Victoria teams to relocate to Sydney ahead of border closure

Teams and drivers from the Victoria region are to travel to Sydney Motorsport Park early ahead of the latest round of the Supercars Championship season.

The second of two successive events in Sydney had been called into question by the announcement that the Victorian and New South Wales governments were to close borders due to an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in Melbourne.

Those teams affected by the announcement will now make the move to Sydney earlier than planned to avoid the closures, with team garages at the circuit being made available from this evening.

Teams from different regions will be split in the pit lane.

“Supercars has been closely monitoring the situation in Victoria and teams had been preparing to bring forward travel dates in advance of today’s announcement,” series CEO Sean Seamer said. “We appreciate their willingness to play their part, to ensure we protect the health and wellbeing of Supercars and the wider community.

“We remain agile and continue to work with all government stakeholders, relevant medical officials and teams on ensuring we race in a safe and compliant way.”

Team 18 is one of those outfits that will be making the trip to Sydney early, with team Charlie Schwerkolt admitting that the key focus was on ensuring that all team members remain safe and well.

“These are certainly unprecedented times for Team 18 and all Victorian Supercars teams at the moment,” he said. “I got the call at 11am this morning informing me that the borders would be shut tomorrow night and then half an hour later I got another call to say they were closing tonight.

“So we have had to scramble around, pack the truck with our cars and equipment and hit the road for Sydney Motorsport Park. The team will stay in Albury tonight before continuing their journey and they will set up at the circuit tomorrow.

“This is what we have had to do to keep going racing for all of our sponsors and partners, but the main thing is our staff is safe and well.

“It’s hard for the team, I feel for the crew, the drivers and their families. It’s a big scramble getting everyone prepared to go away for what could be a month on the road.”