Supercars has today revealed the revised 2021 calendar, which includes a new date for fans to attend Australian motorsport’s most iconic event, the Bathurst 1000.
Updates to the calendar were made in consultation with key stakeholders, including broadcast partners and team owners, brought about due to the ongoing COVID challenges in various states.
Among the changes will be a later date for the Repco Bathurst 1000, which will now be held over 4-7 November.
“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 premiere event to a later date,” Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said.
“We are continuing to work closely with NSW Health, the Bathurst Regional City Council, emergency services, broadcasters and the NSW Government on planning for the Repco Bathurst 1000, which is the pinnacle of Australian motorsport.
“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.”
The new dates also help the Erebus Mototsport’s Boost Mobile backed wildcard, with Greg Murphy and Stanaway contingent on the trans-Tasman travel bubble re-opening.
Ongoing restrictions between Western Australia and New Zealand has seen the Perth and New Zealand rounds regrettably dropped though the changes had made way for the return of Winton and another event for the weekend of 23-24 October.
“For now, our goal is to make sure we deliver some amazing racing over the rest of the 2021 championship,” Seamer said.
“We are thrilled to have locked in our return to Winton and we’re working towards being able to announce another event for the weekend of 23-24 October.
“We can’t wait to welcome our fans back to the Mountain in November, along with the much- anticipated Sydney night event later in the month.
“We’ll then round out our 2021 season with a big party on the Gold Coast, in what will surely be a huge celebration following another incredible year of racing.”
Erebus Motorsport will now enter an extended break, which Erebus Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan welcomed.
“Going into a long break doesn’t affect how we operate; the main thing is we just want to go racing and the revised calendar gives us the best chance of doing that,” he said.
“The category has done an excellent job to take the initiative and update the calendar to help us get the most out of the remaining events.
“Hopefully this allows us to be able to open our events up to as many fans and partners as possible.”
The rescheduled events on the 2021 Supercars Championship calendar are:
- Winton SuperSprint: 2-3 October
- TBA: 23-24 October
- Bathurst 1000: 4-7 November
- Sydney SuperSprint: 19-21 November
- Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500: 3-5 December
The Dunlop Super2 rounds will include Winton, Bathurst and Gold Coast.
All rounds will be brought to you live on Fox Sports and be streamed on Kayo, with the Bathurst, Sydney and Gold Coast events broadcast across the Seven Network.
While there is a gap between now and going racing again, the recently announced Eseries will now also be shifted forward to 25 August.
For now though, the season is set to resume at Winton Motor Raceway in early October, having last raced at Townsville last month.