GTWC Australia opener moved to March

The month of February will be officially without GT action in Australia, as the cancellation of the Bathurst 12 Hour, announced last year, will be followed by the postponement in a month of the start of the FANATEC GT World Challenge Australia season.

Australia is still under strict travel restrictions from outside the country, and to add to this some regions are coming with their lockdown procedures, and the Victoria state is under a lockdown this mid-February to reduce the speed of the COVID-19 outbreak in the state, with severe travel restrictions that would make it impossible for personnel from other states in Australia to reach the Phillip Island circuit, which would make the start of the GT World Challenge Australia season impossible to hold in its original date on 20 and 21 February. 

Within days, Motorsport Australia was looking for solutions to allocate the event in a new date, and the final decision was to put it on 13 and 14 March, with most of the Shannons Motorsport Australia lineup intact, only missing the bike championships from the original date. Even with this date being probably away enough from the end of the Victorian lockdown it’s unknown which restrictions will be in place for the event, so the spectator presence at Phillip Island is still in huge doubt, with SMAC Director Michael Smith mentioning that there will be no ticket selling at the moment, though the hope for spectator presence is there.

FANATEC GT World Challenge Australia is starting a new era of GT racing in the country, as SRO allies with ARG to take what was known as the Australian GT Championship until 2020, with heavyweight teams confirmed like Jamec Racing and Triple Eight Racing Engineering, while other home efforts like Schumacher Motorsport and GWR join with older machinery.

Phillip Island’s date change doesn’t affect the remainder of the calendar, though the second Bathurst round is still with the date to be confirmed.

PHOTO: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit