Entrants Group of Australia (TEGA) (who had held the rights to market the ATCC since 1994) signed a deal with US sports agent Mark McCormack's International Management Group (IMG) to market the ATCC, which they renamed to V8 Supercars. The new joint venture company (AVESCO) signed a TV deal for 1997 with Network Ten, which included expanded coverage of the championship. This was not an issue for the ATCC races, but for the Bathurst 1000, which was organized and promoted by a consortium that included Channel 7, it was a major issue. Channel 7 had televised the race since 1963 and had a contract that was binding into the 21st century. Seven was not prepared to drop the race, while AVESCO required a Bathurst race for Ten to broadcast. A similar dispute affected the V8 Supercars Challenge support races at the Australian Grand Prix, in which at various times different networks have held the broadcast rights to both V8 Supercars and Formula One. There was no resolution to the dispute, and AVESCO announced that V8 Supercars would not compete in the traditional Bathurst 1000 held on the October long weekend in 1997. TOCA Australia was invited to fill the void with a 2-litre Super Touring field, featuring a number of British Touring Car Championship drivers and teams, including Alain Menu, John Cleland and Rickard Rydell, joining Australian Super Touring Championship regulars. This 1997 race was won by Paul Morris and Craig Baird in a BMW 320i, however they were later disqualified as Baird had exceeded the mandated time limit for a continuous solo driving period. The race was awarded to their BMW Motorsport Australia teammates David and Geoff Brabham. This event format continued for 1998 with the addition of a field of cars from the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, which ran to Schedule S regulations with a 2.5-litre engine limit, as well as Group E production cars. Alongside Rickard Rydell, Jim Richards won his sixth Bathurst 1000 in a Volvo S40 run by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, with his son Steven second in a Nissan Primera run by British team Team Dynamics. As well as these races for two-litre cars, separate five-litre (V8 Supercars) races were held in 1997 and 1998, known as the "Australian 1000 Classic". Having received backlash after announcing they would not race at Bathurst, AVESCO hastily made a deal with the Bathurst Regional Council for the