With COVID-19 curtailing the Repco Supercars Championship‘s schedule for the second straight season, the series has unveiled a revised calendar that also impacts the Boost Mobile Super Trucks.
Much like the inaugural season in 2020, the trucks’ sophomore year has been marred by the pandemic. Although the series was able to run the first three race weekends at Tasmania, Darwin, and Townsville without many hitches (Tasmania was delayed by a week due to restrictions), the remaining four have faced challenges as outbreaks continue in the region.
The Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight at Wanneroo Raceway on 10–12 September and the ITM Auckland SuperSprint at Pukekohe Park Raceway on 5–7 November have been removed entirely from the 2021 schedule. Perth hosted the Stadium Super Trucks in 2017 and 2018, while Pukekohe (and New Zealand as a whole) would have been a new stop for the discipline. Both races were also cancelled in 2020.
Both decisions are spurred by travel restrictions in the effort to contain the pandemic. In Western Australia, where Perth is located, the government’s Department of Health said Friday that Queensland—where many Supercars teams and the Boost Mobile Super Trucks headquarters at the Norwell Motorplex are located—has been assessed as a “medium risk (external site) state”.
Meanwhile, the trans-Tasman bubble that had been in existence since April to facilitate quarantine-less travel between New Zealand and Australia has been suspended by the New Zealand government. The shutdown launched last Friday and will be at least eight weeks long.
“Unfortunately, our event planned for Perth presents significant risk with the ongoing restrictions, so we’ve made the difficult decision to move it to the 2022 calendar,” stated Supercars CEO Sean Seamer. “Similarly, our Kiwi fans across the ditch will be undoubtedly disappointed to see New Zealand does not feature on the revised calendar due to the trans-Tasman bubble being suspended. While the removal of both of these events is an unfortunate consequence of the COVID circumstances, we sincerely thank our partners for their understanding.
“We can’t wait to be able to get to both Western Australia and New Zealand as soon as we can in 2022.”
Despite losing two races, the trucks regain the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight at Sydney Motorsport Park which will take place on 19–21 November. Originally planned for 20–22 August, the SuperNight was indefinitely postponed earlier this month in the wake of COVID restrictions in New South Wales. Sydney, which first welcomed SST in 2018, will serve as the penultimate weekend for both the trucks and Supercars.
The Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 in Surfers Paradise and its 3–5 December date remain unaffected.
After accounting for the schedule changes, the 2021 Boost Mobile Super Trucks schedule is now five races long, down from the original seven. Losing Perth and Auckland means the series will have to wait four months between races as Sydney is their next stop.
“SST are back on track at Sydney Motorsport Park in November then finishing off in (Surfers) Paradise Gold Coast,” wrote driver Dave Casey in an Instagram Story. “Hopefully rona stays away – stay safe everyone”.
