[COM] The Bend Motorsport Park

[SouthAussie94]

Interesting that the only track in the world longer than this one will be is the old Nürburgring Nordschleife which is 13km longer

Nordschleife is 20.8 km long (~13 miles, maybe you got your units mixed up?). When combined with the Grand Prix circuit, the length is a touch short of 26km. Tailem Bend will be just a little way behind first place..

[HiTouch]

I love the logo!! South Australia needs more curves and what better way to start then OTR's workers and their Tailem Bend logo.

[Vee]

Cycling fans - endurance cycling event coming to Tailem Bend in January 2018

Revolve 24 Weekend Festival of cycling at The Bend Motorsport Park

Taking place on 13-14 January 2018 in association with the Santos Tour Down Under Revolve24 is thrilled to announce its Endurance Cycling Track Relay Challenges.

We will run 24 hour, 12 hour and 6 hour events and entries will be open to soloists and teams of 2, 4, 6 or 8 depending on the length of your challenge.  All events will take place on the thrilling smooth tarmac - cycling traffic-free!

The Revolve24 Weekend Festival of Cycling Down Under will take place at the fabulous new track in Adelaide - The Bend Motorsport Park.

http://revolve24.com/events/the-bend-mo ... nce-relays

[how good is he]

Would love to hear any news - the website updates are mostly to do with the massive pit straight building/hotel. I think they would have a date soon to start pouring the bitumen [certain to be a massive job at 7.7km just for the main track.] Thinking its a huge amount of work needed to be done with only 3 months to go with the Christmas/NY shut down for their first event - TDU. Any ideas of the workers/businesses on-site and have they started the big OTR to be built out there?

[Norman]

Excellent news!

Second race weekend for petrol heads as Supercars descend on Tailem Bend
The Advertiser
11 minutes ago


South Australia has secured a leading grid position on the national motorsport calendar next year with the second round of Supercars to be held at Tailem Bend in August.

The Advertiser can reveal the first three-day event, featuring the inaugural The Bend Super Sprint, will follow the Adelaide 500.

Premier Jay Weatherill will join developers of the $110 million Bend Motorsport Park facility, the Shahin family, to announce the deal on Tuesday.

Securing the second round of Virgin Australia Supercars Championship coincides with the 308m-long pit building being built by Romaldi Constructions and a plaque being unveiled by Mr Weatherill on the roof of the four-level $20 million building.

South Australian Supercars driver for the Brad Jones Racing team Nick Percat will join the mastermind of the Tailem Bend project Dr Sam Shahin, executive director of the Peregrine Corporation.

The State Government has contributed $7.5 million for the facility to back its investment in the Adelaide 500 (formerly Clipsal 500) which they say generates $65 million annually for the state’s economy.

The Bend Super Sprint — with the name likely to change to that of a major sponsor — will be based on a Supercars “sprint series” formula of two races over three days.

Support races are yet to be announced, and there’s been no decision about the race dates, although it is expected to be late into August.

“We are very excited about the announcement of a major motorsport event at The Bend Motorsport Park which we expect will attract at least 50,000 people,’’ Dr Shahin said on Monday.

“Today celebrates the topping-out of the pit building, which is a major milestone for the construction of this world-class motorsport development taking us one step closer to realising the vision for a new major events venue for South Australia.’’

The August event is also ideally placed on the Supercars calendar to become part of the series enduro events, most of which are held from September onwards.

A handful of enduro events around the iconic Bathurst 1000 next weekend are guaranteed to attract maximum interest for the Tailem Bend weekend during the annual 16-race series from March to November.

The current formula for the Super Sprint style races like The Bend event is a 120km race on the Saturday of the three-day event and 200km on the Sunday.

It differs to the Adelaide 500 format, usually in early March, which comprises two Supercars races of 250km over a total of four days.

While the The Bend event will not attract the size of the Adelaide 500 crowds, there is expected to be renewed interest in the race series from next year when a V6-turbo engine configuration breaks up the V8-only format for the first time in many years.

The Bend track is a 53-minute drive from Adelaide on the corner of the Dukes and Mallee Highways.

The Bend facility will better accommodate true Supercars fans, and include an on-site 100-bed luxury hotel and extensive camping facilities.

The facility is considered the best designed and most advanced in Australia, mainly because it has been designed and built from a greenfield site.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 42d08cb938

[bits]

have they started the big OTR to be built out there?

Drove past today and the service station is well underway.

In the distance you can see the massive pit building also.

[Goodsy]

lots of photos here

https://www.thebend.com.au/gallery

[Adeguy72]

I don't think it's common knowledge, but the Bend motor sport park will be the venue for the next Australian scout Jamboree in January 2018.

Facilities (including shower / toilet blocks etc) will need to be in place by then to allow camping for around 12,000 participants for a 2 week period.

I suspect there will be lots of temporary facilities brought onsite, but there will also be some permanent structures, plus an extensive network of underground piping etc.

[monotonehell]

I don't think it's common knowledge, but the Bend motor sport park will be the venue for the next Australian scout Jamboree in January 2018.

Facilities (including shower / toilet blocks etc) will need to be in place by then to allow camping for around 12,000 participants for a 2 week period.

I suspect there will be lots of temporary facilities brought onsite, but there will also be some permanent structures, plus an extensive network of underground piping etc.

That's weird, but good. Diversification will help them be financially viable.

[rhino]

I don't think it's common knowledge, but the Bend motor sport park will be the venue for the next Australian scout Jamboree in January 2018.

Facilities (including shower / toilet blocks etc) will need to be in place by then to allow camping for around 12,000 participants for a 2 week period.

I suspect there will be lots of temporary facilities brought onsite, but there will also be some permanent structures, plus an extensive network of underground piping etc.

