Brakes slammed on V8 Supercars Newcastle 500 opener

The Newcastle 500 will be put on ice until later in the year as a result of NSW’s surging Covid-19 numbers. The opening race of the Supercars Championship has now been moved.

Newcastle will no longer host the opening round of the Supercar Championship after Covid concerns forced the race to be moved. Picture: Tim Hunter.

The Newcastle 500 will be put on ice until later in the year as a result of NSW’s surging Covid-19 numbers.

Organisers made the call to reschedule due to concerns over crowd numbers, which are critical for the street circuit’s viability.

The event was set to make a triumphant return to Newcastle by launching the Supercars championship calendar.

The opener will now be held under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park.

“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.

“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.

Scott McLaughlan hoists the trophy after winning the Supercars Championship in November 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Darren Pateman

“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.

“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 are working to confirm the rescheduled date as soon as practicable.”

Howard said the race will still go ahead in Newcastle later in the season, with the final race being touted as a possibility.

“We thank our fans, volunteers, local businesses, Destination NSW, the NSW Office of Sport and City of Newcastle for their ongoing support,” he said.

“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.”

Newcastle councilor Jenny Barrie said although disappointing, she can see the merit in the decision to postpone the event.

“It’s a shame but it’s about public safety,” Cr Barrie said.

“There will be a lot of accommodation businesses that won’t be happy but the difficulties arising from the current omicron wave looks to have outweighed the event.”

2019 was the last time the Newcastle 500 was held after it was dropped from the 2020 calendar, while no street circuits were scheduled in 2021.

Crowds line the street to watch the race in 2019. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“It brings a lot of exposure to the city, let’s hope we won’t see the last of it,” said Cr Barrie.

Covid-19 cancellations hindered the Supercars series last year with Winton, and the Gold Coast 500 all scrapped due to the pandemic.

It comes after Newcastle greens councillor Dr John McKenzie voiced his concerns to the Newcastle News of the event becoming a potential Covid-19 super spreader.

“With the public health orders, the Supercars sits somewhere in between after some of the rulings that we’ve seen. It’s not a seated event like in a stadium when you have a control of crowd movements,” McKenzie said.