Formula 5000
Despite facing an ever-steepening uphill battle against Covid restrictions, the New Zealand Formula 5000 championship has reshuffled their 2022 calendar to ensure racing goes ahead.
An original four-round season spread from November 2021 to March this year has been rocked by cancellations.
The first three meetings were canned, leaving next month’s Hampton Downs finale as the year’s first, last, and only event.
“One option was to accept our season and series had been snookered by Covid-19,” F5000 committee member Glenn Richards said. “We just run at the one meeting this season and accept it as a fait accompli.”
However, it seemed that idea did not sit well with the F5000 community, who were eager to put on a season worth following.
So, two new rounds have been found, including a visit down south to Christchurch.
The Hampton Downs meeting in March now becomes round one of a revamped season. Ruapuna hosts round two in April before everything wraps up in May at Taupo Motorsport Park.
New provisional calendar:
| Rnd | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hampton Downs | Mar 26-27 |
| 2 | Ruapuna | Apr 8-10 |
| 3 | Taupo | May 14-15 |
Central Muscle Cars
Sadly, it is less positive news on the Central Muscle Car front.
On Wednesday, the championship announced it has withdrawn from its planned season-opener at Hampton Downs next weekend.
It’s the latest addition to a list of cancellations for the series, which was supposed to kick off a seven-meeting championship in November.
The Hampton Downs weekend is proceeding as initially mapped out, albeit minus the muscle car category.
Club President Dean Hansen cited Covid-19 uncertainty as the lead cause behind the pull-out.
“If there was to be a positive case recorded at the event it could mean a number of members could be isolating anywhere from 10 – 21 days,” he said.
There are still three CMC rounds to play out across the North Island between now and April, with the potential of rescheduling some of the lost events afterwards.
Current calendar:
| Rnd | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pukekohe | Mar 4-6 |
| 2 | Taupo | Mar 25-27 |
| 3 | Hampton Downs | Apr 22-24 |