BACON, BEERS AND BUSINESS TIME AT THE BEND
THIS season is the first time that the state of South Australia has hosted three ATCC/Supercars events in the one year. If you live in SA, who said 2020 was all bad news?
WORDS: Mark Walker INSIDE TRADER: Richard Craill IMAGES: Supplied
It’s getting down to business time in the championship, and with only three events remaining, there will be scores to settle after some agro in the Townsville last time out…
Trivia Time
1: Safety car intervention in four races contested to date at The Bend.
2.641sec: Pole position improvement in lap time between Jamie Whincup’s 2018 race one effort, and Scott McLaughlin’s 2019 race two qualifying time. With the soft tyre in use this weekend, watch for lap times to tumble, but also tyre wear to be an issue in the races.
3.4km: The West Circuit will host the second event, while the 4.9km International Circuit will once again host the opener this weekend.
3.8: Best average starting position at The Bend, Whincup.
3.8: Best average finishing position at The Bend, Shane Van Gisbergen.
9: Lead changes in the second race from 2019, the most ever for a Supercars race at the venue.
34: Corners on the full 7.7km GT Circuit configuration. Also the number of garages in pit lane.
42: Most laps led by a driver at The Bend by Whincup, or 32% of the 130 laps contested to date. Other lap leaders from the past two years have include Van Gisbergen, McLaughlin, Will Davison, Mark Winterbottom, David Reynolds, Chaz Mostert, Anton de Pasquale and Tim Slade.
100: Room Rydges Hotel overlooking The Bend’s pit lane.
140+: On the Run locations throughout South Australia.
$10,500,000: Investment from the SA Government in The Bend, backed by $7.5mil from the Federal Government to assist in building the $100+mil facility.
Fun Facts
OF THE ATCC/Supercars races contested in South Australia to date, 20 have been won by Triple 8 Race Engineering, 19 by Walkinshaw Andretti United (all in its previous guise as HRT), and 11 by DJR (as well as its association with Team Penske). Three other active teams have a lone race win each: Brad Jones Racing, Tekno Autosports and Tickford Racing. Triple 8 have claimed two wins at The Bend, with 18 more coming on the streets of Adelaide. WAU meanwhile haven’t bothered the scorers at The Bend, but they have 14 wins in Adelaide, and five at Mallala.
DJR Team Penske have perhaps one of the most interesting breakdown of wins across the board in South Oz. While McLaughlin comes into this weekend having won twice at The Bend last year, he also has three Championship wins from the Adelaide Parklands. Dick Johnson and John Bowe have a win apiece at Mallala, while Adelaide International Raceway has been the most successful venue for the squad, with four wins for Johnson coming in 1981, ’82, ’87 (the first ever win by a DJR Sierra) and ’88 (the final Championship round at the track).
OUT of the four Supercars races contested at The Bend, only Whincup has three top-five finishes, with McLaughlin, Winterbottom, Van Gisbergen, Nick Percat, and Mostert having two apiece. Only two drivers have finished in the top ten four times: Van Gisbergen and McLaughlin.
FOLLOWING the season opener and the next two weekends, 2020 will be the first year in which South Australia has hosted three ATCC/Supercars events in the one season. Four times there have been two rounds – the last two years at The Bend and the Adelaide Parklands, as well as 1976 and ’77, when Adelaide International Raceway hosted two rounds in each season.
WITH Triple 8 and DJR Team Penske splitting the four race wins to date at The Bend, these next two weekends will be interesting. The pre-season test at the venue provided a mixed bag of lollies – Will Davison was fastest, then Andre Heimgartner ahead of Anton de Pasquale. Davison was sidelined after the AGP, while the latter pair have suffered some indifferent form lately. Keep in mind, much development has gone into the cars since they debuted in February at the track with the new control damper package.
WHILE South Australia in recent times has been synonymous with opening the season, the state has regularly featured at the business end of proceedings. In 1974, ’78, ’79 and ’84 Adelaide International hosted the decider, while in ’75, ’80 and ’82 it presented the penultimate event, which was repeated at Mallala in ’96 and ’97. Remember: after this weekend and next weekend, there is only one more weekend left in the season.
WANT to live at The Bend? Register your interest now for The Trackside Villas.
ARE you a fan of bacon, ham or pork chops? Then you’ll love Tailem Bend! According to the internet, the local area is well known for its pig farming.
The History
1963: The Australian Touring Car Championship first visited South Australia, with Bob Jane winning the single round championship race at Mallala. The venue was also a part of the championship when it turned into a series from 1969 to ’71.
1972: The new Adelaide International Raceway took over the SA ATCC round, with Ian Geoghegan claiming the win in his Mustang.
1979: The River Bend Raceway opened at Tailem Bend, a quarter mile drag strip, which ran events for a brief time. Following financial difficulties, the venue was purchased by the then recently formed Mitsubishi Motors Australia for use as a proving ground. Chrysler had previously been assembling Mitsubishi designed cars in Adelaide.
