Supercars have unveiled a 12-round calendar for the 2021 season, which kicks off at Bathurst in February and concludes on the Gold Coast in early December.
Both Newcastle and Adelaide have been left out of the provisional draft calendar which features two rounds at the iconic Mount Panorama circuit.
After much speculation, the New Zealand round has been pushed back from its planned April date to November. However, the calendar only states it will be called the ITM Auckland SuperSprint with no confirmation over which circuit will host the event.
Both Pukekohe Park and Hampton Downs are the leading candidates, the latter stepping up to the plate to host the cancelled 2020 event after Unitary Plan legislation meant a round at Pukekohe was unviable.
There has also been no confirmation on the format of each weekend, with the suggestion that shorter sprint races with no refuelling the likely option.
The season-opener at Mount Panorama will be called the Bathurst 500 and will likely feature a pair of 250km sprint races.
The series then heads to Melbourne where it will support the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.
Sandown has been mooted as the replacement round for Supercars if the Grand Prix is unable to go ahead due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Rounds at Symmons Plains and The Bend then follow, as do the usual list of candidates including Winton, Hidden Valley and Townsville.
Notably, the 12 rounds spread across 40 weeks of the calendar year, giving teams and drivers plenty of downtime between each event.
There is also a planned six-week break around the Tokyo Olympics, before Supercars returns in spectacular style, under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Sydney Motorsport Park will host its round under lights on August 20-22. The Supercars fraternity will then make the voyage west to Wanneroo Raceway in Perth for the second successive night round.
The Bathurst 1000 will be on its traditional October 7-10 slot and is set to be the sole two-driver round on the calendar.
After its trip across the Tasman to either Pukekohe or Hampton Downs, the series will then draw to a close on the streets of Surfers Paradise on December 3-5.
“It is important to us to ensure the 2021 calendar features as much certainty for fans as we can provide given the current COVID-19 restrictions in each state and territory,” said Supercars CEO Sean Seamer.
“We’re thrilled that next year we can deliver two events at Mount Panorama, including the season opener in February.
“We are still working with all government partners on fan limits for each event, but we are confident of strong crowd numbers across Australia and New Zealand, in line with the current loosening of COVID-19 restrictions.”
2021 draft Supercars calendar
| February 26-28 | Mount Panorama 500, Bathurst, NSW |
| March 18-21 | Melbourne, Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, VIC |
| April 10-11 | Tasmania SuperSprint, Symmons Plains, TAS |
| May 8-9 | OTR SuperSprint, Tailem Bend, SA |
| May 29-30 | Winton SuperSprint, Winton, VIC |
| June 19-20 | Darwin Triple Crown, Hidden Valley, NT |
| July 9-11 | NTI Townsville, Reid Park, QLD |
| August 20-22 | Sydney SuperNight, Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW |
| September 11-12 | Perth SuperNight, Wanneroo Raceway, WA |
| October 7-10: | Repco Bathurst 1000, Mount Panorama, NSW |
| November 6-7 | ITM Auckland SuperSprint, NZ |
| December 3-5 | Gold Coast Street Circuit, Surfers Paradise, QLD |