Just as we saw earlier this year, Covid-19 has once again impacted the NZSBK championship with the announcement that the 2022 Championship will be cut in half due to two rounds in the 2022 Championship being scrubbed.
NZSBK Series Director Grant Ramage announced the cancellation of the traditional opening rounds as a fulfilment of a commitment to keep riders informed.
“We recently committed to providing plenty of warning around plans for the 2022 NZSBK series, he said. “We recognise the need to provide surety for riders so they can make or amend plans. We also need to ensure we also provide a safe environment for all attendees.”
“We have reviewed the current situation and the recent Government announcements and sadly have to advise we are unable to run round 1 at Ruapuna and round 2 at Teretonga of the NZSBK series in January 2022.”
The move to scrap the first two rounds of the 2022 NZSBK Championship effectively cuts the series in half with the remaining rounds at Hampton Downs and Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park still expected to run at the time of writing.
While the rest of the Championship could hang in the balance depending on the next couple of months, the organisers are still committed to supporting the riders with planning and providing all stakeholders with appropriate notice.
A further announcement on the remaining rounds of the 2022 NZSBK season is expected in the middle of January 2022 which could potentially see the rescheduling of the cancelled South Island rounds to after the North Island rounds have run.