2021 SUPERCARS CALENDAR DETAILS REVEALED

2021 Supercars calendar details revealed – Photo: InSyde Media

After a long delay, the 2021 Supercars calendar is set to be announced by the end of the week, with 12 events scheduled from February to November

By MARK FOGARTY

AUTO ACTION has learned that the provisional line-up could be released as soon as tomorrow (Thursday) following the finalisation of key agreements

It is understood that the main delay was reshuffling the order to run the New Zealand round later in the year due to continued uncertainty over trans-Tasman travel.

There is also a contingency plan for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix not happening if the Victoria government maintains the two-week quarantine requirement for overseas visitors.

Sandown is on stand-by in case the AGP is cancelled.

The ’21 Supercars championship is planned to be 12 rounds, starting at Mount Panorama in late February and ending on the streets of Surfers Paradise towards the end of November.

The series will visit all six states, the Northern Territory and NZ.

The new season-opener at Mount Panorama in late February is set to be a Bathurst 500 comprising two 250 km ‘sprint’ races.

The Bathurst 1000 will return to its traditional second weekend in October slot.

Along with two visits to Bathurst, rounds have been scheduled for the AGP at Albert Park, Sydney Motorsport Park, Winton, Symmons Plains, Wanneroo, Hidden Valley, Townsville, The Bend and the Gold Coast.

The GC600 finale ends speculation that the Surfers street race was in doubt.

But the Newcastle 500 is definitely out, due to return in 2022.

The Bend Motorsport Park won a reprieve due to the shock axing of the Adelaide 500, which Supercars hopes will return in 2023 if Labor wins SA’s next state election.

According to informed sources, the NZ round at either Pukekohe or Hampton Downs will be pushed back from April to much later in the year – probably early November – to ensure it goes ahead without travel restrictions.

Supercars is playing it safe by rescheduling NZ on the expectation that by late in the year, the coronavirus crisis will be over.

At the moment, Sandown in Melbourne is out, but it is the first reserve if the AGP falls over.

Scheduled as the opening round of the 2021 F1 world championship from March 18-21, the AGP is in doubt because of the prospect that the two-week quarantine requirement for international visitors will still be in force then.

The spectre of a mandatory fortnight in quarantine, which the COVID-safe F1 fraternity is unlikely to accept, has been raised by Spring Street’s refusal to allow tennis players to ‘hub’ in Melbourne in the lead-up to the Australian Open.

It now looks like the AO will be postponed from mid-January to early February to allow visiting players to come out of quarantine with plenty of time to practice for the season-opening grand slam tournament.

Some alarmists are predicting the Oz Open could be delayed until April.

The Boxing Day cricket Test between Australia and India at the MCG seems safe because the teams will already have quarantined ahead of the start of the series in Adelaide next month.

The AGP is relying on the Victoria government to allow F1 personnel to live in a ‘bubble’ during the event, restricted to moving between hotels and the track, where they would be confined to the F1 paddock.

That allowance is looking unlikely under the restrictions to be imposed on the AO, which is normally the country’s biggest sporting event by attendance (because it is held over two weeks at Melbourne Park).

The six marquee events of the Supercars championship – both Bathursts, the Gold Coast finale, Townsville, the Sydney Motorsport Park night racing round, and Darwin or Perth (especially if the latter returns as a SuperNight event) – will be shown live on Seven as well as Fox Sports.

The rest of the free-to-air TV coverage will be delayed highlights on Seven’s secondary channels like 7mate.

All track action at every round will be ad break-free on Fox Sports.

Supercars expects the FTA TV return to Seven in its new five-year broadcast deal will result in a big increase in viewer numbers.

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