Queen’s Birthday long weekend date for 2020 Winton SuperSprint
Winton Motor Raceway’s place on the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship calendar has been secured, the Benalla Auto Club (BAC) venue confirming the Queen’s Birthday long weekend (5-7 June) as the date for next year’s Winton SuperSprint.
2020 will mark the 15th-consecutive year the north-eastern Victorian circuit has hosted a Supercars event, and the 33rd round of the Australian Touring Car Championship held at the venue since 1985.
The Winton Supercars meeting will again be promoted by Winton Motor Raceway and the BAC, and will return to a three-day event. The format has also been tweaked, with 200km races to be held on both the Saturday and Sunday.
BAC Group CEO Chris Lewis-Williams said confirmation the Supercars would return to Winton would come as welcome news to the wider community.
“Having the Supercars on the programme is important not only for Winton Raceway, but for the whole north-eastern Victorian region,” Mr Lewis-Williams said.
“Our economic impact assessment data shows the Supercars event has major financial benefits for the district.
“We would especially like to thank Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Martin Pakula and Minister for Regional Development, Jaclyn Symes, for their support in securing the event.
“We’d also like to thank (Supercars CEO) Sean Seamer and the Supercars management team for their co-operation during the negotiation process, and we will continue to work on venue improvements that will be appreciated by competitors and spectators.
“At this stage, we have extended our deal with Supercars for another 12 months, and have the flexibility to continue discussions for 2021 and beyond.”
Camping will again be available at the event, with campers encouraged to stay on the Sunday night, and enjoy exploring the region on the Monday public holiday.
Mr Lewis-Williams said the BAC team is now looking forward to planning the remainder of the motorsport calendar for 2020.
“Knowing the make-up of the Supercars calendar for next season allows our business unit managers to forge ahead with planning the remainder of their schedules,” he said.
“Our circuit managers Jeff Grech (Winton) and Dean Chapman (Wakefield Park) are both keen to lock in the calendars for their circuits, and we’ll also be looking to confirm events and categories for the third season of our Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS).”
Details of other race meetings on the Winton and Wakefield Park calendars will be released in the coming months.
