The Bend park near South Australia's Tailem Bend offers playground for range of motorsport passions at all levels
The Bend Motorsport Park near South Australia's Tailem Bend added to its racing circuit with a quarter-mile drag strip, a go-karts circuit, rallycross, a 4x4 adventure park.
The Bend Motorsport Park, opened in 2018 near South Australia's Murray River town of Tailem Bend, offered a playground for motoring passion and lifestyle on all levels.
The Bend was uniquely an access playground for a whole raft of motorsports, including circuit racing for cars and motorcycles, Australia’s only purpose-built drift circuit; a karting circuit; a rally-cross circuit; driver training; a 4WD adventure park and a rally/off-road track. A drag racing strip was added in 2023.
Developed and primarily funded by Peregrine Corporation, who started South Australia’s OTR service station chain, on the former Mitsubishi car-testing site, The Bend was awarded the 2019 International Motorsport Facility of the Year. It indulged motoring passion with luxury trackside villas and garages, with The Rydes Pit Lane Hotel positioned right on the racing circuit.
The Bend’s main racing circuit design was inspired by some of the world’s most iconic circuits with technical corners and fast and flowing sections to ensure good racing. The circuit was Australia’s only track to comply with the latest FIA Grade 2 and FIM Category A standards. The seven circuit configurations ranged from 3.4 kilometres to 7.77 kilometres, with the GT Circuit being the second longest permanent circuit in the world, after the Nurburgring (Nordschleife) in Germany.
The motorsport park played host to international events, national series racing, grass roots club events, driver safety training and corporate driving experiences. It offers hot-lap experiences where passenger and driver experiences can be booked in the Bend’s high-powered vehicles (Ford Mustangs, V8 Supercar, Hole Racecar, Formula 3, Porsche GT3 Cup Car) for laps around the circuit.
The Bend’s central welcome centre, featured an auto gallery of unique cars and motorbikes. A Big4 Holiday also catered for holiday makers with camping, caravan, cabin and dormitory accommodation.
