Scott McLaughlin continues winning run of race wins at The Bend
Scott McLaughlin won the first of two sprint races to be held this weekend at The Bend, which will see a lot more racing after a special announcement was made moments before the race.
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Scott McLaughlin’s dream 2019 Supecars season continued on Saturday at The Bend.
But his success in the sprint-style racing at The Bend will be short-lived, as SA’s second Supercars event has been confirmed as an endurance round in 2020.
The Bend owner Sam Shahin confirmed moments before the first of two races that make up the SuperSprint format this weekend was held that Supercars’ newest racetrack will have a much longer race next year.
Currently the Saturday race is 120km, and Sunday’s 200km, with a 500km race likely as an enduro.
The date of the race has not been announced but Supercars confirmed Shahin’s announcement and that it would be held before the Bathurst 1000, which traditionally has been held in October.
McLaughlin started the first race of the OTR SuperSprint in second position but soon took the lead from pole position holder Chaz Mostert and never looked in serious danger of losing it.
He said the race at the 4.95km-long circuit at The Bend was hard enough so an endurance event would be a challenge.
“Chaz pushed me the whole way, I knew it would be the case,” he said.
“It was crucial to get that (good) start.
“I tried to build at least some of a gap in with that pit stop and Chaz was there on me the whole way.
“(An enduro) is going to be bloody hard.
“If you look at my lap, the second-to-last lap, it was my fastest... (cars get faster as) there’s no deg (tyre degradation) and the fuel load keeps going down.”
The race leaders survived the fast-lap carnage that led to three drivers failing to complete the first lap, including South Australian driver Todd Hazelwood.
He rolled into the pits with his bonnet pushed into the windscreen, while Simona de Silvestro’s car suffered front-end damage and Will Davison also limped straight into the garages.
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McLaughlin and Mostert streaked ahead of the field, while Anton de Pasquale moved up one position to third and was never threatened, even after running off the track at one point late in the race.
Mostert finished the race seven seconds behind McLaughlin but said it was “good to actually see Scott at the chequered line”.
“It’s good to have car speed and be able to go with him,” he said.
“I was just tired (so backed off a bit at the end) trying to keep up with him.”
Suggestions that The Bend Motorsport Park’s track should be an endurance event on Supercars’ calendar started after the first OTR SuperSprint was held last August.
Shahin said the track had evolved from being “a paddock” two years ago to now being a top-notch facility that would look at home anywhere in the world.
“We can certainly, 100 per cent confirm that we will be part of the endurance rounds next year and that’s a big feather in The Bend’s cap, I’m absolutely thrilled,” he said.