The Bend Motorsport Park will open on Friday, 13 April and the Shannons Nationals will be the first competitive motor sport event to be held at the Tailem Bend track.
Ahead of the big day, CAMS looks at some key facts of The Bend:
More than 200 officials will volunteer across the weekend
With 35 turns and 26 flag points, state of the art communication systems and new flag/light points, 200 officials will have their opportunity to be part of history to help run a successful event at the new circuit.
More than 120 drivers will compete in one or more categories
Some teams are yet to bring on a driver and some people will pilot in multiple categories, but more than 120 drivers all will be on the grid at some point throughout the weekend.
A total of 34 garages are housed in the pit building
Each garage in the 309 metre long pit building measures in at a total of 6 x 12 meters, which is equivalent to a four-car home garage.
The pit building stands at four levels high and houses a 100-room hotel allowing fans a great view of the circuit.
The Shannons Nationals will host seven categories at the first event
The Australian GT Endurance Championship will headline an entertaining list of categories what will take place at the opening of the Bend.
The Heritage Touring Cars will be the first category to get a taste of the new track with their first practice session to take place on the Friday morning at 8.30am.
Group S racing, National Sports Sedans Series, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, Radical Australia Cup and the Australian Prototype Series are the other categories included.
Five precincts are available at the Bend
The first ever-official event may be a four-wheeled circuit weekend at the circuit, but The Bend Motorsport Park caters to four other disciplines.
A 4WD adventure Park featuring 80 hectares’ of challenging terrain, a quarter mile dragway that meets Group 1 drag racing standards, the drift, kart and rallycross circuit which has a colosseum-like atmosphere and the rally and off road track that has a variety of configurations.
It’s been over two years since construction first took place
Construction on The Bend Motorsport Park first began in 2016 with more than 140 labourers working on the circuit.
A further 300 more jobs were created 12 months later to build the pit building and surrounding infrastructure.
There is just one permanent racetrack that is bigger than The Bend
While The Bend has an incredible 7.7km layout in its longest setup, it is still not the world’s largest. That honour goes to the Nürburgring Nordschleife, which is over double the length of The Bend.
The Shannons Nationals will take place at The Bend Motor Sport Park on the 13-15 April.