Bathurst 1000 delay: Covid chaos hits Supercars calendar

Covid chaos in New South Wales could force the Bathurst 1000 in October to be postponed as Supercars grapples with more enforced calendar changes in the second half of the year.

As Greater Sydney faces the prospect of a lockdown lasting until September, it’s understood the biggest event on the Supercars calendar could be pushed back several weeks from its traditional early October date to ensure crowds will be able to attend.

The endurance classic was scheduled for October 7-10 but crowd numbers at the category’s showpiece event could be severely impacted due to the ongoing restrictions in NSW.

Fans may have to wait to watch the V8s rocket around the Mount Panorama track in 2021.Source:News Limited

Supercars is focused on ensuring maximum crowd numbers can attend with the majority of fans to the event travelling from Sydney.

Last year’s Great Race, won by Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander, was staged with a crowd cap of 4000 patrons per day.

Supercars is yet to confirm any changes to the calendar in the back-half of the championship but there is expected to be more shuffling of the schedule.

Shane van Gisbergen celebrates after winning the 2020 Bathurst 1000. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)Source:Getty Images

The series was still due to race at Ipswich in August – which was drafted in as a replacement for the Sydney SuperSprint round – Perth (September), Bathurst (October), Auckland (November) and the Gold Coast 500 (early December).

It’s understood the races in Perth and Auckland could be under threat and, potentially, the newly added round at Queensland Raceway due to border complications.

Phillip Island, which was not on the original 2021 calendar, is believed to have come into the frame as a possible replacement event, while it was hoped the cancelled rounds at Winton and Sydney could also be rescheduled later in the year.

Supercars has so far completed seven rounds of the 2021 championship – the Bathurst 500, Sandown, Symmons Plains, Tailem Bend, Darwin and a double-header in Townsville – and needs five more to complete its 12-round season.

Originally published asCovid chaos threatens Bathurst 1000 schedule

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