The Bend Motorsport Park became Australia’s first new permanent racetrack in nearly 20 years when it opened in 2018 and remains the freshest facility on the Repco Supercars Championship calendar.
The South Australian circuit is located on the outskirts of Tailem Bend; a small town 100km south-east of Adelaide on the fringe of the River Murray.
The track was built on the site of what was once a testing facility for Mitsubishi Motors’ local development efforts.
Its transformation began soon after Mitsubishi closed its local manufacturing in 2008, as Motorsport Australia and the local council hatched plans for a new motorsport mecca.
In late 2013 the project was taken up by the Shahin family-run Peregrine Corporation, best known in South Australia for its hugely successful chain of On the Run service stations.
Long-time motorsport enthusiast and competitor Sam Shahin, one of three brothers that run the Peregrine company founded by their father Fred, was the driving force behind their involvement.
Little over two years after taking on the project, work on building the complex had begun and, by April 2018, it was ready to hold its first race meeting.
The facility features a number of track layout options, including the 4.95km ‘International Circuit’ set to be used for this weekend’s OTR SuperSprint.
Supercars have raced on that layout once each year since the first event in 2018 but also utilised the 3.41km ‘West Circuit’ for the second leg of a double-header in the rejigged 2020 calendar.
The venue also boasts a 7.7km ‘GT Circuit’ which is yet to host any Supercars action, while the 100-room, four-star hotel located on the pit straight is another notable feature.
Triple Eight drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup dominated the inaugural Supercars event at The Bend in 2018, taking a win apiece aboard their Holden Commodore ZBs.
Dick Johnson Racing has won six out of the eight races held since; Scott McLaughlin scoring a double in 2019 and then three of six in 2020, where teammate Fabian Coulthard, van Gisbergen and Tickford’s Cam Waters were also winners.
Remarkably considering its short history, almost half of the current Repco Supercars Championship field have stood on the podium at The Bend.
Those to have finished second or third without a win are Chaz Mostert, Anton De Pasquale, Will Davison, Jack Le Brocq, Andre Heimgartner, David Reynolds and Bryce Fullwood.
The best result for a South Australian driver at The Bend though is fourth place, a mark shared by Tim Slade (2018 Race 2) and Nick Percat (2019 Race 2, 2020 West Race 3).
This weekend the field will feature 26 cars as wildcards Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing) and Kurt Kostecki (Walkinshaw Andretti United) join the fleet of regular runners.
