A look at the logistics to get the Supercars machinery on track at Symmons Plains

Prior to last weekend, the Repco Supercars Championship hadn’t visited Tasmania since April 2019. And as Brisbane saw a spike in COVID-19 cases last month, the annual event at Symmons Plains looked unlikely to go ahead on time.

Growing concerns over the Brisbane outbreak saw a 2020-esque dash out of trouble, or at least an emergency plan to, for the four Queensland-based Supercars outfits. Then came the decision to delay the event by a week, throwing the existing logistics out the window to buy time for Tasmanian Supercars fans to see their heroes take to the Launceston circuit.

But before any of that could happen, millions of dollars’ worth of equipment had to cross Bass Strait.

The trip to Tasmania

For the Queensland-based Supercars teams, the journey to Tasmania started over 2,000 kilometres away from the gates of Symmons Plains. They first had to cross through New South Wales and Victoria to get to Webb Dock, a couple of kilometres south-west of the Melbourne CBD. Brad Jones Racing’s two rigs had a shorter trip from Albury, while all the Melbourne-based teams are based within an hour of Webb Dock.

SeaRoad had the contract to move the Repco Supercars Championship gear across Bass Strait this year. And the task would fall to its two vessels, SeaRoad Mersey II and MV Liekut. The latter was delivered to Australia just a few weeks ago, with a larger carrying capacity and a longer hull. You can find out more about it here.

SeaRoad’s Mersey II (near) and MV Liekut (far) vessels — SeaRoad’s *Mersey II* (near) and MV *Liekut* (far) vessels

The 13 B-Double race transporters, as well as the Supercars equipment and Dunlop Motorsport B-Double, crossed Bass Strait over three trips last week. But the drivers didn’t sail with them, instead flying from Melbourne to Devonport to meet their transporters on the Apple Isle, and then completing the short trip from Devonport to Symmons Plains. They all filtered into the paddock in time for unload on Friday. And that’s where they stayed for a weekend.

The voyage back to Melbourne

SeaRoad Mersey II departed Devonport for Melbourne soon after the chequered flag dropped on the final race at Symmons Plains, so the task to bring the Supercars gear back to the mainland began on Monday.

SeaRoad’s MV Liekut vessel took the first group of transporters for the 446-kilometre trip back to Melbourne. It left late in the afternoon on Monday. They arrived back at Webb Dock just before 7am on Tuesday morning, where their drivers were waiting. From there, the transporters either headed back to base, or to this week’s rookie test at The Bend Motorsport Park.

The second group of transporters were loaded onto the SeaRoad Mersey II in Devonport on Tuesday, before the overnight journey that saw them arrive in Melbourne at dawn on Wednesday.

Engines fired inside the SeaRoad Mersey II — Engines fired inside the *SeaRoad Mersey II*

What we found at Webb Dock

SeaRoad kindly allowed us to film the Supercars transporters disembarking from its SeaRoad Mersey II vessel at Webb Dock on Wednesday. And we can confirm that the 181-metre-long and 26-metre-wide Roll-on/Roll-off vessel is hard to miss!

The team at the dock was impressive, calmy steering millions of dollars’ worth of equipment with just centimetres of clearance between the mirrors of the prime movers. They methodically removed the cargo from both levels of the ship to clear space for the afternoon’s return trip. The Supercars gear took a little more time, and that’s because there’s valuable storage space all along the bottom of the trailers, which meant the SeaRoad team were closely monitoring the clearance of the trailers where the SeaRoad Mersey II ramp met dry land.

Some of the trailers were split to make the best use of the storage space, where the usual prime mover would pull the A-trailer out, and a dedicated terminal tractor would remove the B-trailer. Others were driven out in B-Double configuration, with watchful eyes to ensure no scrapes across the ramp.

You can watch it all happen below.

Once the B-Double fleet had safely departed the SeaRoad Mersey II, the transporters were put back together on dry land beside the ship, ready for their trips back to the workshop, or to the Tailem Bend test.

Another big thank you to SeaRoad for the access to watch the logistics of Bass Strait transport in action. Make sure you check out their website, give them a like on Facebook, and see what they’re up to on LinkedIn.

The next stop for the Repco Supercars Championship is The Bend Motorsport Park on May 7-9.