Delayed Supercars depart New Zealand after cyclone

Cyclone Tam forced the closure of Auckland ports last Wednesday, complicating travel plans for Supercars following the Taupo Super440 event.

Speedcafe has learned that all Supercars cargo is now on the water, with a Melbourne-bound ship departing Auckland over the weekend and its Brisbane counterpart leaving this morning.

Pending exact travel time, that should have both boats docking this weekend and teams taking delivery of their containers in the following days.

That delivery timeline is believed to be on track with what had initially been forecast to teams, despite an approximately two-day delay to the departure.

Queensland teams will have just a handful of days to turn their cars around before leaving for the Tasmania Super440, to be held at Symmons Plains on May 9-11.

Supercars sea freighted its cars to New Zealand this year in a bid to reduce the cost of the Kiwi sojourn, which has traditionally been a fly-away round.

Each two-car team was permitted a 40-foot container for their vehicles, spare parts and pit equipment

The entire cargo – including communal parts containers and Supercars’ own equipment – is said to weigh 240 tonnes and carry a value of $40 million.