The opening of Sydney’s new speedway has been postponed due to construction delays arising from the latest wave of COVID-19 in New South Wales.

Eastern Creek Speedway was due to host its first event, a round of the Speedway Australia Sprintcar States Series, this Friday and Saturday.

However, that has now been cancelled, with the opening rescheduled for February 26.

Eastern Creek Speedway is the replacement for Sydney Speedway, also known as Parramatta City Raceway, which was compulsorily acquired as part of a major public transport project.

The new venue is located adjacent to Sydney Dragway, in the same area which is also home to Sydney Motorsport Park and Sydney Premier Karting Park.

An announcement from the venue states, “Despite the best efforts of Sydney Metro, NSW Office of Sport, Greater Sydney Parklands and the contractor, Abergeldie, to remain on track for the completion of our brand-new Eastern Creek speedway and opening event on January 14th, the latest wave of COVID-19 in NSW has unfortunately impacted on the construction schedule and therefore regretfully postponing its opening to February 26.

“This date has been selected to align with the interstate speedway calendar and already scheduled competitions, whilst also allowing some time to ensure resourcing capacities can be met for construction requirements and any COVID risk management assessments.”

All tickets which have been pre-purchased for the January 14-15 event will be fully refunded.

Sydney Speedway in Parramatta (specifically, the suburb of Clyde), run by Barry and Felicity Waldron before its closure, makes way for a train stabling yard for the Metro West line which is currently under construction.

Eastern Creek Speedway operators John and Kathy Kelly were officially handed over the venue by the NSW Government on December 20, last year.