1985: Formula One arrives in South Australia, with the Adelaide Parklands accommodating the first of 11 rounds of the World Driver’s Championship.
1989: With AIR hosting the Touring Car Championship right through to ’88, the revamped Mallala resumed command in ’89, with Dick Johnson claiming one of his four Championship round wins from his ultimately successful season aboard his Ford Sierra.
1999: The V8 Supercar round moved into the city, with the first running of the Adelaide 500, with Craig Lowndes coming from the back of the grid on Sunday to claim the inaugural event aboard his Commodore.
2000: The American Le Mans Series held the Race of 1000 Years in Adelaide, the last time the full F1-spec track was used.
2003: Mitsubishi announced that their Tailem Bend facility would be the home of the company’s fourth global R&D centre, with the $240 million venue to include a 5.5km long high speed oval, other circuits and laboratories. By 2004, much of the security fence was upgraded and earthworks on the oval had commenced before the project was canned due to issues financial in nature.
2008: Mitsubishi cease new car production at their Tonsley Park plant in southern Adelaide, taking on an import only strategy, making their proving grounds redundant.
2009: The local Coorong District Council purchased the former Mitsubishi site, and subsequently opened up expressions of interest for the 800ha block.
2013: It is announced that the Shahin family plan to move forward with a $40 million race track for facility. The existing not-for-profit “Tailem Bend Motorsport Park” organisation had been running low level motorcycling, off-street drags, drifting, club sprints, motorkhanas and more at the facility for 2.5 to 3 days a week, before ultimately losing out in the tender process. Local news reported at the time that the announcement was a blow to plans for the development of “Cougar International Raceway” at Monarto, as well as plans for motorsport projects slated for downtown Gillman and Virginia.
2014: Early in the year, the local council pushed through regulation changes for the venue, paving the way for its development. It is envisaged that the facility will include an airstrip, a hotel, caravan park and camping facilities, a restaurant and service centre. By this stage, the Shahin family were already operating local-spec car and bike events at the facility under the working title of the SA Motorsport Park.
2015: Final planning approval confirmed.
2016: Construction commences at The Bend.
2018: The facility opens with a 24 hour bicycle in January, before the Supercars debuted in August.
2019: The Bend played host to the 25th Australian Scouts Jamboree.
Insider Trading
Best Local Feed
Absolutely can’t go past the Riverside Hotel in Tailem Bend. They do a Parmy that easily rates in the eights on the patented CPS (Craill Parmy Scale), which is high praise. Great, country pub grub with the added bonus that the dining room is basically perched on top of the river. Plonk yourself down next to the wall of glass with a cold beverage, divest yourself of $20 for a Schintty and watch the Sun sink down over the Mighty Murray.
Best Local Beer
Do you know what’s great? Beer. Do you know what’s even better? Beers at race tracks. Do you know what’s best? Beers at race tracks in a bar in pit lane. Head upstairs in the Welcome Centre to the Apex Bar. It was remodelled at the start of the year and has a great vibe and cold Coopers on tap. Literally the closest bar to a race track in the country.
Best Local Things to do After Racing
The Coorong National Park is about 30 minutes down the road from The Bend and is stunning, offering up lots of wildlife, boating, kayaking, fishing, camping, bushwalking, 4WDing and much more. Lake Alexandrina is close by and offers the same stuff, and nearby is the Langhorne Creek region – there’s some tasty wineries there. If that’s a bit wild, head 30 minutes in the other direction and you’re bang in the middle of the Adelaide Hills. Tip for rookie players: While Hahndorf is sensational and a must-visit, if you’re just looking for a feed, head about 10 minutes further afield into Balhannah or Oakbank. They’ll be quieter and you’ll be able to settle down next to an open fire with a glass of Hills red and enjoy the serenity of it all. Finally, the National Motor Museum is in Birdwood, about 50 minutes from The Bend – it’s worth a visit.
Best Traffic Tip
It’s almost 100 per cent guaranteed there’ll be an RBT slowing things down in Tailem Bend, or close nearby, as everyone filters back to Adelaide, so rather than blazing home straight away, stop in Tailem Bend or jump on the river ferry across to Wellington and have a feed before heading home. Traffic was bad exiting the track in year one, but improved significantly the second time around so it shouldn’t be a massive drama otherwise.
Best Spectating
People bitch and moan about The Bend but they’ve never really had a good look around. Get yourself around past turn one and watch the cars come up the straight, brake and turn through the first complex. Turn three is a great bit of road and the cars fire out of there, up the hill towards five.
The bottom of Turn 17 is also underrated: great elevation over 16 and then the plunge under brakes into the right-hander.
Grab an old car and head to South Australia – it’s great.
Mark Walker (administrator)
A vastly experienced Motorsport Public Relations operator, journalist, commentator and photographer, Mark brings his unique angle to The Race Torque in both words and imagery. As well as serving as our key photographer on the ground at major events around Australia (and overseas), Walker will often chime in with his unique and pin-point sharp viewpoint of the racing world via the keyboard too.
