After a brief hiatus over the Christmas and New Year period, Wakefield Park will soon host its first competition of 2021 with Motor Racing Australia's first round.
Set to take place over the weekend of January 30 and 31, MRA series promoter Terry Denovan is hoping for a significant turnout and estimated as many as 160 drivers could show up.
"Some of these categories have quite large numbers, and we've been working with them over the years to help them grow," Denovan said.
"Sometimes it surprises me, back in the day we'd struggle to get 80 or 90 in January, but then sometimes we'd hit 120. It depends on people and their holiday plans and whether they have cars ready. I'm hoping we still get good numbers."
While many of the national-level motorsports events have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, Denovan said he has seen some massive fields over the last year.
"COVID is an interesting thing because people haven't been traveling so they've been spending money on their cars," he said.
"Some of the fields we've had have been huge ... but when you start to talk about national race events, they're really heavily impacted.
"The majority of the people who come to these events are from Sydney and within a three-hour radius of that. The regular competitors come from the Central West, Canberra and surrounds, and even up to Port Macquarie."
Since its inception in 2005, MRA has raced many times at Wakefield Park. Denovan spoke glowingly of Goulburn's premier motorsport arena, and said its relaxed atmosphere makes racing accessible for drivers of any experience level.
"In NSW, we've really only got two tracks that we can use: Sydney Motorsport Park and Wakefield," he said.
"Sydney is great, but because it's very corporate-orientated it can be intimidating. Going to Wakefield is relaxed, it's easy, it's got that country racetrack feel. It's a place where you can come, race, and have fun."
Denovan added that Wakefield was popular among drivers due to the more forgiving nature of the track.
"You can push hard at Wakefield and the chance of severe damage is minimal, as opposed to Sydney where, if you make a mistake, you're going to pay for it," he said.
All MRA events run of late have been COVID-safe, and Denovan said this one will be no different. The organisation has strictly adhered to the guidelines set out by the state government and intends to do so again at Wakefield Park.
Entries to the first round are open until January 25, and Denovan said they are currently about half full.
Categories available to competitors include: Super TT, Clubman Championship, NSW Production Car Series, E36 Race Series, Regularity Champiosnhip, NSW Supercars, MX-5 Cup, and Australian Pulsar Racing Association.
There will also be a test and tune session held on Saturday.
For more information, please visit the MRA website at www.motorrace.com.au.
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