The move to a sea freight model for Taupo this year was always destined to create a tight turnaround for the northern squads ahead of the May 9-11 Symmons Plains event.
Further uncertainty lingered when the departure of the 24-car fleet from Auckland was delayed by port closures amid Cyclone Tam.
The Supercars machines and equipment were returned to Australia via two ships: one docking in Brisbane and the other Melbourne.
Queensland teams now have until the weekend to prepare their cars before dispatching transporters to Melbourne ahead of catching the ferry to the Apple Isle.
Southern teams are set to have access to their cars as soon as tomorrow.
Gold Coast-based team owner Matt Stone told Speedcafe he’s pleased to have his cars back home earlier than feared.
“Supercars never gave us an expectation [for the return of the cars], they gave us a worst-case scenario. You plan for the worst and anything else is a bonus,” Stone said.
“The worst case was getting the containers back on Thursday this week and then we’d have Friday and Saturday to do all the work.
“We were preparing for that but we weren’t very excited by that concept.
“We’d given our guys plenty of time off before Easter and came in last week and prepared on the basis we’d be unloading early this week and that’s the way it’s worked out.”
Stone praised Supercars’ efforts to make the customs process as simple as possible for teams.
“The containers were available Monday afternoon and delivered to us first thing this morning,” Stone continued.
“It was all pre-cleared, Supercars did a great job organising for the inspectors to come out and do a remote sign-off. Otherwise, it would have taken an extra few days.
“If it wasn’t for the cyclone we would have had the containers yesterday.”
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Stone said there is a lot of work to do before leaving for Tasmania but is comfortable with the timeline.
The Queensland teams have not had cars at their workshops since early March, when they fled the state to avoid being caught in Cyclone Alfred ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
For MSR’s pair of Camaros, that has tallied 52 days away from home.
“We didn’t get to properly prep the cars between Grand Prix and Taupo, so it’s all of our normal service work, times two,” he said.
“Obviously we’ve got panel damage on the cars to repair, spares to replenish, mechanical components to service, all of that sort of stuff.
“So we’ve got four days, or five including Saturday, so it’s a nice amount of time to do it. We should be able to get everything done thoroughly and well.”
Stone has this week retaken the role of team principal within his squad following the sudden departure of Pete Vale, who is set to switch to PremiAir Racing.
MSR has elected to continue with the two chassis it raced at the AGP and Taupo, having moved Nick Percat to its spare following a rough Round 1 at Sydney Motorsport Park.
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