Supercars drivers lap up gypsy lifestyle
Farms, boot camps and dogs at press conferences – preparation for the Supercars’ Sydney Supersprint has certainly been different.
Racing returns this weekend to the Eastern Creek circuit, which three weeks ago hosted the first Supercars race in four months.
Plans for this round to be staged at Winton in northern Victoria were thrown into chaos due to another Covid-19 outbreak in Melbourne.
Border restrictions will force all teams to relocate to Queensland after tomorrow’s second race in Sydney to ensure the season continues as planned in Darwin next month.
It is just another hurdle for veteran Rick Kelly to overcome after his team shifted its operations to southern New South Wales after Melbourne went back into coronavirus lockdown.
‘‘We were very fortunate to have the family farm [just north of] Mildura to house the cars in the tractor shed,’’ the Ford ace said.
‘‘We’ve got the 63,000 acre property there. My team-mate Andre [Heimgartner] is a really fit guy and he ran a training camp for the team.
‘‘We’ve got a lot of crew from all around the world at Kelly Racing so they’ve never seen the outback and experienced other parts of Australia.’’
On a high after last month notching up his first win in more than four years, Holden’s Nick Percat has been joined on the road by his dog Nelson.
‘‘We’re like gypsies now, we don’t have a home to go, we’re just touring around the nation together so it’s a bit of fun,’’ Percat said.
The 31-year-old is determined to back up his victory in the second of three races of the last round in Sydney that was ultimately dominated by twotime defending champion, New Zealand’s Scott McLaughlin.
The Ford flyer came away with two wins to build a 49-point series lead ahead of Red Bull Holden legend Jamie Whincup.
It seems that no one can stop McLaughlin’s charge to a third title, with the 27-year- old only three wins away from passing the legendary Peter Brock to move to fifth on the all-time list for race wins.
New Zealand yachting star Peter Burling has backed the decision to postpone the next round the world race for a year. The Ocean Race organisers yesterday confirmed the next edition would now start from Alicante, Spain, in October 2022 rather than October next year. Auckland is again a stopover port. They said the postponement would help teams and host cities gain better traction amid financial struggles with the Covid-19 pandemic. Burling, who made the podium in his Ocean Race debut in the last edition, has his hands full with an America’s Cup defence with Team New Zealand, set for next March. He and long-time sailing partner Blair Tuke have targeted the next round the world race as well as juggling the defence of their Olympic 49er gold medal in Tokyo next year, another event delayed by a year. They now have more breathing space for all three projects. ‘‘Winning The Ocean Race is still a big ambition for me,’’ Burling said, adding that the postponement was ‘‘a well-considered and good decision’’.