MOTORSPORT: Darwin delayed, Sandown deleted

The first of two Supercars events in Darwin next weekend has been postponed one week to August 15-16 as COVID-19 continues to cause calendar chaos.

The second leg of the Darwin double-header could be conducted mid-week before the championship dashes to Townsville in northern Queensland for expected back-to-back events on August 29-30 and September 5-6.

In further coronavirus impacts the round at historic Sandown in Melbourne scheduled for September 19-20 has been indefinitely postponed because of the lockdown in the Victorian state capital.

Instead, Supercars is considering adding one and potentially two events at Queensland Raceway south-west of Brisbane.

Supercars CEO Sean Seamer also told the media this afternoon the Bathurst 1000 classic on October 8-11 could become the final championship round depending on how the pandemic and the travel and quarantine restrictions imposed around it evolve.

Currently, there are three events scheduled after Bathurst at Wanneroo in Western Australia on October 31-November 1, Symmons Plains in Tasmania on November 21-22 and a return to Sydney Motorsport Park on December 12-13.

The opening Darwin round was postponed because most drivers and teams were coming to the Northern Territory from permanent and temporary bases in or near declared hotspots in the Brisbane area.

The event will retain its current three-race SuperSprint format and will still be telecast live free to air by Network 10.

Getting the personnel and transporters into the territory has required extensive negotiation with the NT government since last weekend.

Team personnel deemed to have visited hotspots will isolate for a week in a hotel and be subject to COVID-19 testing after arriving in Darwin by plane today or vehicle.

“Our number one priority has been getting everyone up there safely and doing it in such a way that’s safe for Territorians and that’s what we have been working on for the past week,” Seamer said.

A decision has yet to be made on when the second leg of the Darwin double-header will be held, but a mid-week date is definitely in the mix.

“Probably early next week we’ll release the details around what we are going to do from a second event point of view in Darwin, in terms of time of week, time of day etcetera,” Seamer said.

“There is an election up there, there is other sport on and we need to factor in the broadcast windows as well. There are a few people we need to get aligned.”

The Townsville double-header at the Reid park temporary circuit is expected to be confirmed tomorrow (Thursday) after final sign-offs are gained from the various stakeholders.

Seamer said the prospects of one or more Queensland Raceway events being conducted depends on how the coronavirus evolves in the Logan shire, in which the track is located.

“We are looking at that as an option and obviously it’s in a good location for the teams,” said Seamer. “We just need to keep an eye on that in terms of hotspots over the next couple of weeks.”

Seamer said keeping the Sandown September date on the calendar would have been “highly optimistic”. But he made it clear returning it to the calendar – as well as the trips to WA and Tasmania – would depend on the health and restrictions situation.

“If nothing else the events over the last couple of weeks have shown us it’s really difficult to plan more than six weeks in advance at the moment,” Seamer said.

He acknowledged finishing the championship early at the Bathurst classic in October was now one of “four or five” scenarios being considered.

Apart from the unknown complications COVID might inflict if the championship continues on, the fact Victorian teams and other personnel are likely to have been away from home for three months by the time the race concludes, as they exited the state just before the NSW border closed in early July, is encouraging the Bathurst finale.

“The two options are you leave the teams on the road or you go back to Victoria and … certainly there will be a quarantine period before Bathurst,” said Seamer. “Then you risk what could unfold post Bathurst.”

Whichever way it pans out, it seems unlikely Supercars will fulfill its normal objective of racing in every state and the NT.

“We pride ourselves on being a national championship, but first and foremost we need to be a championship,” Seamer said.