Around the clock work on SMP lights

Work will take place around the clock to install as many permanent lights towers as possible at Sydney Motorsport Park before this month’s night race.

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It was announced this morning the Truck Assist Sydney SuperSprint will replace the Winton round scheduled for July 18-19, due to health protocols relating to the COVID-19 spike in Victoria.

With the capacity to welcome limited fans, the event will feature a Saturday night race followed by two Sunday day races.

Works began in early May to erect the circuit’s first permanent light tower, having held the 2018 Sydney SuperNight with the use of temporary lighting.

Having last weekend successfully hosted the first race back from the COVID-19 shutdown, Sydney Motorsport Park’s permanent lights debut had been earmarked for the December finale.

That will still be the first time the show is wholly run under permanent lighting, with some temporary solutions in use for the July spectacle.

“The team at ARDC [the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club] will be working with their contractors to bring forward a lot of the projects so we’ll have the majority of the lighting going and we’ll backfill with temporary lights,” said Supercars CEO Sean Seamer.

“But it was an amazing spectacle back here in 2018 and to be able to put that on again in a couple of weeks is going to be great, and I think it will be a really good teaser for the fans here at the track and at home for what things are going to look like in December.”

ARDC boss Glenn Matthews seconded those thoughts.

“We’ve got some fantastic contractors and we decided last night that we would do some double shifts and so they’ll be working 24/7,” he said.

“I think what we’ll be able to deliver is at least the North circuit, so the main straight here around to Turn 1 with the permanent lights, and as Sean said, we’ll do some backfilling for the rest of the Gardner circuit out the back.

“But I think it’s a great sampler for us for what we’ll be able to showcase with the finale in December, when we will have the entire track with the permanent lights.”

The ability to have fans back is a major plus, with planning underway to ensure health measures are in place.

“You can expect us to map out the grandstand in a similar way that the ball sports are,” added Seamer, who praised the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ of teams and partners in embracing changes.

“And then we have got plenty of lovely open space here to get fans in, so the plan is that we will utilise the embankments and follow the square metreage rules to get people back.”

Team Sydney owner Jonathon Webb was present for this morning’s announcement, with his revamped squad now based out of Sydney Motorsport Park.

“Already Sydney fans are starting to crowd around us and the fact that we can have them in the grandstand at our home facility, it will be really, really good,” Webb said.

Scott McLaughlin won two of the three BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint races last weekend, while Nick Percat scored a breakthrough victory for Brad Jones Racing.