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ROUND FOUR OF VICTORIAN STATE SERIES POSTPONED

By Timothy Neal

Round 4 of the Victorian State Race Series, scheduled from July 24-25 at Sandown Raceway, has been postponed.

COVID-19 restrictions are the reason for the decision, as lockdown in Victoria is set to extend beyond its original Wednesday endpoint.

Multiple elements of the event were set to be impacted. It was unknown whether fans would be able to attend and interstate competitors from New South Wales had already pulled the pin as of last week.

It is the second year in a row that the event has suffered due to COVID-19, after it was cancelled entirely in 2020.

The Australian Sports Sedan Association, organisers of the 2021 round, confirmed the decision on Saturday.

Sports Sedans Australia’s Colin Smith was shattered with the outcome.

“We are pretty gutted,” Smith lamented to Auto Action. “Last year was fairly emotional, this year probably even more so.

“Two years in a row is a real kick in the guts.”

“We couldn’t put our customers which are the competitors at risk. So, we made the decision that we would postpone, not cancel.”

The swift and decisive action taken by organisers in the face of uncertainty has been praised by competitors, according to Smith.

“We haven’t lost any friends, and we haven’t made any enemies. I think we have had an incredible amount of support,” he said.

“We’ve got 200 people who now are expecting refunds and we’ll work through that, we’ll get that back to them.”

Despite the current disappointment, plans to resurrect the event later this year are currently being discussed.

“We want that to happen. We will continue to try and make it happen,” said Smith.

“The property hasn’t got dates that could accommodate us until November which won’t fit in with a number of other events, Round 5 of the State Race Series and Island Magic.

“If there is a possibility, we need to slot in between those dates. Ideally, it is mid-October, but it’s out of our control.”

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