Spotlight on Symmons in calendar reshuffle

TASMANIA’S round of the Australian Supercars championship will be third cab off the rank next year and local officials say the Symmons Plains showdown will be better than ever.

The long-awaited elevation of the Melbourne Grand Prix round from a Formula One support event to a fully fledged round of the championship pushes Tasmania from Round 2 to Round 3.

The 2018 championship also includes the debut of Australia’s newest permanent circuit, the $110 million Tailem Bend facility in South Australia. The number of championship events increases by two across a 37-week season, starting with the Adelaide 500 in March and ending with the Newcastle 500 in November.

Symmons Plains will still be the first of the super sprint rounds featuring shorter, more frenetic races on soft rubber, following the opening round in Adelaide and then Melbourne.

Donald Potter, general manager of Motorsport Tasmania, said Symmons Plains’ round of the supercars — Tasmania’s biggest sporting event — would play an important role in the series.

“There’s usually a lot of carnage on the street circuits so when they get to Symmons they will be able to race freely without as much carnage,” Potter said. “Being the first of the sprint rounds adds interest to our round and we always have good racing here.”

Potter said the Super2 V8 support category would also race at Symmons, as well as the local Sports GT class.