MOTORSPORT: Newcastle Supercars cancelled
Ongoing standoff between local and state governments seal the street endurance event’s fateThe Supercars season-opening Newcastle 500 has been cancelled for 2024, following protracted negotiations between Supercars, the NSW government and the Newcastle City Council.
On ABC radio today, Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes confirmed the event had been scuppered following a call with Supercars CEO Shane Howard.
The move follows a complicated series of events. The state government offered an interim one-year deal to cover the 2024 running of the event, with an eye to a long-term deal being signed once a suitable budget became available.
However, Cr Nelmes today noted that a lack of support for the event by local state government member Tim Crakanthorp was a significant factor in the final decision.
Regardless, Supercars has not closed the door on the Newcastle 500, which was popular with fans, if not all of the residents located within the circuit precinct.
“Supercars held productive discussions with Newcastle City Council earlier this week, regarding the future of the event,” the organisation noted in a statement.
“As part of that discussion, it was mentioned that in the event Newcastle cannot proceed in 2024, alternative options have been explored.
“We express our gratitude to the NSW Government for their continuous support and understanding.
“Supercars would like to confirm its commitment to racing in Newcastle in the future, and conversations in that regard are already underway.”
carsales understands that the 2024 calendar will now be led by Mount Panorama, in line with Supercars’ agreement with the NSW government to host its season-opener.
In an effort to circumvent the temporary circuit’s legislated maximum of five full-track events per year, the Supercars meet will piggyback off the Supercars-owned Bathurst 12 Hour, with the double-header of key events to run over February 16-25.
This isn’t the first time that Bathurst has come in off the bench to open the Supercars season, with the cancellation of the 2021 Newcastle event seeing a pair of 250km races contested at Mount Panorama.
From an organisational standpoint, the consecutive events would simplify some logistical matters from a set-up and TV standpoint, however, challenges such as the full swap-out of on-track signage could be problematic, with the task of signwriting the entire 6.2km circuit typically taking weeks.
Following on from Bathurst, the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship is expected to move to the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix over March 21-24, although that event will feature a new format, with the homegrown touring cars expected to be bumped from their dedicated pit lane and international supports such as F2 and F3 set to take their place.
A total of four events were contested on the streets of Newcastle, with the tight confines producing plenty of drama.
At the inaugural meet in 2017, Scott McLaughlin clashed with Craig Lowndes on the final lap of the Sunday race, with the Kiwi’s subsequent penalty relegating him to second in the final point standings behind Jamie Whincup, who claimed his seventh and final title.
McLaughlin bounced back to be crowned champion in Newcastle in both 2018 and 2019, before the event went into a pandemic-induced hiatus from 2020 to 2022.
This year’s event saw the controversial debut of the Supercars Gen3 platform, with off-track criticism of the car becoming a sideshow to the double disqualification of the Triple Eight-prepared Chevrolet Camaros on a technical infraction.
The Supercars championship returns next weekend (October 26-29) with the penultimate event of the 2023 season on the streets of Surfers Paradise.
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