Supercars 2022: Newcastle 500 postponed as Covid derails opening round of the V8 calendar

The Supercars calendar has taken another Covid-enforced blow. This time before the cars even hit the track, with the first event of 2022 replaced.

Covid has derailed its first event of the 2022 Supercars calendar with the Newcastle 500 to be replaced by Sydney Motorsport Park in the opening round.

In another Covid-enforced blow after disruptions to the V8 calendar the past two years, the series has confirmed the opening race will now be moved due to difficulties arising from the Omicron wave.

Newcastle was scheduled to host the opening round of the season from March 4-6 but the street circuit event through the city’s CBD has been postponed.

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Sydney Motorsport Park, which is scheduled to host the 2022 season-finale, will now host the opening round under lights on the same dates.

Supercars plans to reschedule the Newcastle race later this year, although a new date for the event has not yet been confirmed.

New Supercars chief executive Shane Howard said the ongoing impact of Covid made it too challenging to construct and stage a street race.

New Supercars CEO Shane Howard, right, will have more Covid issues to deal with in 2022.

“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,” 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 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.

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

SvG will open his title defence in Sydney. Picture: Tim Hunter

“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.”

Sydney Motorsport Park hosted four consecutive rounds late last year in the lead-up to the season-ending Bathurst 1000 after border issues caused havoc with the calendar.

Howard said SMP would provide an exciting opening for the 2022 season under lights when Triple Eight star Shane van Gisbergen will start his championship defence.

“We are excited to be opening our season under lights in Sydney in just over a month’s time,” Howard said.

“Sydney Motorsport Park is a permanent circuit with infrastructure for competitors and fans already in place.

“We’re looking forward to our first race of 2022, to take place under the spectacular lights in Sydney in 40 days’ time.”

Covid forced the Newcastle event to be dropped from the calendar in 2020 and it was not included on the 2021 calendar due to the pandemic.

Street circuits in Townsville (July) and the Gold Coast (October) also feature on the Supercars calendar alongside the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in April.

Symmons Plains in Tasmania is scheduled to host the second round of the Supercars season from March 26-27.