SUPERCARS CHANGES 2021 CALENDAR

The Repco Supercars Championship has had to change this year’s calendar yet again in response to the coronavirus pandemic, with a new date for the Bathurst 1000 and the return of a round at Winton. Perth and New Zealand miss out in this latest calendar update, with both the Perth SuperNight and Auckland SuperSprint rounds deleted, while the proposed round at Queensland Raceway will not go ahead either.

Sydney’s worsening coronavirus outbreak has forced upcoming rounds scheduled for NSW – the Sydney SuperNight on 20-22 August and the Bathurst 1000 on 7-10 October – to be rescheduled.

The Sydney SuperNight round will now take place on 19-21 November, with the Bathurst 1000 moved to 4-7 November in the hope the race can go ahead with at least some fans.

"With the ever-changing COVID landscape, our teams and broadcast partners have agreed it is in all our stakeholders' best interests commercially and competitively to move our premier event to a later date," Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said.

"We will meet all COVID-19 safety requirements necessary to ensure this year’s Great Race goes ahead. Our aim is to ensure we can bring back as many fans as possible."

In addition to rescheduled NSW rounds, the calendar changes also include a much longer winter break - almost three months - before racing returns at the Winton SuperSprint on 2-3 October. The country Victorian circuit was originally scheduled to host a round on 29-30 May, but Victoria’s coronavirus outbreak forced its postponement.

A new race weekend of 23-24 October features on the revised calendar, too, and while a venue has not been listed at time of writing, it’s strongly tipped to be Phillip Island.

The 2021 season finale at the Gold Coast on 3-5 December remains unchanged from the previous calendar update.