The Bend to join Bathurst in top tier of Supercars racing from 2020

The Bend Motorsport Park is only in its second year of hosting top-line racing this year but is about to be elevated to the top level of the sport.

South Australia’s The Bend Motorsport Park is set to join Bathurst in becoming one of the most prestigious races of the year as the venue establishes itself on the Supercars calendar.

The Bend will this year hold its second event as part of a five-year deal to be part of the Supercars schedule but there are now discussions about a much bigger role for the venue in 2020.

The Advertiser understands the circuit could be the first of the three enduro races — spanning 500km — on a Sunday in September in the lead-up to Bathurst, the most iconic of supercars race days in Australia.

Jamie Whincup from Triple Eight Race Engineering during the 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship at The Bend. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz

It means The Bend, which will this year host its second round of the supercars series in August, will cash in on the change in the sport’s calendar, which is set to have some time off in the middle of the depths of winter from the 2020 season.

It is understood the event at The Bend will replace the enduro event at Sandown, which is set to be reduced to a single-driver event.

It is still up in the air whether The Bend will use its 4.95 circuit or the 7.7km circuit for the event as negotiations continue.

But supercars boss Sean Seamer has been open about considering a step up for the The Bend in the event it hosts.

“Obviously we’ve been talking to the guys at The Bend about what they want to do with that facility in the future,” Seamer told internet site Speedcafe.com. “They see it as something that was purpose-built for an endurance round.

“They would also like to be a little bit later in the year, so we’re talking to them about that.

“We’ve obviously got to be mindful between the spacing of that event and the Adelaide 500.

“We’re not saying that Sandown won’t be an enduro, but we are considering taking The Bend as an enduro.”