New Zealand’s Supercars round is now in limbo with the country confirming it has suspended all travel from Australia.
The survival of the trans-Tasman bubble is the key factor dictating whether or not Supercars could host a round in New Zealand this November.
Without the bubble in tact, any hope of a New Zealand round is extinct.
Today the New Zealand government confirmed it has hit pause on the bubble for at least the next eight weeks.
The two-month break does give Supercar teams and officials roughly a six week window to get into New Zealand before November’s race.
However, that is still a small operating window for Supercars, especially considering the New Zealand government could extend the pause period further.
The travel bubble will only be reassessed after the eight weeks.
Before today, New Zealand had suspended travel from three Australian states.
One of those states was New South Wales who are in a losing arm wrestle with a wave of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19.
Today, NSW recorded its highest daily total of cases since the Delta outbreak began.
A national state of emergency in NSW was declared this morning.
Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said that the travel bubble pause is primarily due to the Delta strain of coronavirus, and the unstable nature of certain Australian states right now.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she wished travel between New Zealand and Australia could continue.
However, she stressed the outbreak across the ditch needs to be contained before safe travel can resume.
“My strong message to every New Zealander in Australia right now who does not want to stay there long term is to come home,” Ardern said.
Half of Australia’s population are back in some degree of lockdown.
Pukekohe Park is set to host this year’s New Zealand round of the Supercars series on November 6-7.
The discontinued bubble also runs the risk of preventing Kiwi drivers Greg Murphy and Richie Stanaway from entering Australia for this year’s Bathurst 1000.
This year’s Great Race is slated for early October; just a couple of weeks from when the two month pause is supposedly set to lift.
