Bathurst 1000 will again be contested on traditional October date in 2022

As was the case in 2020, this year once again sees the Bathurst 1000 act as the season finale of a Supercars season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year's December 5 date is the latest the 161-lap epic has ever been held at Mount Panorama, the date having been changed twice as Supercars officials adapted to COVID-19 shutdowns.

Sunday's finale comes after the Mount also staged the season-opening Bathurst 500 - this year the first since 1996 that the iconic circuit hosted twin rounds of the championship.

But when the 2022 Supercars Championship draft calendar was released on Sunday, it featured a return to a single round at the Mount - an October Bathurst 1000.

It will mark the 52^nd year of an October Great Race, with its traditional date in the NSW school holidays (October 6-9).

The 13-rounds of racing will take place between March and November, with the season to commence at the spectacular Newcastle Street Circuit.

The Gold Coast's street circuit event will also be brought back to life, with the Gold Coast 500 returning to the post-Bathurst weekend in late October.

Sydney Motorsport Park, which hosted four consecutive weekends of memorable racing this year, will play home to the scheduled season finale, under lights on November 18-20.

The venue last hosted the Supercars decider in 2003 and 2004.

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The Auckland SuperSprint will return in September to Pukekohe Park Raceway and Perth is set to host the opening night race of 2022 from April 30-May 1.

Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said next year's calendar was a win for fans and viewers following the challenges COVID-19 presented in the past two years.

"The 2022 season will follow an unprecedented two years for Supercars in which the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in two revised calendars - a huge achievement given the nature of the sport," Seamer said.

"It has been fantastic to welcome fans back to events this year, and we will continue to ensure this is done safely and in line with national guidelines as we welcome more fans back in 2022.

"We are very pleased with the interest in Supercars growing continuously through large audiences watching our world-class broadcast and a significant growth of our presence online across the globe."

One event in July will is listed as TBC in the draft calendar as discussions continue with circuit providers on the event to be held on that date.

Supercars is working closely with Tony Quinn at Queensland Raceway on preparations to return to racing at the Ipswich circuit in the future.

Meanwhile the Dunlop Super2-Super3 Series which involves Bathurst's Anderson Motorsport will race at six events on the calendar: Newcastle, Perth, Townsville, Sandown, Bathurst and Sydney.

Supercars will continue work on 2022 event formats and support categories for each event with full details to be released over coming weeks.

THE 2022 DRAFT CALENDAR

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