By Mark Fogarty
Release date: September 14, 2021
Supercars is planning an AFL / NRL style hotel center in southeast Queensland to ensure the season comes to a close.
Southern teams will be quarantined in a Gold Coast “bubble” for 14 days before racing resumes with back-to-back events at Queensland Raceway in early November.
All teams would then move to NSW for another one-two at Sydney Motorsport Park before the Bathurst 1000, which is to be postponed to early December as the season finale.
Supercars are believed to be negotiating with the Queensland government to allow VIC and NSW team and serial employees to isolate themselves at a Gold Coast hotel or resort for two weeks.
“They will set up a quarantine hotel for the entire Victoria team and Supercars staff for 14 days,” revealed an insider from the southern squad. “That’s the smart way to do it.”
Once the quarantine is complete, they could join the QLD-based teams and supercars officials to compete at QR on consecutive weekends.
The deal is slated to close in days, along with the latest revision of the COVID-troubled calendar for the last five events.
As reported by the teams, all interstaters would isolate themselves in a special hotel that would be turned into a supercars bubble.
They would have freedom of movement within the facility, rather than being confined to their rooms, with access to dining areas, gym, swimming pool and other outdoor areas
The layout will be similar to the hotel / resort “bubbles” deployed by the NRL, which has moved its competition to QLD, and the AFL’s finals mini-hubs in Adelaide and Perth.
The completion of the Gold Coast hub is part of the delay in announcing the new event schedule, which has been postponed at least twice since late last week.
COVID uncertainties have already challenged proposed returnees to Winton and Phillip Island for the next month, as well as the Gold Coast 500 in December.
Supercars is planning back-to-back events at QR and then SMP in November ahead of the Bathurst 1000, which is again being postponed to replace the GC500 on the weekend of December 4-5 as the season end.
The Bathurst 1000 will be combined with the Bathurst International from ARG from November 30th to December 5th to create an almost week-long racing festival on Mount Panorama.
ARGs TCR, S5000, TCM and Trans Am will join the full roster of supercars from the main game Super2, the Porsche Carrera Cup and the Toyota 86 Series and culminate in the 1000 km classic.
Supercars’ final efforts to meet their contractual obligations to conclude a 12-event season will depend on lockdown restrictions in NSW being relaxed by mid-November and QLD not deteriorating.
After the two-week quarantine from the end of October and 10 days in Ipswich, it can be assumed that all teams will be allowed to travel to NSW without being isolated from QLD.
The return of the teams after the Bathurst 1000 could be more problematic.
But they’re all ready to quarantine for two weeks afterwards – hopefully more at home than in hotels – to make sure the season is over.
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