V8 Supercars Australia has confirmed its final 2010 calendar which includes the City of Ipswich 300 at Queensland Raceway while omitting the Perth event that had been provisionally scheduled for June 4-6.
As announced last week, Queensland Raceway remains on the calendar for 2010 pending a major upgrade of the circuit facilities prior to any commitment for 2011 and beyond.
The Gold Coast SuperCanivale has become a three day event (October 22-24) following the Queensland Government’s backing of a completely revamped format for the endurance weekend.
The Falken Tasmania Challenge has also been confirmed as now being a week later on November 12-14 at Symmons Plains in Launceston.
“It is great news that we have been able to secure the City of Ipswich 300 but disappointing we have been unable to find a workable solution to the similar issues we have at Barbagallo Raceway,” Acting V8 Supercars Australia CEO Shane Howard said.
“We are extremely disappointed for all of our fans in WA. As a group we have worked overtime in trying to get this third world facility re-vamped so that both the Paddock and the pit lane meet basic OH&S legislation.
“Despite a reduced sanction fee of around 25 per cent of the actual cost for us to race in Perth, committing to a long-term five-year deal and offering the services of Mark Skaife and our engineers to design the new circuit at our cost we still get a lip service response.
“The situation is best summed up by a recent seven page letter and subsequent letters that have received just a one paragraph response at best. Our WA fans will at least have the extensive free to view live coverage on the 7 Network.
“Hopefully this opens the door for other regions of Western Australia to approach us with a view to bringing one of the world’s greatest Touring Car Championships to a new destination in the future.”
The V8 Supercar Championship Series will commence next week in Abu Dhabi with the Yas V8 400 followed by a back-to-back weekend in Bahrain at the Gulf Air Desert 400.
The season will have a distinctive autumn and spring phase to it. A February start means there will be nine events up until mid-June, a nine week break and then six events to finish the season, again culminating again with the massive Sydney Telstra 500 in December.
The final 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series Calendar:
18 – 20 February Yas V8 400, Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
25 – 27 February Gulf Air Desert 400, Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain
11 – 14 March Clipsal 500, Adelaide Parklands, SA#
26 – 28 March Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, VIC
16 – 18 April ITM Hamilton 400, Hamilton, NZ
30 April – 2 May City of Ipwswich 300, Qld Raceway, QLD#
14 – 16 May Winton, VIC#
18 – 20 June SKYCITY Triple Crown, Hidden Valley, NT
9 – 11 July ARMOR ALL Townsville 400, Townsville, QLD#
MID SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP BREAK
10 – 12 Sept L&H 500, Phillip Island, VIC
7 – 10 Oct Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Mt Panorama, NSW#
22 - 24 Oct Gold Coast Supercarnivale, Gold Coast, QLD
12 – 14 Nov Falken Tasmania Challenge, Symmons Plains, TAS
19 – 21 Nov Norton 360 Sandown Challenge, Sandown, VIC#
3 – 5 Dec Sydney Telstra 500, Homebush, NSW#
# Denotes Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series
