The Bend Motorsport Park

The Bend Motorsport Park is a 7.7 kilometre bitumen motor racing circuit at Tailem Bend, South Australia, 100 kilometres south-east of the state capital, Adelaide.

The Bend Motorsport Park

Circuit layout (GT Circuit)
Location	Tailem Bend, South Australia
Time zone	UTC+09:30 (UTC+10.5 DST)
Coordinates	35°18′30″S 139°31′0″E
FIA Grade	2
Owner	Peregrine Corporation
Opened	13 January 2018
Major events	Supercars Championship The Bend SuperSprint Australian GT Championship Asian Le Mans Series
GT Circuit
Length	7.7 km
Turns	34
Race lap record	2:35.698 (Ben Barnicoat, Thunderhead Carlin Racing, 2019-20, Asian Le Mans Series)
International Circuit
Length	4.945 km (3.073 mi)
Turns	18
Race lap record	1:41.2560 (Thomas Randle, Team BRM, 2019, Australian S5000 Championship)
West Circuit
Length	3.4 km
East Circuit
Length	3.9 km
Website	www.thebend.com.au

The complex has a 7.77 km (4.8 mi) bitumen circuit, drag racing strip, and drift racing circuit. [1] Scott McLaughlin holds the lap record for a Supercars (Ford Mustang) in 1.47.495 August 2019.

The race circuits are of a high international standard and licensed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for car racing and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) for motorcycle racing.

History

Circuit Construction progress in July 2017

In February 2015, Peregrine Corporation lodged plans with the Government of South Australia to redevelop the former Mitsubishi Motors Australia test track at Tailem Bend, South Australia.[2] Approval was granted in May 2015[3] with construction commencing in March 2016.[4] Initially titled the South Australian Motorsport Park, by the time construction commenced, The Bend Motorsport Park name had been adopted.[5]

The address of the site was originally in Elwomple. In September 2017, before the facility opened, the boundary between Tailem Bend and Elwomple was adjusted so that The Bend Motorsport Park is officially in Tailem Bend, not Elwomple.[6][7]

The first major event was the Revolve24 Endurance Cycling Challenge on 13-14 January 2018, an ultra-distance cycling festival featuring 24-hour, 12-hour and 6-hour races.[8][9] It hosted The Bend SuperSprint, a round of the 2018 Supercars Championship, in August 2018.[10] It has a desire to hold a MotoGP Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix round.[11][12]

On 4-14 January 2019, the circuit hosted the 25th Australian Scout Jamboree.[13] From January 10-12 2020 it hosted a round of the 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series season as the 4 Hours of The Bend [14] and the Supercars sprint round will be replaced by a new endurance event, The Bend 500.[15] The Supercars race was later dropped from the calendar altogether, in a shortened calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with circuit managing director Sam Shahin openly critical of the cancellation.[16]

Facilities

Jamie Whincup won the Sunday race at the first Supercars Championship event at the circuit in 2018.

International Circuit

Length: 4.9 km

• Will be used for majority of events including Supercars, Superbikes and national series events, through to state racing, club racing and track hire

GT Circuit

Length: 7.7 km

• Used for endurance racing, specialist racing events, private hire and test days. Hosted a four hour Asian Le Mans Series event in January 2020.
• Is the second longest permanent race circuit in the world, behind the Nürburgring (25.947 km)

West Circuit

Length: 3.4 km

• Will be used for the majority of short track events. Includes club racing, testing, sprint events, “cruising” events, driver/rider training
• Can be used independently from the East Circuit

East Circuit

Length: 3.9 km

• Will be used for driver/rider training, drifting, testing, club days, private days
• Can be used independently from the West Circuit[17]

Pit building and hotel

Construction commenced in February 2017 for a 300 metres (980 ft)-long pit building which will include hotel accommodation in the upper levels of the four-storey building. There are 34 pit garages.[18] The 100 room Rydges Pit Lane Hotel opened by 2019.[19]

References

1. Pepper, Robert (21 May 2015). "New Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend, South Australia". Practicalmotoring.com.au. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
2. Tailem Motorsport Park master plan revealed Murray Valley Standard 4 February 2015
3. Tailem Bend track redevelopment gets green light ABC News 21 Mat 2015
4. Construction underway at SA Motorsport Park Speedcafe 25 March 2016
5. The Bend Motorsport Park:Tailem Bend raceway, former SA Motorsport Park and Mitsibushi test track, has new official name Murray Valley Standard 8 March 2016
6. Grimm, Nick (26 July 2017). "Council to adjust town boundaries to make 'The Bend' an official part of Tailem Bend". The Murray Valley Standard. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
7. Burdett, Michael (19 September 2017). "Notice to Alter the Boundaries of Places" (PDF). Geographical Names Act, 1991. Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. DPTI 2017/17699/01. Retrieved 15 February 2018. and Boundary Alteration of Tailem Bend and Elwomple (PDF) (Map). Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. 11 September 2017. 2017_17699_01_Tailem_Bend. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
8. "From Britain to the Bend: UK's Biggest 24 Hour Cycling Challenge heads to Adelaide" (Press release). SANTOS Tour Down Under. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
9. "Bend Motorsport Park hosts first event". Speedcafe. 14 January 2018.
10. "Supercars reveals 16 event 2018 calendar". Speedcafe. 4 October 2017.
11. SA Motorsport Park targets MotoGP race Speedcafe 8 February 2016
12. "Bend Motorsport Park tipped for August 2018 slot". Speedcafe. 31 May 2017.
13. AJ2019 - A New (12 Day) Township for South Australia Scouts Australia
14. The Bend to host Asian Le Mans series round Speedcafe 17 January 2019
15. Howard, Tom (28 August 2019). "Supercars drops QR, Phillip Island in revised 2020 calendar". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
16. McAlpine, Heath (19 June 2020). "The Bend Responds to Supercars Calendar Omission". Auto Action. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
17. The Circuit South Australia Motorsport Park
18. "ADELAIDE'S FIRST PERMANENT PIT BUILDING STARTS CONSTRUCTION" (Press release). The Bend Motorsport Park. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
19. https://www.rydges.com/accommodation/adelaide-sa/rydges-pit-lane-hotel/