‘Perfect opportunity’: Tunnicliffe discusses new Supercars broadcast role

This weekend’s Merlin Darwin Triple Crown marks a significant change of the guard for Supercars’ world-class broadcast team.

Award-winning producer David Tunnicliffe will step up to lead Supercars' sports’ television production arm, replacing outgoing general manager of television and content Nathan Prendergast.

Tunnicliffe will officially begin his new role following the Hidden Valley event, which kicks off on Friday June 17.

The former head of production has been part of the broadcast team for the past seven years, following producing coverage of the Olympic Games, Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Motorsport at Channel Ten.

For as long as he can remember, Tunnicliffe has always had an affinity for motorsport but admitted it was Supercars that captured his attention.

"I've always loved motorsport," he told Supercars.com.

"Growing up in the UK, you have the British Touring Cars and I used to love watching the Isle of Man TT and Formula One, and I worked on World Superbikes and Moto GP back in Europe.

"Then coming over here, having watched Bathurst from afar, I always wanted to go, but being able to observe the access, and the quality of the sport was incredible.

"Coming into a sport, which had such amazing access, and where the athletes were so switched-on media-wise and available and accessible, was really attractive.

"The quality of the competition is so good.

"During the time I've been involved, we've had the likes of Scott McLaughlin, and if you look at the record books, you'll think there are only one or two blokes who have dominated.

"But when you delve deeper, there's never a dull moment, there's always a surprise, and there's always a joker in the pack.

"That's not like it's been an easy run for those guys who have won so much.

"The quality of the competition, the quality of the sport, the accessibility from a television point of view, and the ability we have to push the boundaries within the broadcast, to take you into places that you wouldn't normally be able to go, like any other sport, is something really cool.

"It's something that is pretty unique to Supercars, and it's something that we cherish because it means we can do so many cool things within the broadcast."

'Tunners' as he is known in the paddock, said he hopes to bring more than two decades' worth of broadcast experience to the role which was held by Prendergast during his 18-year tenure.

"I've said to several people that we are really, really lucky with where we are as a broadcast,” Tunnicliffe said.

"We are envied and admired across the world for the quality of broadcasts that we do.

"That's down to a lot of people whose footsteps I follow, from years and years gone by that have set the benchmark.

"The job we have is to not just continue to make the same standard, it's to continue to evolve and improve.

"What I've said to people is, I want to make sure we do as good a job, but with every round, I want to look where can we improve, how can we make this better.

"It's not about standing still, it's about ensuring we continue to deliver a great product, but also continue to improve it.

"I think the great thing about the team that we have both in Supercars as a business and as a wider broadcast team, is that we always talk about how it's a family for us.

"We travel together, we work together, we socialise together.

"The environment we work in is very, very important, and it's hopefully reflected on air.

"I worked for a long time with Nathan, before he took the top job, and he and I are really good mates.

"We have worked really closely together, we are very different in both our backgrounds of the direction our TV careers have taken, but together, we worked really well.

"We used to bounce ideas off each other all the time, and he's someone I've learned a lot from."

"Nath has always helped me, and I think we will continue to talk and our friendship won't change."

Yorkshire-born Tunnicliffe first worked with Supercars as a supervising producer for Channel 10’s Sports Tonight programme.

He attended his first Bathurst 1000 in 2006, citing his interview with Mark Skaife following his historic pole lap as a standout moment.

Remaining with Sports Tonight until its conclusion in 2011, Tunnicliffe produced highlights shows for Channel 7 before returning to Channel 10 in 2014.

Following a stint overseeing the content for the motorsport show RPM, Tunnicliffe joined Supercars as a Senior Producer in 2016.

For Tunnicliffe, his career highlights remain with whom he has worked on the award-winning, globally-recognised broadcast.

Broadcast host Jess Yates (left) with Mark Skaife (centre) and Marcos Ambrose (right)

"I've been really, really lucky to work with the likes of Neil Crompton, Mark Skaife, Mark Larkham, and particularly Jess Yates," Tunnicliffe said.

"Jess as an anchor and leader of the broadcast is exceptional, not just in terms of TV presenting skills, but editorial, knowledge, and opinion.

"Jess and I have always had a really good working relationship and can bounce ideas off each other.

"It goes for all of the broadcast team that we have an innate trust in each other, that we all know that we're working towards the same goal.

"Opinions and help are never too far away if you need it, and we can all trust each other to help each other.

"The people we have in the team are exceptional professionals, we all help each other all the time to make sure that the product is the best it can possibly be."

Tunnicliffe joined the Supercars broadcast team in 2016

Tunnicliffe explained he is relishing the opportunity, despite knowing he has big shoes to fill.

"There was no kind of thinking [about taking the role]," he said.

"Opportunities like this don’t come along very often.

"You could quite easily sit in a job, and I love the senior producer's job, I love it, absolutely love it.

"You could quite happily sit and do that for the rest of your career.

"But in three years’ time when somebody else is taking the top job, who stays there for 20 years, would I have regretted it? Absolutely I would.

"I want to progress, I want to help the sport and the broadcast progress, and it was a perfect opportunity for me to put myself in the frame and to step up and to really use my experience within the sport and within the broadcast team to continue to improve it."

The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to the Northern Territory this weekend for the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown. Tickets are available here.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo, and will be broadcast live and free on Seven.