Townsville to go ahead, firming for back-to-back events

Townsville looks increasingly likely to host back-to-back Supercars events, Speedcafe.com has learnt.

The NTI Townsville 500, scheduled for July 9-11, had been under a cloud due to this week’s lockdown of the North Queensland city and the state’s southeast, where a number of teams are based.

Brisbane, which is the home of Triple Eight Race Engineering, remains in lockdown until at least tomorrow night but Townsville and the Gold Coast are among the local government areas to be freed tonight.

Multiple sources have this afternoon told Speedcafe.com that at least one event will proceed, with the second believed to be subject to talks with government.

Townsville also hosted events on consecutive weekends last year as Supercars sought to fit in as much racing as possible while the southern-based teams were on the road.

The latest move follows Victoria’s and then New South Wales’ response to the latest outbreak and restrictions in Queensland, namely to impose 14 days of strict self-isolation on residents returning from Townsville (and the other affected local government areas).

Those restrictions have not yet been lifted, as at early this afternoon, meaning the Repco Supercars Championship would at the very least get more value for the inconvenience which the affected teams and personnel will experience by holding events back-to-back.

It is also possible that those restrictions will be pulled by the time the mooted second Townsville event is complete, while yesterday’s second postponement of the Winton SuperSprint also freed up space in the calendar in July.

A number of restrictions on crowds and personnel will still apply in North Queensland, including the mask mandate.

However, outdoor ticketed seating can be filled to 100 percent capacity and there is no limit on outdoor gatherings in public spaces.

The Townsville 500, that being the July 9-11 event, is set to be supported by the Dunlop Super2 Series (including Super3), Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series, and Boost Mobile Stadium Super Trucks.