The Newcastle 500 will be held on March 4-6 next year, Supercars has announced.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The event will open the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship and is a shift from the season-ending round Newcastle hosted annually across 2017-19.
"We're thrilled to have locked in our 2022 Championship opener as a return to the stunning Newcastle Street Circuit," Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said.
"The spectacular shots of Supercars racing on the CBD street circuit have become images that are embedded into the minds of tens of millions of motor racing fans around the world.
"Newcastle has established itself as one of the most popular stops on the Supercars calendar with both fans and drivers and we look forward to seeing as many familiar faces as possible trackside in March."
Supercars had been planning to run the event in late February or early March but the confirmation of dates before the rest of the 2022 calendar is announced gives residents and traders as much notice as possible.
Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the dates were "a welcome announcement" which "confirms that the Christmas and January holidays will be unaffected by work on the circuit".
"This timing ensures residents will have no issue accessing our pristine beaches and parks throughout November, December and all of January," she said.
"Businesses can now prepare for the busy period of trading over the summer holidays through to February, with another boost in the first week of March."
Supercars only recently cancelled the Gold Coast 500 planned for early December "due to ongoing safety and logistic concerns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic", but management told the Newcastle Herald earlier this month that they were confident Newcastle would go ahead as planned.
The event dates come after the NSW government released its reopening roadmap on Monday.
It is yet to be decided if the event's attendance capacity will be capped.