SUPERCARS supremo Barclay Nettlefold has revealed the decision to put on an extra race in Christchurch in lieu of the cyclone-affected Taupō Super440 was the brainwave of Kiwi star Ryan Wood.

Supercars took a safety-first approach to pre-emptively cancel the Sunday action in Taupō as Cyclone Vaianu closed in.

What was not necessarily expected, however, was that Race 10 of the championship won’t be lost altogether – rather it will now be run on Friday April 17 at Ruapuna Raceway to kick off what has become a four-race meeting.

“Woody talked to Matthew (Carmichael, Supercars communications and public relations director) and said ‘if you do cancel Sunday, why wouldn’t you bring one forward to Friday in Christchurch and give back to the New Zealand fans that unfortunately missed out?’” Nettlefold told V8 Sleuth.

That’s exactly what Supercars ended up doing, similar to a scenario that played out a few months ago in the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy.

“I had a situation in TRS where we had to postpone a race and then put it at I think Highlands,” Wood told V8 Sleuth.

“We never want to miss an actual race, so I just mentioned why don’t we do that for Ruapuna if this cyclone does hit?

“I don’t think it was me, but he has run with it. I think it’s a smart decision.

Barclay Nettlefold. Pic: Mark Walker

“Everyone’s safety is key, including everyone in Supercars and all our fans and just everyone in New Zealand right now.

“I’m obviously gutted that we can’t race in front of such passionate people (on Sunday) in Taupō but hopefully there will be plenty down in Christchurch.”

It only adds to the spectacle that will come with Supercars’ debut on New Zealand’s South Island.

“We’re going to have a pretty capacity crowd there. It’s going to make it even greater,” said Nettlefold.

1998 Australian Super Tourers, Rd 2 Oran Park, Race 2

Enjoy all of the action from the second race of the second round of the 1998 BOC Gases Australian Super Touring Championship at Oran Park in Sydney. Audi versus Volvo and a whole pile of Independents on the short course.