THE BEND CONFIRMS SLOT ON 2022 SUPERCARS SCHEDULE
By Bruce Williams
Date posted: 18 December 2021
The Bend Motorsport Park has officially confirmed it will host a round of the Repco Supercars Championship in 2022.
While widely assumed that the South Australian venue would again hold a Supercars round, the circuit was initially left off the schedule for next year with one round listed as TBA.
Circuit owner Sam Shahin has now confirmed that Supercars will hold a round at The Bend on July 29-31, filling in that TBA slot on the original 2022 calendar.
Shahin also confirmed that he was in discussion with Supercars to secure a long term contract with the championship.
The confirmation came in an open letter released on The Bend’s website, which you can read below:
I am pleased to announce that Supercars will again grace The Bend in 2022. The July 29-31 slot promises to be another stanza in the championship’s 6th visit to The Bend in 5 years. The Bend is also in the final stages of inking a long term contract with Supercars that will see the event locked in until 2025.
The Bend is now an internationally acclaimed facility. We want to be affiliated with the best motoring events and festivals from Australia and abroad, and we have never waivered from the commitment to bring first class events to our shores. The expanded Asian Le Mans series is contracted for two more events at The Bend and the growth of two wheel racing at the venue has been astonishing with the recent Australian Superbike round featuring Jack Miller providing an incredible spectacle. More to come on this in the near future.
The Bend represents the single biggest private investment in Australian motorsport history. I hope future generations will be proud of what we’ve built here in our own backyard – a motorsport theme park. There is no facility anywhere in the world that has a world class motor racing circuit, an internationally acclaimed go kart facility, drift tracks, a four wheel drive adventure park, an off-road rally track, a rallycross track, a hotel, and a holiday park – all through the same gate!
I have kept my promise to maintain and improve the Mallala Motorsport Park as well, and we’ll have some exciting news about that facility also in the near future.
South Australia has a proud history in all things motoring, from car manufacturing to producing some of the best riders and drivers in the world; so many names synonymous with excellence: Vern Schuppan, Garrie Cooper, Ed Ordynski, Russell Ingall, Nick Percat, Scott Pye and Tim Slade just to name a few. It makes perfect sense that the biggest events must go to the best venues. The South Australian public will deservedly be witness to first class motorsport events for good.
It would have been incomprehensible for a national championship not to visit every State; we just had to get an agreement that is sustainable and allows us to build a festival style event in the future.
I need a favour from Santa though… I need the support of all those that love the sport and those that were outraged to see The Bend not on the first draft calendar to vote with their feet and to come and grace the event with their presence. Ultimately, we put on a show and our success or otherwise will ultimately be measured by how much the wider community supports it. If the support is there, we will continue to do it.
Dr. Sam Shahin
Managing Director, The Bend Motorsport Park
For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the current issue of Auto Action.
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