SCRAMBLE TO SAVE DARWIN DOUBLE

Scramble to save Darwin double – Photo: InSyde Media

Supercars is scrambling to save the Darwin double-header that is due to start this weekend.

By MARK FOGARTY

Although still scheduled to go ahead, the trip has been threatened by the Northern Territory government’s ban on visitors from the Brisbane area.

A charter flight for team personnel has been delayed until tomorrow as Supercars tries to negotiate a way around the NT lock-out, which ostensibly applies to Brisbane-based Triple Eight, plus some staff and at least one driver of the other two Queensland teams.

Crisis talks over the weekend to rescue the back-to-back rounds at Hidden Valley Raceway have continued today.

AUTO ACTION understands the departure of team personnel was delayed from tonight until tomorrow because today is a public holiday in NT, with government officials not back at work until tomorrow.

It is believed Supercars is seeking an exemption from the border ban, citing small numbers in NT’s declared trio of hot spots – the Brisbane, Logan and Ipswich Local Government Areas – and an undertaking to impose an AFL-style hub for teams in Darwin.

Beyond acknowledging NT’s move, Supercars has been silent on the impact on the Darwin Triple Crown on August 8-9 and the Darwin SuperSprint on August 15-16.

AA has also learned that it has instructed teams not to talk to the media about how this latest crisis is being handled or any personnel that could be affected.

The NT ban applies to anyone who has been in the Brisbane-area hot spots in the past two weeks.

The main threats are to the Red Bull Holden Racing Team, based at Banyo in inner north Brisbane, and Scott McLaughlin, who lives close to the centre of the Queensland capital.

DJR Team Penske and Matt Stone Racing are located just outside the Logan LGA in southern Brisbane.

The relocated Victorian teams have been based on the Gold Coast, which is not in the NT’s declared hot spots

Brad Jones Racing is travelling to Darwin from its Albury base, allowing it to enter the Top End.

Although it doesn’t have specific ‘hub’ rules like the restrictions placed on southeast Queensland-based AFL squads, Supercars has issued strong guidelines to teams on observing health protocols.

The teams themselves have imposed strict limitations on where travelling personnel can go and what they can do to minimise the risk of being exposed to the coronavirus.

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