Supercars committed to opening 2024 in Newcastle amid speculation
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 26 September 2023
Supercars has reconfirmed its commitment to opening 2024 in Newcastle despite doubts still surrounding the event’s future.
With the current deal concluding this year when the race returned with big crowds after a four-year hiatus, the future of the street race is up in the air.
Where the 2024 season will begin is one of the big questions of the to-be-confirmed calendar, which may also feature a return to the Middle East with Qatar and Saudi Arabia interested parties, while a trip to New Zealand on April 19-21 was confirmed last week.
Whilst Newcastle is expected to be the opener, negotiations of a new contract are still taking place between Supercars, Destination NSW and the City of Newcastle Council with a one-year extension offered by the state government.
From the Supercars side of things, it is still “committed” to racing on the streets of Newcastle.
Supercars wants to keep on racing at Newcastle after a successful return this year.
“Supercars and Destination NSW are aligned in their shared commitment to host the opening event of the 2024 Supercars Championship in Newcastle,” a Supercars statement read.
“Discussions are ongoing with Newcastle City Council and we continue to work collaboratively to find a resolution swiftly regarding the long-term future of the event in NSW’s second largest city.”
A front page story by Michael Harris stated the 2024 Newcastle 500 “appears destined for the scrap heap”.
Greens councillor John Mackenzie was quoted in the article suggesting the event “won’t go ahead” in 2024 unless a last-minute change occurs.
Crowds at the 2023 Newcastle 500. Image: Peter Norton/Epic Sports Photography
“Unless there is an 11th hour intervention and it comes back to the council, it won’t go ahead,” Mackenzie told the NEWCASTLE HERALD.
“If the council administration is not prepared to push for agreement on a one-year extension, unless they come back with an alternative offer, it won’t be on the schedule of events next year.”
Acting City of Newcastle chief executive David Clarke wrote a letter to councillors late last week describing the one-year offer as “inconsistent”.
“Just advising there has been no material change this week in relation to the Newcastle 500,” Clarke told councillors.
“To date, the NSW Government and Supercars Australia have not agreed on a five-year extension of the race.
“Instead, the NSW Government has offered a one-year extension.
The first Newcastle 500 was the famous 2017 finale.
“This is inconsistent with the extensive community consultation undertaken in 2023.”
To help arrive at a decision to continue staging the Supercars street race, the City of Newcastle conducted a community survey, which was completed last month and received 10,998 respondents through an online survey and a further 490 over the phone.
The results were not great for Newcastle race fans with 37 percent of residents who took part in the more widespread online survey in favour of the race continuing in the future.
However, concerns over the validity of the survey were also raised with an “unusual amount of responses in the Newcastle East region” received, whilst 1979 individuals were blocked from doubling up.
Although Supercars has stated its commitment to the race, a decision from the City of Newcastle council which has made clear it wants the “final decision” may not arrive soon.
The Newcastle 500 topic does not appear to be on the agenda for Tuesday night’s monthly council meeting.
This means the next opportunity to vote on any extension will not arrive until late October, which will be much later than Supercars hoped.
Main image by Mark Horsburgh
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