The Bend Motorsport Park is a bitumen

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of t ...

circuit at

Tailem Bend Tailem Bend (locally, "Tailem") is a rural town in South Australia, south-east of the state capital of Adelaide. It is located on the lower reaches of the River Murray, near where the river flows into Lake Alexandrina. It is linear in layout s ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, about south-east of the state capital,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. The complex has a bitumen circuit,

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most ...

strip, and drift racing circuit. The race circuits are of a high international standard and licensed by the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...

(FIA) for car racing and the

Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM; en, International Motorcycling Federation) is the global governing/sanctioning body of motorcycle racing. It represents 116 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six regiona ...

(FIM) for motorcycle racing.

History

In February 2015, Peregrine Corporation lodged plans with the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

to redevelop the former

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) is a fully owned subsidiary of parent company Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan. The company was established in 1980 and began vehicle manufacturing in that year, having taken over the facilities o ...

test track at

Tailem Bend, South Australia Tailem Bend (locally, "Tailem") is a rural town in South Australia, south-east of the state capital of Adelaide. It is located on the lower reaches of the River Murray, near where the river flows into Lake Alexandrina. It is linear in layout s ...

. Approval was granted in May 2015 with construction commencing in March 2016. Initially titled the South Australian Motorsport Park, by the time construction commenced, The Bend Motorsport Park name had been adopted. 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. The first major event was the Revolve24 Endurance Cycling Challenge on 13–14 January 2018, an

ultra-distance cycling The definition of ultra-distance cycling is far more vague than in ultra running (any race longer than a marathon) or in ultra-triathlon (any race longer than an Ironman Triathlon). Any bike race or ride longer than a century ride, which is , is ...

festival featuring 24-hour, 12-hour and 6-hour races. It hosted The Bend SuperSprint, a round of the 2018 Supercars Championship, in August 2018. It has a desire to hold a

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix round. On 4–14 January 2019, the circuit hosted the 25th Australian Scout Jamboree. 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 and the Supercars sprint round will be replaced by a new endurance event, The Bend 500. The Supercars race was later dropped from the calendar altogether, in a shortened calendar due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, with circuit managing director Sam Shahin openly critical of the cancellation. Sam Shahin also offered up the facility for Hotel Quarantine during the Covid pandemic, but this was not taken up by the South Australian Government.

Facilities

International Circuit

Length: *Used for majority of events including Supercars,

Superbikes Superbike racing is a category of motorcycle racing that employs highly modified production motorcycles, as opposed to MotoGP in which purpose-built motorcycles are used. The Superbike World Championship is the official world championship series, t ...

and national series events, through to state racing, club racing and track hire

GT Circuit

Length: *Used for endurance racing, specialist racing events, private hire and test days. Hosted a four-hour Asian Le Mans Series event in January 2020.

West Circuit

Length: *Used for the majority of short track events. Includes club racing, testing, sprint events, “cruising” events, driver/rider training *Used for 2020 OTR SuperSprint The Bend event in 2020 Supercars Championship *Can be used independently from the East Circuit

East Circuit

Length: *Used for driver/rider training, drifting, testing, club days, private days *Can be used independently from the West Circuit

Pit building and hotel

Construction commenced in February 2017 for the long pit building which includes hotel accommodation in the upper levels of the four-storey building. There are 34 pit garages. The 100 room Rydges Pit Lane Hotel opened in 2019.

Lap records

The official race lap records at The Bend Motorsport Park are listed as:

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bend Motorsport Park Motorsport venues in South Australia Supercars Championship circuits 2018 establishments in Australia