Seven’s schedule revealed this morning, included coverage of Supercars season opener Sydney 500, but not the Bathurst 12 Hour (February 13-15). It had been shown in its entirety by Seven since 2015, so it’s the first time the race won’t be shown on FTA.
Its Foxtel/Kayo exclusive this year
Details of the new broadcast team and graphics. Seven has a reduced slate this year, covering only 5 events beginning on February 21-22.
Supercars Preview Show
Seven revs up for 2026 Supercars season
Sydney 500 live and free this weekend on Seven and 7plus Sport
The 2026 Repco Supercars Championship roars back to life this Saturday with the return of the Sydney 500, as the Seven Network gears up to deliver a high-octane season opener live and free from Sydney Motorsport Park in Eastern Creek.
Seven’s coverage kicks off at 2.30pm AEDT on Saturday, 21 February with an encore of the Supercars Preview Show on Seven, 7mate and 7plus Sport, before delivering wall-to-wall action from the track from 4:30pm AEDT. The excitement continues on Sunday, with Supercars coverage returning for a second five-hour telecast from 1.00pm AEDT.
Leading Seven’s coverage for the 2026 Sydney 500 are 7NEWS Sydney and sport presenter Matt White and 7Sport reporter and champion driver Molly Taylor. Together, they will steer viewers through a jam-packed weekend of racing.
Supercars legend and six-time Bathurst winner Garth Tander steps into the lead analyst role, joined by Supercar Championship winners James Courtney and Mark Winterbottom. Experienced callers Chad Neylon, Matt Naulty and Richard Craill will handle play-by-play duties, with Riana Crehan reporting from pit lane alongside Molly Taylor.
Fan favourite Craig Lowndes will also feature prominently across Supercars coverage throughout the season.
Seven’s Head of Motorsport, Angela Rampal, said: “It’s extremely exciting to be back at the start line of another Supercars season, after a tremendous 2025 across Seven and 7plus Sport where each weekend had an average total TV audience of 411,400 and streaming was up 111% compared to 2024.
“There are so many passionate motorsport fans across Australia and we are proud to be able to deliver live and free coverage for these fans for the biggest Supercars events, starting with the Sydney 500 this weekend.
“The Supercars season ended on such a high last year at the Adelaide Grand Final where Chaz Mostert took home the crown in a new Finals format. I have no doubt that the likes of Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Kai Allen and many others will have learnt many lessons and will be aiming to have a new face holding the trophy at the end of the season,” she said.
“It’s an exciting era that the Supercars landscape is entering, with up-and-coming stars taking the mantle from recently retired legends. Seven is thrilled to be able to deliver motorsport fans the very best coverage for each marquee event.”
Ahead of a massive weekend of Supercars Championship action, Seven will turn up the excitement with Inside Toyota’s Road to Supercars at 3.30pm AEDT on 7mate and 7plus Sport. Viewers will get an exclusive look at the creation of the Toyota GR Supra – from design and development through to testing – as it prepares to take on the 2026 Supercars Championship.
Supercars on Seven – Sydney 500
From 2.30pm AEDT pm Saturday, 21 February
Stream all the action live and free on 7plus Sport
Just a copy-and-paste job in the qualifying/support listings there.
It will be broadcast only on 7mate (no channel change) in all markets.
It’ll be good for Supercars and fans to have Matty back leading the FTA coverage, albeit vastly different to 15-20 years ago, where he previously did the same for Seven’s telecasts. An era that was largely praised and was a tough ask following Ten’s multi award-winning stint from the late 90s to mid-2000s. Essentially replacing Mark Beretta.
It happened last night when Fox Sports showed the season opening race (first race of Sydney 500) live and exclusive.
Coverage had a black line across the top - image doesn’t fill the screen.
Not an issue with Fox.
Edit
Also showing up when ads are played
Today’s coverage also has the black line across the top of coverage. Compare to Fox.
Also note the use of Live and Free 7 w/m - last night it was Live and Free 7+
They don’t even know which one to use on a given day anymore?
Might as well bring back individual channel L&Fs.
Also, not quite true re last night.
The full screen vision had the 7+ w/m - it changed to 7 when split screen with adverts.
