The east coast of Australia is currently grappling with a surge in Omicron cases, with New South Wales and Victoria being the hardest hit with daily cases on the order of tens of thousands.
On Monday, NSW also recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic to date, with 18 deaths as hospital admissions skyrocketed.
The high-profile numbers have again cast doubt on major events, particularly in NSW, that could affect the first two major races of the 2022 Australian season – the Bathurst 12 Hour and Newcastle 500.
Supercars is known to be considering its options for both events, with the board meeting later this week for the first time this year.
Bathurst 12 Hour, currently slated for February 25-27, is at greatest risk of a date change.
There was already a date change for the race, the original March slot was moved forward to avoid a conflict with Sebring.
Intercontinental GT Challenge boss Ratel told Motorsport.com that he is in regular contact with supercars and that there is a mutual obligation to hold the race even if they are forced to change dates again.
“We talk to the promoter Supercars every day, and if they say the race can take place as planned, we will get started,” said Ratel.
“It has to happen. If it gets worse and it can’t happen on February 27th, then we’ll find a new date.
“SRO and Supercars agree. The event was canceled last year so we couldn’t lose our momentum.
“Of course we’re looking for alternatives. We could run it in March, April or until May. We know that it won’t be a problem for our European teams to keep it later as they don’t have the same chassis as their other programs.” use.” . “
A Supercars spokesperson added, “Supercars continues to work with the NSW government, Bathurst Regional Council and SRO to plan the 2022 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour event.
“No changes have been confirmed at this time.”
The Newcastle 500, the Supercars season opener currently scheduled for March 4-6, could also be postponed if there are no guaranteed crowds through the gate.
A decision on this is expected sooner rather than later, as the track construction has to start in the coming weeks.
In other IGTC news, Ratel is confident that the postponed 2021 season finale, the Kyalami 9 Hours, will take place on February 5th.
The event was originally postponed after the Omicron variant was discovered in South Africa and travel to the country was restricted.
Ongoing restrictions will affect the size of the grid, but Ratel says the event will continue.
“Kyalami happens, it’s definitely doable,” he said.
“COVID will have an impact because we know that traveling abroad is not easy in the current situation.
“We will have fewer than 20 cars, but there will be more than 12 that we had in 2020.”
Additional coverage from Gary Watkins