The opening event of the 2022 Supercars season will be postponed, due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns in Newcastle.
The Newcastle 500 street race was set to open the season, but instead that honour will go to Sydney, with the Sydney SuperNight opening the season from March 4 to 6.
“Given the continuing evolving and unpredictable COVID situation, it has become too challenging to stage a complex multi-faceted event on the streets of Newcastle for tens of thousands of race fans in March,” Supercars CEO Shane Howard said.
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“Putting on an event of the scale of Newcastle, in the middle of its CBD, requires an enormous amount of work to ensure it runs to a world-class standard.”
The street event would see drivers race through the heart of the city, and the risk of doing so was deemed too great.
“We have been in consultation with the City of Newcastle throughout January and understand that constructing and operating an event of this size during the current COVID period has caused concern in parts of the community,” Howard said.
“We are excited to be opening our season under lights in Sydney in just over a month’s time.”
The Newcastle 500 was last held in 2019, with both the 2020 and 2021 editions called off due to the pandemic.
“We all agreed that right now, and regardless of the additional precautions taken to run the Newcastle 500 safely, the community would feel more confident about the race proceeding later in the year,” the city’s Lord Mayor, Nuatali Nelmes said.
Sport Minister Stuart Ayres also praised the decision.
“We commend the determination and resilience of Supercars and will continue to support their efforts to deliver safe, successful and spectacular motorsport events in NSW,” he said.
“These events deliver adrenalin-packed motor racing, economic and social benefits for the community and expose NSW to millions around the world.
“We look forward to the Sydney SuperNight Race opening the Supercars 2022 season at Sydney Motorsport Park and announcing a new date for the Newcastle 500 as soon as possible.”
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