New Zealand’s annual V8 Supercars event will revert to November next season as part of an otherwise largely stable 16-event calendar.
V8 Supercars will unveil its full schedule on Friday morning, confirming a new November 4-6 date for the ITM Super Sprint Auckland.
Pukekohe’s first three appearances on the V8 schedule in the early 2000s took place in November before an early-season trip to NZ became tradition.
V8 Supercars raced at Pukekohe on Anzac day last April, taking advantage of the Friday public holiday.
The new date will slot in between the Gold Coast and Phillip Island events, with Sydney Olympic Park again rounding out the schedule on the first weekend of December.
As expected, New Zealand will be the only international V8 Supercars event following the termination of the category’s contract with the Circuit of the Americas.
The remainder of the schedule will be largely unchanged, save for Barbagallo being brought forward a month to April 17-19 and ahead of Winton, which moves back to mid-May.
The 15 race meetings are once again supplemented by Sydney Motorsport Park’s pre-season test.
The launch of the calendar will officially confirm the now two-day test’s controversial clash with the Bathurst 12 Hour, which is locked into a February 7-8 date.
Whether or not Albert Park will become a points-paying event for the first time in 2015 is yet to become clear, although it is expected that the event will retain its unique four sprint race format.
V8 Supercars meanwhile says it will clarify details of next year’s weekend formats as part of the calendar launch.
Tweaks for the category’s first season under its Fox Sports media rights deal are expected to include the amalgamation of private testing into Fridays of multiple race weekends.
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