Lights, camera, action: what happens at Supercars Media Day

What happens when you put cameras in front of race car drivers?

Chaos, usually.

That’s the case at Supercars Media Day, where a mountain of work across several stations is compiled, setting up the look and feel of a new season.

Media Day, held at Fox Sports in Sydney, becomes a whirlpool of lights, camera and plenty of action.

However, it’s more than just ’smile and wave’.

Capturing a season

The balance of content for a season is taken in a single day, across multiple stations.

The stations comprise of a series of still photography, social media clips and broadcast vision. However, no two stations are the same.

The longest station, at approximately 40 minutes, is allocated to Supercars broadcast. In front of a state-of-the-art LED wall, drivers pose for sequences for the broadcast opener and wipes, among other takes.

Drivers also sit down for a series of interviews, bespoke to each driver and/or race weekend, which are filed and edited for packages throughout the season.

Still headshot photography is captured for Supercars Media by veteran photographer Mark Horsburgh, which are primarily used for the Supercars broadcast and website. Daniel Kalisz, meanwhile, takes headshots for Getty Images.

TGI Wildcard captures still and video content for marketing purposes, which extends from key visuals to TV commercials, and from posters to merchandise.

More video content is captured by broadcast partner Kayo SPORTS and Foxtel, for both TV, stills and social media, while the bp Adelaide Grand Final team also has a station dedicated to promoting the season finale.

Finally, teammates come together for a series of head-to-head challenges with Supercars Digital, while News Limited and AAP journalists also capture interviews for print.

Personalities of a sport in fast forward

In an ever changing world amid the rise of social media, fans have drivers and the sport at their fingertips, 24/7.

Media Day is different than it was 12 months ago, let alone 10 years ago. Content is tailored to each platform, even each social media channel, from Instagram to TikTok.

Content isn’t just captured — it has to be packaged together quickly, sometimes for immediate use. See Supercars’ social media channels, where teasers are drip fed in the lead-up to Round 1.

Drivers and their team representatives need to be agile to stick to a strict schedule, which is managed by Supercars staff. If a session runs over, there could be a knock-on effect on the whole day.

All told, while posing for pictures or debating whether tomato sauce belongs on the fridge seems benign, it’s a great opportunity for fans to see what drivers are like out of the car, and away from the track.

What the drivers think

Media Day is a busy day, now spread over three days across 24 drivers and 12 teams.

However, it’s also a chance for drivers to link back up with those they see trackside, whether that’s being asked to do TV interviews, or give a quick grab on anything and everything throughout the season.

“It’s busy but fun,” 2024 Supercars champion Will Brown told Supercars.com.

"When you're a rookie, you're like, 'this is the best day ever'. And then as you get older, you slowly see the grid change each time you start a new year.

"It's good to get all the filming done. Lots of photos, lots of filming, lots of social content that goes out throughout the year."

Perhaps the biggest risk for drivers is their appearance on Media Day. A questionable haircut, could come back to haunt them, encouraging additional shoots throughout the year.

"I need to keep my hair right now,” Brown laughed.

"Broc's [Feeney] obviously got the beard going, he might need new pics later.

“A lot of the stuff is generally a pretty straight face thing, but when you start smiling or laughing, you’re in trouble.”

In a nutshell, Media Day is fun. It’s done at a million miles an hour, with plenty of laughs, smiles, bizarre revelations and everything in between.

Just make sure you don’t break when trying to give your best Blue Steel… which as many drivers found out, was easier said than done.

Fans can catch the new look drivers and cars on track in Sydney on February 20-22. Tickets, including for the free Friday, are on sale now.