The Bend SuperSprint (known for sponsorship reasons as the OTR SuperSprint – The Bend) was an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at The Bend Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend, South Australia from 2018 until 2023. In 2023, it was announced that The Bend 500 endurance race, originally planned for 2020, would replace the event from 2025, with no event held in 2024.
Format The event was held over two days, from Saturday to Sunday. On Saturday, two thirty-minute practice sessions, then a three-part knock-out qualifying session were held, for the 100 kilometre race to follow. Sunday features two fifteen-minute qualifying sessions that set the grid for each of the day's two 100 km races.Concert, party and new podium boost OTR SuperSprint Supercars 9 August 2023
History
The Bend Motorsport Park, the first permanent circuit to be opened in Australia since Queensland Raceway in 1999, signed a memorandum of understanding to host a future Supercars race early in the construction process in 2015. Following final approval from the Government of South Australia, the circuit was added to the 2018 calendar with an August date, the first time the state has held two championship events in a season since Adelaide International Raceway hosted two rounds in 1977. The inaugural event was dominated by Triple Eight Race Engineering, with two poles and two race victories shared between Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup. The 2019 event was again dominated by a single team, with DJR Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin winning both races from pole position.
From 2020, the sprint event was due to be replaced on the championship calendar by a new endurance race at the circuit. The endurance event was then dropped in a shortened calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a further revision to the calendar, caused by border restrictions, a double-header SuperSprint was added to the calendar to be held in September 2020 on consecutive weekends. In the first of the two events the wins were again shared between Triple Eight and DJR Team Penske, with championship combatants McLaughlin and Whincup clashing in the first race of the weekend, resulting in a penalty for Whincup. Fabian Coulthard won the round.
Other than the second 2020 event, all events have run on the "International" configuration of the circuit. The second 2020 event used the shorter "West" layout. The event was also open to "wildcard" entries, allowing teams and drivers from the Super2 Series support category to take part in the top tier. McLaughlin winning the second round, and in doing so securing his third consecutive Supercars Championship. In 2021, the event was the only South Australian event following the demise of the Adelaide 500 (the event later returned in 2022). Ford won all three races over the weekend, including Andre Heimgartner's first career win, however Shane van Gisbergen won the round in Holden's final scheduled year in the championship. In 2022, Zak Best, entered as a wildcard, took a pole position for the first race. At the event's final running to date in 2023, Brodie Kostecki won all three races as part of his championship-winning campaign.
Winners Year Driver Team Car Report 2018 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden ZB Commodore Report 2019 Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang GT 2020 Fabian Coulthard DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang GT Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang GT 2021 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden ZB Commodore 2022 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden ZB Commodore 2023 Brodie Kostecki Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro ZL1-1LE
Notes – The Bend Motorsport Park hosted two events of the 2020 Supercars Championship. The second event was the only event to date to use the circuit's West layout. All other events have used the International layout.
Multiple winners By driver Wins Driver Years 3 Shane van Gisbergen 2018, 2021, 2022 2 Scott McLaughlin 2019, 2020-2
By team Wins Team 3 DJR Team Penske Triple Eight Race Engineering
By manufacturer Wins Manufacturer 3 Ford Holden
Event names and sponsors 2018–23: OTR SuperSprint – The Bend 2020: Repco SuperSprint – The Bend
See also List of Australian Touring Car Championship races The Bend 500
References