Beretta hails triumphant Seven return

The Seven Network was a major winner with Supercars fans around the country as the new season kicked off with the Repco Mt Panorama 500.

Seven's broadcast reached 2.34 million Australians across Saturday and Sunday, with the average TV audience up 28 per cent on the 2020 season opener.

The coverage was also live-streamed ad-free on 7plus, with more than four million minutes were streamed across the weekend.

A whopping 978,000 minutes were streamed for Sunday's Race 2.

An average of 540,000 people tuned in to watch Shane van Gisbergen complete a mountain sweep with a crushing win in Race 2.

For Mark Beretta, who skippered the weekend's broadcast, the weekend marked a triumphant return for Seven, which last covered the championship in 2014.

"I've been sitting on the sidelines for six years, and it has been hell," Beretta told Supercars.com.

"You see what's happening at the track, and you just want to be there.

"I realised what a privileged position I was in, being able to go up and down the garages, having access to drivers, teams and their magnificent cars.

"Now we're back, and it's really exciting. The excitement from Seven is at every level.

"Seven is really passionate about taking this sport to the next level. We want it to sit in the top echelon alongside AFL, cricket and the Olympics.

"We know we can do it, and we know the sport can do it, because it deserves it."

Sunday's race drew 290,000 viewers in the capital cities, and was first in its timeslot among 25 to 54s, men 25 to 54, and total people.

The Saturday race recorded 520,000 viewers nationally and 286,000 in the capital cities, ranking first in its timeslot.

"We couldn't have gotten a better start," Beretta said.

"For me, it's a new era, it's a new chapter. To start it at Bathurst with sprint races is fantastic.

"People love this place, they'd tune in any day of the week to watch racing around the mountain."

Beretta was joined on Seven by the likes of Abbey Gelmi, Brad Hodge, Jack Perkins and Molly Taylor, who have combined with the powerhouse Foxtel line-up to bring the 2021 championship to TV screens.

For Beretta, who was a feature of the pit lane in Seven's last stint between 2007 and 2014, the Bathurst weekend marked a romantic return to the sport he loves.

"I missed so much about it," he said.

"It is genuinely so good to be back.

"Walking back in to the paddock was like arriving from the summer from school holidays.

"A lot of the same faces, such great energy, and everyone's raring to go."

Seven will broadcast six rounds in 2021; the Mt Panorama 500, Darwin, Townsville, Sydney, Bathurst and the Gold Coast.

The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to Victoria for the Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint across March 20-21.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo. Check out the full TV schedule here.