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V8 Supercars restart in Sydney June 27-28 for TV-only event

Supercars series will return to racing at the end of next month, with the revised calendar due to be announced tomorrow.


V8 Supercars will be back on track at the end of next month, with a two-day TV-only event at Sydney Motorsport Park.

It will be the first time Australia's most popular motorsport category will be racing since the season-opening Adelaide 500 in February. 

The Sydney circuit – formerly known as Eastern Creek Raceway – had been scheduled to run as a night event in late August.

However the venue has been pulled forward to a daytime, TV-only event so V8 Supercars can return to racing.

In a media statement, Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said the Sydney circuit was chosen because it was centrally located between where most teams are based.

“It’s in between most of our teams in Queensland and Victoria; it has the convenience of the hotel over the road; it also has good proximity for TV crews so we can have less people travelling interstate to deliver the event,” said Mr Seamer.

“In addition to that, it’s a good precinct for us from a management point of view. There’s plenty of room out the back of the pits, it has big pit garages, so it enables us to meet the restrictions and be compliant. So it was a compliance decision and also a logistical decision,” he said.

A daytime event was chosen because: “On the basis that we are chartering the teams in and out on tight turnaround times (for flights), the night racing doesn’t work and obviously they need a bit more time to complete the (permanent) light towers,” said Mr Seamer.

Race fans will need to wait a little longer before watching V8 Supercars in the metal.

“Only people essential to be at the track will be onsite; others, including race stewards, will work remotely,” the statement from Supercars said. 

“Support categories will not run at Sydney Motorsport Park. Supercars drivers and crew members will be required to stay isolated at a nearby hotel when not at the race track,” the statement continued.

The announcement of the return to racing at Sydney Motorsport Park on the last weekend in June, means there will be date changes for the Winton Super 400 and the Townsville 400, both of which were originally planned for next month.

A spokesman for Supercars said the rest of the calendar is expected to be announced some time this weekend.

To keep race-fit, most V8 Supercar drivers have been participating in the E-Series computer simulation game (pictured below).

Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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