Supercars stand alone event for Albert Park

While an F1 test unlikely for Albert Park prior to the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, a Supercars standalone weekend is real.

Suggestions in today’s Herald-Sun newspaper by Australian Grand Prix chairman Martin Pakula that he has spoken with Formula 1 about a pre-season test on the streets of Melbourne will likely fall on deaf ears.

While a Formula 1 test might be off the table, it opens the door for a standalone weekend of car racing with a Supercars headliner as the likely way to make use of the Albert Park Circuit on the weekend before next year’s race.

F1 has already stated its preferred testing schedule for next year’s new generation of cars, with Barcelona and Bahrain as its options, and our F1 man in the paddock, Luis Vasconcelos, expects them to stick with that plan.

He also says the teams are unlikely to embrace testing on a street circuit, even if it is one as evolved as Albert Park.

While Supercars insiders are saying a race on the weekend of 28 February and 1 March is not on their agenda, but things could change quickly when the 8 March date for next year’s Australian Grand Prix is announced.

There is also a desperate need to start the 2026 Supercars season with a bang after the two crowdless events in NSW have been invisible on the Australian sporting radar at Bathurst and Sydney Motorsport Park.

A Melbourne 500 event with a similar structure to the Adelaide 500 would be the perfect fillip for the sport, especially with the Australian Grand Prix Corporation looking for ways to provide a better return to the tax payers of Victoria.

Victorians underwrite the race to the tune of more than $50 million per year, and opening up racing on the weekend prior is seen as a priority.

If Supercars fails to embrace the vision and make it happen, a Goodwood style historic event is a possibility.

An event like that would gut the Adelaide Motorsport Festival and the VHHR Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport, so that is seen as a less desirable than Supercars.

For more on this, check out Auto Action Digital, our fortnightly digital magazine, tomorrow.

Image: MSR-Insyde Media

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