Overview
- Organisers and Northern Territory officials confirmed the 2027 Hidden Valley format will open with a Friday night race under lights, follow with a Saturday twilight race, and finish with a Sunday daytime race.
- The change was announced on Wednesday night on the eve of the 2026 Darwin Supercars weekend and is billed as the first Supercars night race in the Northern Territory and one of only two night/twilight events on the national calendar.
- Territory ministers and Supercars executives say the move aims to extend visitor stays and create a festival-style program that includes light shows, pyrotechnics and other evening entertainment.
- Key technical and cost details remain unresolved because organisers have not released the track lighting plan, and the event will need temporary or permanent lighting, approvals and extra spending before the night program can proceed.
- The plan builds on the 2026 expansion to three full days of racing, recalls a 2016 night-race proposal that did not proceed, and follows Sydney Motorsport Park as the only venue so far with permanent trackside lighting.