Supercars announces revised 2021 calendar
Supercars has revealed a revised 2021 calendar in order to deal with the ongoing issues caused by COVID-19, which include a new date for the Bathurst 1000.
Planned events in both Perth and in New Zealand at Pukekohe Raceway have been dropped, with the series looking to run a total of five race meetings from early October through to December.
The season will now resume at Winton on the first weekend in October with a round at a still to be determined circuit later that month.
The Bathurst 1000 has been moved back to the opening weekend of November, with the rescheduled Sydney Supernight event now running on the weekend of 19-21 November.
The Gold Coast 500 will then round out the campaign on the first weekend in December.
“With the ever-changing COVID landscape, our teams and broadcast partners have agreed it is in all our stakeholders’ best interests commercially and competitively to move our premiere event to a later date,” series CEO Sean Seamer said.
“We are continuing to work closely with NSW Health, the Bathurst Regional City Council, emergency services, broadcasters and the NSW Government on planning for the Repco Bathurst 1000, which is the pinnacle of Australian motorsport.
“We will meet all COVID-19 safety requirements necessary to ensure this year’s Great Race goes ahead. Our aim is to ensure we can bring back as many fans as possible.
“Unfortunately, our event planned for Perth presents significant risk with the ongoing restrictions, so we’ve made the difficult decision to move it to the 2022 calendar.
“Similarly, our Kiwi fans across the ditch will be undoubtedly disappointed to see New Zealand does not feature on the revised calendar due to the trans-Tasman bubble being suspended.”
Both events will return to the calendar in 2022.
“These are challenging times for all sporting codes, which is why we have had to remain flexible with our calendar arrangements and make significant changes where required,” Seamer continued.
“For now, our goal is to make sure we deliver some amazing racing over the rest of the 2021 championship.
“We are thrilled to have locked in our return to Winton and we’re working towards being able to announce another event for the weekend of 23-24 October.
“We can’t wait to welcome our fans back to the Mountain in November, along with the much-anticipated Sydney night event later in the month.
“We’ll then round out our 2021 season with a big party on the Gold Coast, in what will surely be a huge celebration following another incredible year of racing.
Revised remaining Supercars Championship calendar:
2-3 October – Winton SuperSprint
23-24 October – TBA
4-7 November – Bathurst 1000
19-21 November – Sydney Supersprint
3-5 December – Gold Coast 500
