NZ Supercars round announcement expected soon

An agreement on a return to New Zealand for Supercars looks likely and may be as little as two weeks away, revealed Supercars CEO Shane Howard when speaking recently.

Interviewed by Australian publishers Speedcafe and the Parked Up Plus podcast, Howard noted that signs are promising for the series to return across the Tasman.

Taupo still appears as the most likely venue for the series, following the closure of Pukekohe earlier this year, with a team from Supercars visiting the circuit last month.

Howard also revealed an agreement on the renewal of the contract for the Newcastle 500 looks likely.

“Hopefully within two weeks, we’d be looking to get an answer there, but I think, all in all, we’ll be looking good there, which will be great,” he told Parked Up Plus.

“New Zealand, kind of a similar timeframe.

“As I’ve said previously, you would always like these answers earlier, but working with governments and process, et cetera, they never actually come together as quickly as sometimes the timeframe that you apply to them, but we’re not too far away.

“On New Zealand, Tim Watsford [Supercars’ Chief Innovation and Sustainability Officer] is leading the charge on that with us.

“We’ve completed all our submissions – they’ll have a very extensive review period and process – but I think, at the moment, we’re looking pretty good.”

It was reported in early May that a decision would have been preferred by the end of the month, with funding being the biggest hurdle. Howard went on to mention the slight delay is no cause for concern.

Other areas up for discussion included the number of rounds on the schedule, with it appearing likely that there will be at least 13 events in 2024.

It’s still expected the 2024 Supercars calendar will be released ahead of the 2023 Bathurst 1000.