Supercars 2023 Calendar: The fight for the final spots
By Auto Action
Date posted: November 3, 2022
In AUTO ACTION’s latest issue on sale now and available digitally here, Andrew Clarke explores the Supercars 2023 calendar and the fight for who will fill the missing piece of the puzzle.
We know what the bookends are, with the Newcastle 500 and the Adelaide 500 being confirmed…however, AUTO ACTION believes that the incredibly popular New Zealand round will most likely be dropped, Clarke reports.
The 2023 Supercars Championship series calendar is taking shape. It is likely to be run without a round in New Zealand, with Winton and The Bend also under threat from a revamped Queensland Raceway, but will feature the return of the Sandown 500 as the calendar shrinks by one round to 12.
A draft calendar was floating around at the Gold Coast 500, and while many weren’t paying too much attention to it given previous changes, it was expected that the TBA for Round 8 will not include New Zealand as an option going forwards.
The demise of the New Zealand round is because resort consent for a round at Hampton Downs, which is believed to be the preferred option, cannot be secured in time for 2023.
Resource consent is permission from the local council for an activity that might affect the environment and isn’t allowed in the district or regional plan. A big Supercars event with a significant crowd falls into that category.
Gaining resource consent has proved problematic for Supercars in the past. It was one of the big stumbling blocks for the original Pukekohe round in 2001. It proved a stumbling block for an Auckland street race but was eventually navigated for the Hamilton street race.
It is hoped it will be OK for a Supercars round to return to New Zealand for 2024…
The return of the Sandown 500 has been on the cards since the Sandown round this year. After the troubled opening to the Bathurst 1000, the teams have increased pressure on Supercars to give them an endurance race leading into Bathurst.
ARG has secured the middle month of September for its Speed Series, so it is believed the 500 will run outside the AFL finals series, probably on the weekend of the pre-finals bye, if the AFL proceeds with that in 2024.
