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Supercars Gen3 to debut under lights in Sydney

Supercars is planning for the first race for its Gen3 cars to be under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Starting grid atmosphere

Starting grid atmosphere

Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images

It's already been confirmed that the new rules are set for a controversial mid-season introduction next year, with August the new target.

Supercars CEO Sean Seamer has now elaborated on those launch plans, confirming that the Sydney SuperNight meeting is the preferred competitive debut of the next-generation cars.

That means the very first race would be a prime time, under lights sprint race broadcast live on both pay and free-to-air TV.

"Yes, absolutely," said Seamer when asked if the Gen3 debut will be on Channel 7 as well as Fox Sports.

"We're targeting Sydney Motorsport Park. Prime time, at night, in a major metropolitan area. It ticks all of the boxes for a new product launch."

The original plan was for the new lower-cost Gen3 cars to debut for the start of the 2022 season, before delays in development forced Supercars to shift it back to August.

That decision was made after a crisis meeting with all 11 teams to clarify a lack of communication regarding a number of aspects of the new rules.

Expanding on the decision to shift the introduction back, Seamer said shipping delays and local lockdowns played a big part.

"We needed all of the wind in our back to be able to deliver in March," he said.

"We needed everything going for us and we started to run into some challenges on the project. We air-freighted three ton of steel from Europe, as an example, for the chassis.

"And then there was the lockdown in Melbourne and we had teams on the road, many of them critical to the development, design and engineering work that was going on for Gen3.

"You start to run into too many barriers to try and achieve what you wanted to do.

"So we collectively, and in discussions with our partners and the Gen3 steering committee, still wanted to get those new cars out there as soon as possible.

"We've got an amazing run into the back half of the year every year and we didn't want to miss the opportunity to get those cars out for key events like Sydney Motorsport Park and the lead-up to Bathurst."

Seamer added that the August date is a safe bet, with only unforeseen circumstances able to de-rail the introduction.

"With what we can control, barring another outbreak or any challenges, that's a very achievable timeline," he said.

"We are still going flat-out, the teams are still going flat-out developing the cars. We're doing everything we can. [Head of Motorsport] Adrian [Burgess] and his team are putting in huge hours. No one is taking their foot off the case.

"The extension of the timeline affords us a lot more testing, durability work, getting everything to a position we're extremely comfortable with. And it it also allows us more modest expectations around international freight.

"If we had air-freight every single component for that car the costs would start blowing out. That's really what that extra time has bought us."

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