Shop
In this week’s Pirtek Poll we want to know what you rate higher; the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship title or a Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 win.
This year’s Great Race will close out the 2020 season after yet another revision to the calendar in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ironically, it’s the second time Mount Panorama has been earmarked as the season finale after earlier calendar revisions this year saw the season extend into 2021 with a finish in Bathurst.
The latest revisions have set up a four-round run to the end of the championship, which is currently led by the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s Scott McLaughlin.
One round at the Reid Park Street Circuit, two rounds at The Bend Motorsport Park, and the finale at Mount Panorama will close out a shortened 2020 season.
While Supercars has long maintained that this year’s Bathurst 1000 would be unaffected by calendar changes, it will now take place a week later than originally scheduled.
The endurance epic is now scheduled for October 15-18, allowing teams to adequately prepare for the race.
Following confirmation of the calendar changes, Supercars title contenders Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin weighed in on what means more to them.
The drivers were posed with the question of what they would do if they were running second and had a chance to win the race, whether they would press on and risk the championship to win the Great Race.
McLaughlin, who holds a 123-point advantage, leaned towards a championship crown over winning the Bathurst 1000.
Whincup, who lies second behind McLaughlin, said winning the championship still ranks as the “biggest prize of the year” over the Bathurst 1000.
The seven-time champion said a Bathurst 1000 finale is “most appropriate” for Supercars, comparing the Great Race to other sporting grand finals in Australia.
Supercars CEO Sean Seamer made a similar remark.
It will be the first time since 2000 that the Bathurst 1000 has closed out the season.
“This is our marquee event on the calendar and this year it will also be our series decider, making it an even more memorable occasion,” said Seamer.
So what rates higher for you? In this week’s Pirtek Poll we want to know whether it’s the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship or the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
