Supercars 2020 Calendar is set to deliver even more for fans with increased racing across 14 rounds.
The Supercars 2020 Calendar is gearing up to be a big shift away from tradition. A raft of adjustments have been made to the calendar ahead of the championship’s 60th anniversary.
- Five-year deals for the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 and Watpac Townsville 400
- A world first night race for Australian Touring Cars on a street circuit
- SuperSprint weekends increased to 200kms of racing each day
- ITM New Zealand SuperSprint returns to the April ANZAC weekend
- The Bend Motorsport Park joins the PIRTEK Enduro Cup
- More ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootouts at The Bend, Gold Coast and Newcastle
- 14 events in 2020 with more track time
- Sydney Motorsport Park returns
- Phillip Island and Queensland Raceway omitted
Supercars 2020 Round Review
After trialling new concepts over the past few seasons as well as reacting to an ever-changing market, this year’s Supercars event list looks different to 2019’s at most rounds.
Supercars Night Races
Dropped in 2019, Sydney Motorsport Park will return in 2020. Hosting one of three night races with Perth retaining its race under lights after a successful run last season.
The Gold Coast will well and truly be cemented as a party event with a night race to celebrate 30 years of an event being run on the streets of Surfers Paradise. A world first for Touring Cars on a street circuit.
This comes off the back of a five-year extension being given to the Queensland street races with Townsville confirmed as a part of the championship until 2024.
Supercars CEO Sean Seamer
Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said the calendar was a win for fans and viewers, with extra night races and more racing on-track. In addition, there will be longer SuperSprints and more ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootouts at The Bend, Gold Coast and Newcastle.
“It was important to us to increase the amount of Supercar racing for the fans at track and at home,” Seamer said.
“SuperSprint weekends are now full of Supercars racing on both days and we are really stepping up the entertainment value for fans and partners, on and off the track.”
The Supercars 2020 Calendar features a regular flow of events. As a result, events will be held every third week through the season. The exception will be a winter break for the Tokyo Olympics and two weeks between the final two events of the year.
“We believe events such as Auckland, Tailem Bend and Sandown are in even better times of year and we have been able to establish a more regular and consistent flow to all events, the teams have sufficient time between events to operate at the highest level,” Seamer said.
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Big Changes For Sandown
Perhaps the biggest change relates to the endurance season with Sandown losing the 500km tag, reverting to a two-200km race with The Bend Motorsport Park playing host to the pre-Bathurst hitout.
Sandown lost its place as the pre-Bathurst event in 2019, instead falling as the penultimate round of the championship after the Gold Coast, wrapping up the endurance season.
The Sandown format will now be standard across all SuperSprint rounds, running 400km across two races instead of the 120km plus 200km formats of previous seasons.
Less Events but More Track Time
Despite the return of Sydney, the championship will have less events as both Phillip Island and Queensland Raceway have been dropped due to financial reasons.
However, with the new SuperSprint format, the 2020 Supercars season will feature more racing kilometres than the season before.
One Race Across The Ditch
With one overseas event being held in New Zealand at Pukekohe Raceway, the date of the fly-away event has been shuffled to coincide with ANZAC Day on the 20th anniversary of a Supercars race across the ditch.
The season will unofficially begin with a test day at The Bend on the 18th of February. This comes just days before the racing year starts in Adelaide on the 20th.
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Supercars 2020 Calendar
The 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship
Feb 18: Supercars pre-season Test Day, The Bend, South Australia
Feb 20-23: Superloop Adelaide 500, Adelaide (DS2)
Mar 12-15: Melbourne 400, Formula One Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park
April 3-5: Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint, Launceston (DS2)
April 24-26: ITM Auckland SuperSprint, Auckland
May 15-17: PIRTEK Perth SuperNight, Barbagallo Raceway, Perth
June 5-7: Truck Assist Winton SuperSprint, Winton
June 26-28: Watpac Townsville 400, Townsville (DS2)
July 17-19: BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown, Darwin
Aug 28-30: Sydney SuperNight, Sydney Motorsport Park (DS2)
Sept 18-20: The Bend OTR 500, Tailem Bend, South Australia
Oct 8-11: Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Bathurst (DS2)
Oct 30-Nov 1: Vodafone Gold Coast 600, Gold Coast
Nov 20-22: Penrite Oil Sandown 400, Melbourne (DS2)
Dec 4-6: Coates Hire Newcastle 500, Newcastle (DS2)
DS2 = Dunlop Super2 Series