Series organisers of the Valvoline D1NZ drift championship have issued their plan for how round two at Manfeild, scheduled to be this weekend, will proceed under the current Covid-19 protocols.
The Auckland region is at Covid-19 Alert Level 3 while the rest of New Zealand at Alert Level 2, placing restrictions on mass gatherings and movement in and out of select areas.
Currently, these constraints are in place until 11.59 pm on Wednesday, with Cabinet deciding whether to extend the alert levels or lower them tomorrow.
In their latest update, D1NZ has announced that this weekend’s round will only go ahead if the entire country is at Alert Level 2 or lower.
Because several teams are based in Auckland, if there is no change in Alert Level, then the round will be postponed as these teams cannnot travel to Feilding. The same goes if the rest of the country is elevated to level 3 or level 4.
If Auckland is lowered to level 2, and the rest of New Zealand also remains at level 2, the round will go ahead. However, the event will go behind closed doors with fans only able to tune in via Sky Sport, or Fox Sports if watching from Australia.
All going well, if New Zealand is lowered to level 1, then normality returns and fans are welcome trackside.
There were zero cases of community transmission recorded by health authorities today and no further cases in managed isolation facilities.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will hold a press conference at 4.30 pm tomorrow to announce any changes in alert levels.
Main Image: Matthew Hansen