be in the association. That’s essentially where it broke down. You’ve got to be 100 per cent committed to it.”
While there were some positive conversations with Supercars management at the time, Ingall said the organisers and team owners were against the drivers forming an association out of concern they would demand a larger piece of the sport’s finances.
“The teams were worried we’d start demanding gate money or something like that,” Ingall said.
Another major issue in the failure of the drivers association forming in the 2000s was the time-consuming nature of competitive sport. Reynolds admits as much as he wants to help form a driver’s body, he is too focused on maximising his career to commit to leading such an initiative. It’s a sentiment shared by the former drivers.
“I don’t think there’s someone volunteering to put the time and effort in unless there’s some sort of reward or incentive,” explained Murphy.
Ingall said he understood that the demands of racing in the sport make it hard for a current driver to lead an association, but he cautioned the current field that it’s a worthwhile endeavour for their long-term interests.
“The truth is the drivers are flat out driving around in circles, but they should pay attention to it because it could affect them down the road,” Ingall said.
The obvious solution is to find a now retired driver to help head the association and support the current field, as is the case with the Grand Prix Drivers Association that is chaired by former racer Alex Wurz, with a pair of current drivers acting as directors. It’s a strategy that Richards believes is the right one and worth considering as he believes now is as good a time as any to establish a Supercars Drivers Association.
“One hundred per cent it could,” Richards said. “With Gen3 coming on, there’s a good opportunity. It’s about letting them [Supercars and team owners] know that you’re not a splitter group, but you’re in it for the best interests of the sport.”
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