The Jamboree is actually in January 2019, so there is still a little over a year to prepare the site for it. The usual South Australian Jamboree site, Woodhouse in the Adelaide Hills near Stirling, will prove too difficult to evacuate up to 12,000 kids and leaders in the case of a catastrophic fire.

[Vee]

New Rydge’s Hotel will give guests a Track Side Experience at The Bend
As reported in various news outlets...

A hotel will be built at the Bend Motorsport Park which will allow guests to view the action on the track.

Rydges Hotels and Resorts will build the 100 roompit lane complex with most of the rooms facing the track.

The new hotel is expected to be operational in April 2018.
5MU:
https://www.5mu.com.au/news/local-news/ ... t-the-bend

Good news for Tailem Bend, jobs, tourism in the area.
An opportunity for the Coorong District Council, business, local groups, State Tourism to give the Town a facelift, including making the Main Street and town more attractive and inviting to visitors, locals and those seeking employment in the area.

The Council could add more interpretive signage, displays, photo opportunities re the heritage of Tailem Bend. (The café attached to the Shell servo in the Main Street has a number of interesting original photos of paddle boats, Afghan cameleers and importance of the River to the early economy).

The local heritage is an opportunity to capture the grey nomad market, with co-operative marketing of other attractions in the Coorong, River, Murray Bridge and Monarto Zoo to widen visitor numbers. The River is great for recreation.

The Bend Motorsport Park, hotel/function centre, caravan park and associated events should, hopefully breathe new life into the town/local economy. The town needs to capitalise on this opportunity to transform itself beyond being a local service centre (including important hospital) and fuel/rest stop on the main highway.

[rhino]

The Bend Motorsport Park, hotel/function centre, caravan park and associated events should, hopefully breathe new life into the town/local economy. The town needs to capitalise on this opportunity to transform itself beyond being a local service centre (including important hospital) and fuel/rest stop on the main highway.

Pretty sure there's a bit of work there with the railways too - not as much as in the old days, but it's still where the bankers are added and removed before and after tackling the Adelaide Hills, and the yard is pretty big.

[Norman]

Tailem Bend set to become Australia's new motorsport hub but locals concerned about changes

By Brittany Evins
Posted Sat at 8:59am

Tailem Bend is revving up to become the hub of Australian motorsport, but is the cliff-top town on the River Murray being bent too far?
According to developers, the multi-million dollar Bend Motorsport Park will be the second-largest permanent racetrack in the world when it opens in January, and it means big changes for a little town.
The track will host a round of Supercars championships in August.
Most locals are excited, proud and intrigued about the track, but some are concerned about the impact it will have on the regional town.
Coorong District Council mayor Neville Jaensch said the development was driving investment in local road upgrades, new businesses and accommodation.
"It's a tsunami of change. We've gone in the last few years from a sleepy council that sits in the back row of the meeting. Thanks to the motorsport park we are now sitting in the front row," Cr Jaensch said.
"We're anticipating potentially 400,000 tourists a year for this facility."

Driving local investments
The park — situated on the outskirts of the town, one hour south-east of Adelaide — has been built to host a variety of racing events, with town developments and expansions already in the pipeline.
Coorong Realty principal Kerry Simcock said the town should start preparing for an influx of visitors now.
"There's probably only 200 commercial beds outside of the motorsport park, so the demand for accommodation will be significantly more than we can supply today," she said.
Ms Simcock said people around South Australia still did not believe the park was going ahead, but confidence was building as announcements about events were made.
"We haven't seen huge jumps in prices as yet, but we're getting more steady and more genuine enquiries for purchase."
One investor ahead of the game is Michael Brenton, who has bought a double block in town he is working on in preparation for visiting revheads.
"It's close to the track so that is my main interest, because I've travelled all around the country doing racing myself and I know it's always hard to get accommodation," he said.
Mr Brenton said he had even considered the business opportunities within the town.
"I've never been to this side of Tailem Bend, and it's a lot bigger than I thought it was."

Bracing for change
Construction is well underway, with the complex set to host its first major motorsport event early next year, but not everyone is pleased about its arrival.
Tailem Bend resident Ray Kowald's farm meets the boundary of the motorsport park, but it is not just the noise that is concerning him.
He said he did not want Tailem Bend's small town character to be lost.
"Everyone reckons it's such a good thing, but I don't know for us if it's going to be that good," Mr Kowald said.
"It's just stuffing up all our peace. I was born here and it's going to be a rowdy bloody place."
He also has concerns about how his sheep will react to the noise.
"The noise might interfere with the stock grazing along the fence. They reckon it makes a hell of bloody noise, those cars.
"It's going ahead. We're just going to have to put up with it."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-09/t ... s_adelaide

[how good is he]

On the 13 Jan the TDU christens the new Motorsport Park with its first "event". It will be interesting to see the progress as we haven't seen photos/videos of the work for a while.

[Vee]

On the 13 Jan the TDU christens the new Motorsport Park with its first "event". It will be interesting to see the progress as we haven't seen photos/videos of the work for a while.

Agree. Interesting concept and a chance to look at the venue (progress).

Revolve24 Australia at The Bend Motorsport Park (Jan 13-14)

Check the timetable of various ‘challenges’ and events, including the SA Penny Farthing Championships sprint, Cycling SA State Criterium Championships and the start of Stage 3 of the Santos Women's TDU.

Revolve24 Australia is an Associated Event of the TDU.

Our Weekend Festival of Cycling will consist of three Endurance Cycling Relays - 24 hour, 12 hour and 6 hour - so something for everyone, whether you are riding to compete or fulfill a personal challenge.

Free parking, camping.
Fork on the road for eats.

http://revolve24.com/events/the-bend-motorsport-park