MOTORSPORT: Track change for 2022 Supercars opener
First round of Australia’s premier motorsport series won’t be on the streets of NewcastleThe start of the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will be raced at Sydney Motorsport Park in March instead of the streets of Newcastle.
The change has been made to ensure an on-time opening to the series amid COVID uncertainty around construction times and the potential attendance at the street circuit in the centre of Newcastle.
It’s another rescue mission by SMP, which filled the giant pandemic void last year with four back-to-back meetings to close out the sprint season ahead of the Bathurst 1000 in December.
Supercars says the Newcastle street event will still run, but later in the year.
“It has become too challenging to stage a complex multi-faceted event on the streets of Newcastle for tens of thousands of race fans in March,” confirmed the new CEO of Supercars, Shane Howard.
The change comes following a delay in the first major event of the 2022 season, the Bathurst 12-Hour race for sports cars, from a planned date in February to May.
The decision on Newcastle is no surprise, although the move to SMP instead of a straight-out postponement is unusual.
It shows that the new Supercars management, under Howard with the backing of the new owners in the RACE consortium, plans to be aggressive and forward thinking.
“We have been in consultation with the City of Newcastle throughout January and understand that constructing and operating an event of this size during the current COVID period has caused concern in parts of the community,” Howard said.
“Sydney Motorsport Park is a permanent circuit with infrastructure for competitors and fans already in place. In 2021 the venue provided fans with some of the most exhilarating racing we have ever seen in Supercars.”
The format for the meeting will include racing under lights, a huge success last year.
There is no date yet for the re-scheduled Newcastle event, but Supercars says it is committed to making it happen.
“We fully intend to stage this year’s Repco Newcastle 500 in Supercars’ trademark style, and we are confident that we will be able to successfully do this later in the year,” said Howard.
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