Supercars has not ruled out the Newcastle 500 going ahead this year without fans as Virgin Australia's decision to enter voluntary administration dealt another blow to the motor racing series.
Supercars chief executive officer Sean Seamer reportedly told Channel 7 late last week that it was too early to tell if the Newcastle 500 could be run as a TV-only event due to government coronavirus restrictions.
He said Supercars was looking at a range of options, including two-day race weekends and midweek races, to squeeze the series into whatever time frame was left open when rules on social distancing and mass gatherings were relaxed.
A spokesman for the series told the Newcastle Herald that Supercars would wait another month before providing more information on how it planned to proceed.
"We continue to closely monitor government restrictions and will provide an update on the calendar, including the Newcastle event, in mid-May," the spokesperson said.
Virgin Australia's financial woes have clouded the picture further as the airline flies race teams around the country to each round.
The airline's deal with Supercars started in 2016 and runs to the end of next year. It is believed to be worth about $1.5 million.
Mr Seamer said trying to run the series without Virgin flights would be difficult "but we will cross that bridge when we come to it".
Neither Supercars nor City of Newcastle, which has a five-year deal with the race promoters, would comment on Tuesday about the implications of Virgin's decision.
The council said planning for this year's Newcastle 500 was not due to begin until June.
Virgin announced on Tuesday that it was entering administration to "recapitalise the business and help ensure it emerges in a stronger financial position" after the pandemic.
Deloitte administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said 10 separate entities had already offered to buy the stricken airline.
Virgin is $5.3 billion in debt but continues to fly.
