With a rapid growth of COVID-19 cases in Victoria and increased restrictions over Australia, Australian GT has been forced to make yet another change to its 2020 championship. These new changes will see the championship start at this year’s Bathurst 1000 (October 8-11).
“We knew when we released the last updated calendar that the underlying issue would be the ongoing pandemic,” Australian GT Championship organiser Jim Manolios explained. “It’s frustrating that the brief is constantly moving, but the higher priority is health and safety, and the restrictions put in place by the various levels of government, and that is paramount in any of these decisions.
“The current outbreak in Melbourne and the subsequent restrictions will see us ‘locked-down’ for at least a month more which puts us well into September, and that’s not time enough to contest a round and then head off to Bathurst in October, especially with no certainty that border closures and the like will be lifted after this current period. The best approach was to fix ourselves to the Bathurst date as a start, then work with Motorsport Australia and Supercars about additional dates following Bathurst, of which there are a number under consideration, and we hope to release those soon.
“Sadly, all these setbacks have made it difficult to deliver what promised to be a great year for GT competition. We expect though that once we do start racing again, that the bulk of our teams will be back in action based on feedback we’ve been receiving over recent weeks, and that’s promising – it will also give us a chance to show just how robust the category is heading into 2021 and beyond.”
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