The event has fallen victim to Victoria’s ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the state is unlikely to be open for operations at least with respect to major events until the scheduled date in late October.
That means further changes to the schedules of the Supercars and the Australian Superbike Championship, with these categories being titled the two-plus-four format.
The event, sponsored by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, was intended to serve as a sort of replacement for the canceled Australian MotoGP round.
“Due to the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bass Coast Festival of Motorsport has been canceled,” confirmed AGPC CEO Andrew Westacott.
“AGPC would like to thank the Victorian Government, Supercars, the Australian Superbike Championship, the Porsche Carrera Cup, the Bass Coast Shire Council and affiliated tourism and business groups for their support during the event creation and planning phase over the past few weeks.
“Our appreciation also goes to Motorsport Australia, Motorcycling Australia and the numerous motorsport fans who have supported this new event concept.”
Phillip Island has been rumored to be on a further revised Supercars schedule under a double title, though that development suggests the series won’t be returning to Victoria at all now as it looks like the last five laps have been completed .
A New South Wales triple header appears to be part of the plan, culminating in a six-day combined Bathurst 1000 / Bathurst International.
Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden, at Surfers Paradise in 2019
Photo by: Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images
Gold Coast 500 participates in canceled Supercars races
The Gold Coast 500 has also joined the growing list of canceled Supercars events as the series heavily reworks the back end of its 2021 schedule.
Surfers Paradise’s street circuit was set to host the 2021 season finale, but will not appear on the revised schedule that will be officially unveiled early next week.
The six-day Super Bathurst event, which combines the Bathurst 1000 with elements of the Bathurst International, is widely acclaimed for taking over the season-ending slot.
The Gold Coast cancellation comes as no surprise, a street course that has long been viewed as an impossible financial risk under the constant threat of lockdowns.
It is the second year in a row that the famous street race has been canceled due to the global health crisis.
The Gold Coast event is expected to return in 2022 and join a list of “priority” events that Supercars are looking to reintroduce along with Auckland and Perth.
The Winton event is also likely to miss the revised schedule.
As the first season marked by Autosport, the season is likely to end with a New South Wales triple header, with two events at Sydney Motorsport Park followed by the six-day Super Bathurst.
More details on the revised Supercars schedule are expected to be officially released in the coming days.
