Tasmania retained on revised Supercars calendar, but doubt remains on public attendance

A new date for Tasmania’s round of the Supercars has been pencilled in but the state’s border restrictions will need to ease for the event to proceed.

TASMANIA’S slot on the Supercars 2020 calendar remains for now but — like AFL matches — whether it proceeds will depend on the easing of the state’s borders.

Supercars has unveiled its revised 12-round schedule, which resumes at Sydney Motorsport Park on June 27 and will now finish in early February 2021.

The Symmons Plains spectacle has been pencilled in for November 21-22, the second round after Bathurst, which has kept its traditional place in October.

However Premier Peter Gutwein – who has made no apologies for his tough stance on COVID-19 restrictions, which has cast doubt on Tasmania hosting any AFL games this year – was again standing firm when it came to the state’s biggest sporting event, which regularly attracts up to 60,000 people across three days of action.

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“It will depend on the public health advice we are receiving and importantly, whether or not our border controls have been removed or reduced at that time,” Mr Gutwein said.

Spectators at Symmons Plains last year PICTURE CHRIS KIDD

Motorsport Tasmania general manager Donald Potter said he was always confident the Tasmanian round would be rescheduled — with street races on the Gold Coast and Newcastle cut from the original schedule.

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Potter is hopeful by November restrictions on public gatherings will have been lifted, but concedes if not the round may not be staged.

Drivers race around the Symmons Plains circuit during the Tasmanian round of the Supercars championship last year. Picture: MARK HORSBURGH

“We don’t know whether we will have a crowd, November is too far away for us to think about that yet. It would depend on the Tasmanian health department on what the event is going to look like,” Potter said.

“The whole reason the Government puts on these events is the tourism, and if you are not bringing anyone across the borders it makes it a bit harder to think whether it will go ahead.

“At this point in time I would presume we would be going ahead with crowds but who knows down the track.”