Supercars Championship

SUPERCARS RESHUFFLE 2021 CALENDAR

By Paul Marinelli

Just as it did in 2020, the pandemic has continued to wreak havoc on the Supercars Championship calendar given the year’s several and varied national State and Territory lockdowns, border closures and area-specific restrictions.

Even the Holy Grail of Australian Motorsport, the Repco Bathurst 1000, won’t take place in its traditional first or second weekend of October date this year and sadly our New Zealand mates won’t be seeing the Supercars across the ditch for a second year in a row.

This is a particularly bitter pill to swallow for Kiwi motor racing fans as their pride of the nation, Red Bull Commodore driver Shane Van Gisbergen, heads for his first championship title in what has and continues to be a season of domination for the supremely talented 32-year-old driver.

Joining New Zealand in losing a local Supercar event in 2021 is Western Australia, as ongoing restrictions have forced the Perth Supernight event to be postponed to next season. Perth’s Wanneroo Raceway has been the scene of many epic Supercar battles over the decades and fans both inside and outside of our westernmost state will no doubt miss it greatly.

Making the best of this situation, Supercars Australia organisers along with their teams will be attempting to see out a full season of modified events and the news is good for Australian motor racing fans.

Following the mid-season break, which allowed full coverage of the Tokyo Olympic Games to be completed on the Seven Network, the Supercars returned to action on the exciting and technically challenging Winton Raceway in rural Victoria on October 2 and 3.

The Supercar teams and drivers will then take over the date vacated by the cancellation of the Australian MotoGP at Victoria’s Phillip Island over the weekend of October 23 and 24. This highspeed seaside racing circuit hasn’t seen Supercar action since 2019. Australia’s Great Race and one of the world’s most famous Touring Car endurance races, the Repco Bathurst 1000, will now take place over the first weekend of November. All the many thousands of Bathurst BBQs across Australia and New Zealand will need to be moved to Sunday, November 7 for six and a half hours of incredible motorsport across the majestic Mount Panorama circuit.

Sydney Motorsport Park will be able to showcase the venue’s outstanding new lighting system when the penultimate round of the Supercars Championship, the Beaurepaires Sydney Supersprint, takes place from November 19 to 21.

The grand finale for the season will be held on the unforgiving Surfers Paradise Street Circuit from December 3 to 5. The Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 is sure to be an exciting event to end this second disrupted season, with the circuit’s ruthless concrete walls allowing absolutely zero margin for error across what will be a very busy racing weekend.

Some of these events will also feature the world’s fastest one-make motor racing series, the Porsche Carrera Cup Championship, along with a number of other support categories including the Super 2 and Super 3 Championships, showcasing the young guns seeking to become the Supercar stars of the future.

According to Supercars Australia CEO Sean Seamer, “These are challenging times for all sporting codes, which is why we have had to remain flexible with our calendar arrangements and make significant changes where required. Our goal is to make sure that we deliver some amazing racing over the rest of the 2021 championship.”

Hopefully, the remaining calendar of events for the Repco 2021 Supercars Championship remains intact, but of course all events remain subject to change based on State and Federal restrictions as they continue to be updated.

Capricorn Travel can assist you with all travel arrangements to place you trackside at any of these events, using your Capricorn Reward points to take a well-deserved high-octane break.

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