Hunter rev heads are bemoaning the fact the Repco Newcastle 500 has been postponed to a later date.
Supercars confirmed the new season will start in Sydney following Monday’s decision to shelve plans for the 4-6 March extravaganza in the City’s CBD.
The Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight will now replace the Repco Newcastle 500 as the opening event of the 2022 championships on the same weekend.
“Given the continuing evolving and unpredictable COVID-19 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.
“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.
“We have been in consultation with City of Newcastle throughout January and understand that constructing and operating an event of this size during the current pandemic caused concern in parts of the community.
“As a street circuit built in the heart of the CBD, the event provides enormous economic benefits to the region.
“And, we want to ensure that happens again in 2022.
“We’re working to confirm the rescheduled date as soon as practicable.
“We thank our fans, volunteers, local businesses, Destination NSW, the NSW Office of Sport and City of Newcastle for their ongoing support.
“We fully intend to stage this year’s Repco Newcastle 500 in Supercars’ trademark style – and we are confident that we will be able to successfully do this later in the year.”
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said while the Repco Newcastle 500 would have been subject to a strict COVID-safe plan for March, the right decision was to postpone the event given community concern remained high.
“City of Newcastle staff have been in regular contact with Supercars regarding the local situation,” she explained.
“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 Repco Newcastle 500 has attracted a growing number of visitors from all parts of NSW and throughout Australia and New Zealand.
“With people still hesitant to travel due to the high number of COVID-19 cases across NSW and the NZ border remaining closed, the right decision was to postpone the race.”
Tickets will remain valid for the yet to be announced new date of the Repco Newcastle 500.
Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