Australian Sport Commission (ASC) Media Awards
Best coverage of a sporting event Seven Network - Bathurst 1000
This is a bit of joke. They just take the feed provided by Supercars with very minimal 7 input
This is the third round of five of the 2026 championship. It will be held at Townsville Kart Club, one week before Supercars Townsville 500.
You’d think that living just one hour north of the venue for the third round of the Penrite Australian Kart Championship would be an advantage, but according to KA2 campaigner Jack Larsen, it will be a very different circuit once 300 karts start laying down rubber.
Larsen currently sits second in the KA2 championship points chase after salvaging a fifth place on slicks in the rain plagued final at Ipswich.
The remaining rounds are
Round 4 – September 4-6 – Seymour, VIC
Round 5 – October 16-18 – Bolivar (in Adelaide’s north), SA
Supercars season heats up with Townsville 500
New look Supercars Preview Show and all the Townsville action live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport
The Supercars season makes its way to tropical North Queensland ahead of a massive weekend of action, with Round 7 of the 2026 Supercars Championship – the Townsville 500 – live and free on Seven, 7mate and 7plus Sport next Saturday, 11 July and Sunday 12, July.
Following last month’s Darwin Triple Crown which saw Cam Waters claim his first win of the season, the Townsville 500 is set to deliver more thrilling racing action for fans at the city’s largest annual sporting event, as teams and drivers aim to cement their spot in the standings nearing the end of the first phase of the Supercars season.
Ahead of next weekend’s Townsville 500, Supercars host Matt White will present the Supercars Preview Show on Sunday, 5 July, alongside Supercars legends Garth Tander and Mark Winterbottom, airing at 11.00am in Melbourne and 2.30pm in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
The trio will dissect the latest storylines and results and provide expert analysis on the 2026 Supercars season. The show will also feature guest appearances from recent Darwin Triple Crown winner Cam Waters as well as Grove Racing CEO Brenton Grove representing Penrite Racing.
Seven’s live and free coverage of the Townsville 500 will be headlined by Australian Rally Champion, Molly Taylor and veteran reporter Matt White, joined by experts Garth Tander, Mark Winterbottom and three-time Supercars Champion Craig Lowndes.
The Townsville 500 will be headlined by two 200km two-stop races on Saturday and Sunday and is the penultimate event before the first finalist of 2026 is confirmed – when the Repco Sprint Cup is awarded to the driver who has claimed the most points from the opening eight rounds of this year’s Championship.
Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Broc Feeney holds a narrow 15-point lead over second placed Matthew Payne heading into this weekend’s round in Townsville, while Triple 8 has seen a rare slump in form, with Darwin the first time in 2026 where Triple 8 didn’t appear on the podium.
Anton de Pasquale and Team 18 will be looking to continue their race winning form in Townsville after de Pasquale helped himself, his team and Chevrolet to their first win since the Sydney 500 in February.
Seven Head of Motorsport, Angela Rampal, said: “Townsville 500 is always a highlight on the Supercars calendar, as tropical North Queensland provides a taste of the first true street circuit of the season, with kerbs, surface changes and concrete walls all set to create the high intensity racing that Supercars is famous for.
“We’re pumped to have our preview show returning this weekend with an all-star commentary lineup including Matt White, Garth Tander and Mark Winterbottom, with Mark fresh from having to step in and race for Thomas Randle in Darwin which will provide great insight for viewers.
“With our preview show this weekend, as well as full replays, highlights and bonus content available for streaming on Seven and 7plus Sport for race weekend, fans can tune in for all the action as Broc Feeney and Matthew Payne aim to put themselves in the box seat for the first final spot, with Cam Waters and Kai Allen also a red-hot chance to finish the Repco Sprint Cup on top.”
Ten drivers will compete in the second instalment of the Supercars finals series following the introduction of the new format in 2025, starting with the Gold Coast 500 on Friday, 23 October before a Champion is crowned at the bp Adelaide Grand Final on 29 November, both broadcast live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport.
2026 NTI Townsville 500
From 12.00pm AEST next Saturday and Sunday on Seven, 7mate and 7plus Sport
