February’s Phillip Island Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships round will be a 2+4 event headlined by the Australian Superbike Championship and TCR Australia.
What will be known as the ‘Australian All Wheels Race Fest’ will take place on February 19-21, having previously been listed with no specific day on the Motorsport Australia or TCR calendars.
Car racing on the bill also includes the VHT S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia, while the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul will feature the Kawasaki Superbikes, MotorsportTV Supersport, YMI Supersport 300 and the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup.
Although such tie-ups were once commonplace for the Australian Touring Car Championship, the event will be the first such collaboration between the Motorsport Australia Championships and ASBK.
“The Australian All Wheels Race Fest is a great opportunity for both Motorsport Australia and Motorcycling Australia to further build upon our already strong relationship and deliver an event that will be something that hasn’t really been done in Australia in recent times,” said Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca.
“This will be an exceptional opportunity for motorsport fans to get up close and experience both disciplines across their respective categories. It promises to deliver a magnificent start to the 2021 Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships calendar.
“We are thrilled to be able to get such an event up and running that will provide a terrific day out for a very wide range of motorsport fans.
“There will of course be subtle changes required to the track and officials to meet the differing safety requirements, but all this will be factored into the schedule which will provide some really exciting on track action across the weekend at a terrific Victorian venue.”
His counterpart at Motorcycling Australia, Peter Doyle, added, “This is a fantastic opportunity to be working with Motorsport Australia to deliver a spectacular event at a venue that has so much history for both two-wheel and four-wheel motorsport.
“The Australian All Wheels Race Fest idea has been spoken about for some time and both Motorcycling Australia and Motorsport Australia look forward to working together closely.
“This is an idea that motorsport fans have wanted for some time, and together with Motorsport Australia there is a real passion from us to deliver cross discipline world-class event.
‘’When we bring our collective rider, driver and teams together in the same paddock, we know it will deliver the best on track action and a sensational fan experience.
‘’Not only will it be a great fan experience, but also a great learning experience for our respective organisations which will improve our own championships in the future.”
According to Motorsport Australia’s announcement, “both sanctioning bodies (are) eager to continue this event in the years ahead at various circuits around the country.”
Work will take place closer to the event in the hope of allowing fan attendance, with ticketing/hospitalist and broadcast details to be disclosed at a later date.
TCR Australia and S5000 are set to kick off for 2021 at Symmons Plains on January 24-26, while the Australian All Wheels Race Fest is set to be the ASBK opener.
The domestic superbike championship would ordinarily commence in support of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island, although that round has been postponed and an alternate date is being sought.