Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour 2015 to be broadcast on Seven Network

Seven has secured the broadcast rights to the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, an international endurance race, for performance and production cars.
All 12 hours of the 2015 race, to be held on February 6 and 8, will be broadcast on the Seven network with the race commencing on 7mate before switching to the primary Seven station for at least the final three hours of the race.

The Announcement:
The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour (February 6-8, 2015) will be broadcast live in its entirety on the Seven Network in 2015.
All 12-hours of the 2015 race will be broadcast on Australia‟s leading free-to-air television network next year with the race to commence on 7mate before switching to the primary Seven station for at least the final three hours of the race.
A final split between 7mate and Seven will be announced closer to the Event commencing.
The starting time of the 2015 race will be brought forward five minutes to 5:55am to accommodate the 6:00pm Seven News on Sunday, February 8.
The Bathurst 12 Hour reinforces Seven‟s long and deep connection with Mount Panorama at Bathurst, with Seven first broadcasting from the circuit in 1963. Today‟s agreement further confirms Seven‟s leadership in sports television with the network dramatically expanding its coverage of major sports across its three digital broadcast television channels and accelerating coverage across online, IPTV, HbbTV, mobile and other emerging forms of content delivery.
The milestone announcement marks the first time in the history of the Bathurst 12 Hour that the entire race will have been broadcast live in Australia. A post-produced highlights package will also be produced for international distribution following the conclusion of the Event.
“We are delighted to be partners with the Bathurst 12 Hour. We have a long and deep association with Mount Panorama at Bathurst,” said Saul Shtein, Seven’s Head of Sport.

“We are focused on building our presence and leadership in major sports across our broadcast television platform and we are looking forward to working with the Bathurst 12 Hour, its partners and the teams to deliver all-encompassing coverage from one of the great motor racing circuits in the world.”
Event Director James O‟Brien said the new partnership with Seven highlighted the growth the Event had experienced in recent years.
“It is a great vote of confidence that the leading free-to-air TV network in Australia is willing to broadcast live the entire 12 hours of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. This is a major boost for our partners, sponsors, supporters and competitors who will receive network television airtime around Australia and for our fans, who will be rewarded for their loyalty to the Event with unparalleled coverage.
“Having the entire 12-hours showcased live on free-to-air network television is rare in the world of endurance racing and we are excited to be able to offer this level of coverage from 2015. “Australia’s International Endurance Race” is growing rapidly and our partnership with Seven is a reflection of that.”
Bruce Morrison, Managing Director, MotorActive said his company was excited to be a continued part of the Event’s recent growth.
“When Liqui-Moly came on board as the naming right sponsor in 2013, the Bathurst 12-Hour was only followed by loyal race fans, with little or no TV coverage. Thanks to strategic and determined support by everyone involved, the event now not only attracts major international interest, it has also enticed accomplished motorsport broadcaster, the Seven Network, to commit to televising the full 12-hours of competition – live! I believe this will create Australia‟s longest-ever motorsport broadcast.

“Unlike the coverage of many other forms of motorsport, which is shifting further and further towards some level of pay-per-view, the quality of the racing combined with the enthralling diversity of machinery has enabled the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-hour to buck the trend and create a product of sufficient mass appeal to entice a national free-to-air network.
“Other than the Olympics, World Cup, or Commonwealth Games, we cannot think of another sporting event that has been honoured with such a long, uninterrupted broadcast.”
Live streaming of the entire race and the full program of qualifying and support categories and 12-hour qualifying will continue and will be available via the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour website.