MOTORSPORT: Bathurst 1000 still a goer

The Bathurst 1000 is not under threat from a motorsport ban in NSW forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to new restrictions implemented by the NSW chief health officer, Motorsport Australia has ruled that no state or national level events can be held in the state for a six-week period starting August 19.

That ban ends September 30, just over a week before the October 8-11 date on which the crown jewel in the Supercars season is scheduled to run.

Even if the ban were extended in its current form, it is intended to cover community rather than professional racing.

“These restrictions are specific to community sport for the next six weeks, not professional sports, such as Supercars,” Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca said.

“The entire Supercars fraternity has done a fantastic job in working with various State Governments to ensure they have a strong COVID Plan in place for any events they have hosted, or will host in the future.

“Motorsport Australia doesn’t expect these most recent restrictions to impact the ability for us to issue a permit for any planned Supercars events in New South Wales.”

There are suggestions the Bathurst 1000 might be pushed back one week, although Supercars is yet to seriously entertain that prospect.

The best-case scenario is the race goes ahead uninterrupted. The worst-case scenario is the coronavirus situation worsens so much it is canned.

There’s no doubt Supercars will move heaven and earth to make the Bathurst 1000 happen. It is the epicentre of the category’s foundation in terms of television ratings and sponsorship structures.

Already, the likelihood of a crowd – and the cash that comes with it – anywhere near the usual 180,000-200,000 over four days has been ruled out.

Supercars remains in negotiations with NSW Health to establish just how many general admission spectators and campers can attend the race.

Because of the huge impact of the coronavirus on the 2020 Supercars calendar, the Bathurst 1000 is the only two-driver enduro scheduled. Usually there are three.

It is now also a decent chance of being the final round of the 2020 Supercars championship, with little hope of races in Tasmania or Western Australia pencilled in post-Bathurst to actually happen.

By the time the Bathurst 1000 rolls around, Victorian Supercars teams will have been away from home for four months and the feeling in the paddock is that will be long enough.

The problem then is, given the unpredictable issues with COVID-19 in Victoria, whether those teams would be able to get out of the state again.

Right now the Supercars circus is involved in a marathon slog through four consecutive weekends of racing in Darwin and Townsville. It is likely there will be at least one race at Ipswich in south-east Queensland before Bathurst.

Meanwhile, Repco has been confirmed as the new naming rights partner for the Bathurst 1000 from 2021, replacing Supercheap Auto.

The news came to light yesterday after Supercheap went public about losing out to Repco, which is owned by the American auto parts giant, Genuine Parts Company. The new deal is for five years.

There are also rumours, played down by Supercars, that Repco will take over naming rights for the championship from Virgin Australia in 2021.