South Australians are about to be thrust onto the world motorsport stage when The Bend Motorsport Park hosts a test day for the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Champs on April 3-4.
It will be the first time any racing machinery, two-wheels or four, have hit this track and is the lead-up to the double-header on April 19-22, which combines the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship with Round 3 of ASBK.
So the buzz is building and a lot of people, both racers and everyday riders, are asking:
Who built the track?
Why was it built?
How was it built?
What does it offer?
How does this $110m clean-sheet-design fit into both Australian and world motorsport?
And the last and biggest question: What’s it like to ride?
Only two people know: SA’s big hope in this year’s ASBK series, Daniel Falzon, and AMCN’s Hamish Cooper.
We got exclusive access to gain first impressions on what it will take to find the fast way around a circuit that is 500m longer than Phillip Island but has more corners and as many undulations.
Daniel, currently lying 5th in the championship, writes exclusively for AMCN about riding it from a racer’s perspective on his privately-owned 2017 Yamaha Superbike.
Hamish writes about it from a track-day enthusiast’s angle on an Old School 2006 Ducati SportClassic, with half the horsepower.
Get AMCN issue 67-19 for a complete guide to an amazing race track and motorsport complex.
Photos by IAN RODDIE.
