Supercars has elected to postpone its next three events in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, filling the gap with a new Eseries featuring the category’s star drivers.

Upcoming events in Tasmania, Auckland and Perth will be postponed and rescheduled to run on yet-to-be-confirmed weekends after June.

Options are also still being explored to replace last weekend’s Albert Park event, which was cancelled after a single day of running.

The season, which kicked off in Adelaide last month, is currently scheduled to restart with the Truck Assist Winton Super400 on June 5-7.

Supercars CEO Sean Seamer explained the championship’s decision to postpone events rather than run behind closed doors.

“We have been working diligently to assess all available options to ensure continuity of the series,” he said.

“Obviously, the situation is evolving, but we acknowledge the need to act decisively with the information we have at hand.

“Our sport is a visceral experience and rather than run without crowds, we have decided, along with our key broadcast and government partners, to delay any further racing until June.”

Although replacement dates have yet to be locked in, Seamer made clear a commitment to delivering “a complete championship”.

“Supercars’ priority is to deliver the 14 round 2020 championship for our fans and partners, irrespective of the dates,” he said.

“Bathurst will obviously proceed on its scheduled date.

“We have a plan for how we can make that happen and will begin discussions with all of our stakeholders over the coming days to lock this in.

“We anticipate that we will be able to formalise and communicate this plan within the next few weeks.”

Stars tackle to Eseries

Seamer also confirmed plans for an Eseries competition to run during the gap, featuring real-life Supercars drivers.

Using the iRacing platform featured in last year’s Supercars Eseries, teams will race their own virtual Supercars in their team colours, online from home, on a weekly basis.

The entire competition will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo, with an exact start date and competition partners to be announced in coming days.

The Eseries will also be broadcast live and free across Supercars.com, Supercars social media channels and international live streaming platform Twitch.