Organisers of the 2021 New Zealand Endurance Championship final at Hampton Downs have decided to move the Covid-19 affected event to 8-9 April 2022. NIERDC and MotorSport New Zealand promoter, Speed Works Events, came to this conclusion with the uncertainty of the event going ahead in the Waikato, 19-20 November 2021. Well, maybe this situation is a case of force majeure and that it should not be held, as there are three very good reasons not to go ahead with the 2021 championship.
First, a 2021 championship held in 2022 just doesn’t sit well. How can championship winners be crowned with a 2021 title when the achievement takes place in 2022? That doesn’t seem to make sense.
Second, the final usually takes place within a month of the Carter’s Tyre Service South Island Endurance Series finishing (their last 2021 round is 6 November in Christchurch). The championship is like the icing on the cake. The momentum from the season has been building from the North Island series in the autumn through to the spring. Now drivers and teams have to wait another five months and that energy and enthusiasm will dissipate. Quite a few teams only bring their cars out of their sheds for the endurance season and then are put away to be tinkered on until the next season comes around. One would think that once a number of cars are parked then that will be it.
Third, the dates clash with a major motorsport event, the Rally Otago, which has become the traditional opening round of the New Zealand Rally Championship. There are too many cross-overs with team members who will need to be at both rounds. Again, the momentum over the summer for many is towards the start of the rally season so to turn around and prep for an endurance championship just may be too much to ask.
Certainty is required in uncertain times and while moving dates is positive action, our current and foreseeable future is still very unclear. That could lead to teams making decisions to keep their race cars in sheds for three very good reasons.
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