Supercars has shuffled the schedule for this weekend’s Taupō Super 440 in a bid to escape the impacts of Cyclone Vaianu.

The category 2 storm is bearing down on New Zealand from the north and is expected to cross the North Island on Sunday, bringing with it intense rainfall and gusts of up to 120 kilometres per hour in the afternoon.

Supercars had been set to hold its third of three races — the 200-kilometre feature event — on Sunday.

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To try to maximise the weekend, organisers have extended Saturday’s second race to 200 kilometres, ensuring the weekend’s biggest points paying race can be squeezed into the schedule.

Saturday’s entire running order has been brought forward by half an hour to make space for the longer race, and the top-10 shootout that had been planned to set the grid for the 200-kilometre event has been dropped

Completing what is effectively a swap between races two and three of the weekend, Sunday’s race has been shortened to 120 kilometres in response and brought forward to 7:45am (AEST).

The new, shorter Sunday race will be time limited to 73 minutes plus one lap, ensuring that any weather interruptions will not delay packing down the paddock in the intensifying storm, with the sport scheduled to race in Christchurch, on the South Island, next weekend.

“We have worked very carefully with local authorities to ensure the utmost safety for our fans, teams and all stakeholders throughout recent days,” said Supercars chair Barclay Nettlefold.

“While we certainly hope to run the event in full, safety and responsibility are absolutely critical.

“Supercars will continue monitoring the situation with great caution over the coming days.”

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Supercars has described Sunday’s schedule as “tentative” and says it will provide regular updates about the final day of running throughout Saturday.

Other sport in action in New Zealand this weekend has already been rescheduled, with the semi-finals of the Oceania qualifiers for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Hamilton moved from Sunday to Saturday.

New Taupō 440 schedule

All times in AEST

Saturday

Qualifying (race 1): 7:45am

Qualifying (race 2): 8:40am

Race 1 (120km, 37 laps): 10:25am

Race 2 (200km, 60 laps): 1:35pm

Sunday

Qualifying (race 3): 6:00am

Race 3 (120km, 37 laps): 7:45am (time-certain finish: 8:58am plus 1 lap)