Having delayed the start of the Australian GT Championship to negotiate the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in mid-March, organisers were overjoyed to reveal a return to competition just over a week ago, with a four-round season as part of the Motorsport Australia Championships and the Supercars programs, however the recent announcement around the new Victorian outbreak has forced a third change to the proposed calendar.
Originally scheduled for mid-August (14-16), the opening round of the season has now been pushed back three weeks to avoid the current Victorian lockdown, allowing teams and drivers to move more freely outside of the six week window – assuming of course that further outbreaks become contained and the borders are able to reopen.
“As we said when we revealed the updated calendar a few days ago, it was always going to be reflective of the Covid-19 restrictions,” Category rights holder Jim Manolios explained.
“We’ve made no secret of the fact that as much as we want to be racing sooner rather than later, we will in no way jeopardise the safety of our teams and staff, and that has been upheld by Motorsport Australia who have been right on the front foot from the beginning.
“This new start gives more time for the current setback to be contained, and hopefully takes away the requirement of approval to cross into New South Wales – from there, we will advise teams of any further changes, including the likely alteration to round two at Sandown, which was set for the week after the revised Sydney date – a situation that Motorsport Australia is addressing right now, and we will update everyone as soon as that is resolved.”
2020 Australian GT Championship
Rnd#1 – Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW (4-6 September)
Rnd#2 – Sandown Raceway, Melbourne, Victoria (11-13 September – TBC)
Rnd#3 – Mount Panorama, Bathurst, NSW (9-10 October)
Rnd#4 – Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia (30 October-1 November)
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