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The South Australian state election tomorrow does not only hold implications for the Adelaide 500.
Speedcafe.com understands the matter of when exactly Newcastle will finally host Supercars next hinges on the poll result in SA.
To briefly recap the situation, the current Steven Marshall-led government oversaw the Adelaide 500’s demise in late 2020. Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas has vowed to revive the event, and have it become the 2022 Supercars finale across December 1-4.
Various South Australian-raised Supercars drivers have this week led renewed calls for Adelaide’s return, including Scott Pye and Tim Slade.
What happens at the polls could influence when, or if, another street circuit – Newcastle – does appear on the Supercars schedule this year.
As it stands, three options appear to be on the table.
Option one: If Marshall’s Liberal party retains power, that could well spell the death of the Adelaide 500, and open up an immediate position for Newcastle to slot in as the 2022 finale instead.
Gold Coast is currently the event scheduled for latest in the year, on October 28-30.
That itself could feasibly act as the finale – but would represent an unusually early finish to a Supercars Championship.
The downside of Newcastle returning to its status as the potential decider is that it creates an awkward situation due to its mantle as the likely 2023 season-opener – an event that would take place roughly three months later.
Option two: If Malinauskas and Labor are voted in, Adelaide could simply take Newcastle’s place on the 13-round calendar, running to the aforementioned dates of December 1-4.
That would leave a clear path to Newcastle opening the Gen3 era of Supercars in style next year, and perhaps create a return to the championship being regularly bookended by street circuits.
Option three: Both Newcastle and Adelaide could slot into the 2022 calendar, making for four street circuit events.
As previously reported, there is a desire from some corners to have Newcastle run on the May 21-22 weekend currently allocated to Winton Motor Raceway.
Although Newcastle media last month reported that a May date was becoming less likely, it’s understood Supercars has until the end of March as a deadline for a decision to be made.
It’s expected that if Newcastle doesn’t replace Winton, it would miss out altogether, especially given Perth and Auckland now appear safe.
Round 2 of the Repco Supercars Championship takes place on March 26-27 at Symmons Plains International Raceway in Tasmania.