Saturday race to commence after Townsville NRL game

Saturday’s race at the WD-40 Townsville SuperSprint has been pushed back to avoid a clash with the rescheduled National Rugby League game at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

On Thursday, the NRL confirmed its Round 18 schedule has been tweaked to accomodate a Super Saturday doubleheader at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.

The North Queensland Cowboys will now host a Saturday afternoon game ahead of Race 17, which will now begin at the conclusion of the NRL game.

The Gold Coast doubleheader will commence with the Canberra Raiders-Cronulla Sutherland Sharks game at 5:30pm, before Melbourne Storm tackle Newcastle Knights from 7:35pm.

NRL Chief Executive Andrew Abdo said the revised schedule was a win for North Queensland sports fans.

"The Gold Coast now hosts a double header on Saturday which gives fans the opportunity to see twice the action and that’s a good outcome for game," Abdo said.

"The Cowboys will now play at 3pm and I want to thank the Supercars who are moving their race to ensure no overlap between the two events. This collaboration is a win for all sports fans.

"I want to thank all clubs for working together to achieve a schedule in the best interests of the competition, in particular the North Queensland Cowboys who agreed to re-schedule a genuine home game on very short notice."

Saturday's 39-lap race will commence at 4:45pm AEST, following a sole practice session (11:35am) and ARMOR ALL Qualifying (1:45pm).

"Thank you to Andrew for the collaborative approach to the scheduling issue," Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said.

"The result is fantastic news for fans who can still catch both the Cowboys game and the opening race of the WD-40 Townsville SuperSprint, in person or on TV."

The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship will continue at this weekend’s WD-40 Townsville SuperSprint. Tickets are available here.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo.