The Holden team will field three cars in the Great Race in November. The regular starters are joined by a sensational wildcard for Bathurst legend Greg Murphy and Supercars outcast Richie Stanaway.
However, with both Murphy and Stanaway based in New Zealand, the ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne may have thrown the bill.
New Zealand closed its end of the travel bubble to Australia last month, with reopening not under review until next month.
Even then, it seems very unlikely that quarantine-free travel will resume, particularly with New South Wales, as the state currently has over 600 positive cases per day.
To make matters worse, an outbreak recently imported from Sydney in New Zealand, in which the existing element of the bubble – quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia – has now also been paused.
Speaking to the Supercars official website, Erebus CEO Barry Ryan admitted the listing is contingent on the bladder reinserting in front of the Bathurst 1000 November 4-7.
However, he said preparations for the third entry will continue as usual in the hope that the situation will improve and Murphy and Stanaway can make the voyage across the Tasmanian Ocean.
“Yeah, definitely,” Ryan said when asked if the bladder needs to be open for the wildcard plan to work.
“Unless we can get exceptions, which I don’t think will happen.
“The bubble is supposed to open on September 17th, but I can’t imagine that. New Zealand has cases now, so it’s all up in the air.
“But right now we’re just planning like it’s a perfect world and we hope that the calendar we have remains and that we can bring Murph and Richie over here for a few tests.”
Stanaway has not driven a supercar since the end of the 2019 season when he left motorsport after two tough seasons Down Under.
He made something of a comeback in June of that year with a trip in a V8-powered Toyota Camry to Pukekohe.
Murphy, on the other hand, has not raced in supercars since his last stint as Enduro rider for the Holden Racing Team in 2014.
Murphy / Stanaway entry is one of two wildcards entered for this year’s Great Race alongside the Supercheap Auto-sponsored Triple Eight-driven car for Russell Ingall and Broc Feeney.