South Australia’s Supercar drivers are ready to show what their home state can do for motorsport

FOUR Supercar drivers grown in South Australia’s backyard are ready to help the state show what it can do when a second national motorsport championship round is held for the first time at The Bend.

• The Bend to change motorsport in SA: Percat
• Here we go, Toyota 86 Crows
• Injured Whincup ‘bloody lucky’ after incident
• The Bend offers best chance to win
• Tailem gets ready to put the foot down
• First hot lap of Australia’s newest racetrack

THE four SA drivers who will line up on the Supercars grid at the OTR SuperSprint this weekend are blown away by the track.

They are thrilled for what it will do for South Australian motorsport and those who will succeed them.

Never before has there been as many South Australians on the grid at the same time in touring car competition, with all drivers making their way up through motorsport ranks from their grassroots start in karting.

ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE BEND SUPERSPRINT

Brad Jones Racing driver Nick Percat said it felt good to finally be on the track that had been talked about for so long.

“It’s always nice to race in your home state,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to experiencing it for myself (in a Supercar).

“Any time they can improve SA motorsport is good – (young drivers) have a massive opportunity to learn go kart (at The Bend Motorsport Park’s go-kart track) and come here next door, start Formula Ford – I hope they do back it.”

Matt Stone Racing driver Todd Hazelwood said spectators already had thrown their support behind it, with campers lining up to get into the campground from early Thursday morning.

He was quick to complete his track walk around the circuit early in the day – a must for every Supercar driver ahead of each round to get a feel for track conditions.

“The trickiest part is turns 7 to 10, a flowing right-hander,” he said.

“That will catch a few drivers out, you need a lot of attention there to get the car to flow.”

The other two South Australians have yet to have any laps around in the circuit in any car so will be learning from scratch in Practice 1 on Friday morning.

Walkinshaw Andretti United driver Scott Pye has only watched onboard footage of other drivers who have driven around the new track in the past four months since it opened.

“It’s really good to have such a prestige facility as well in our own backyard, it’s something special,” he said.

“It’s nice to come home more than once a year.

“We’ve had a tough few events now and we’ve lacked a bit of car speed so want to turn that around.

“I’m looking forward to have an opportunity to see what the track’s like.”

Percat’s teammate Tim Slade also will be tackling the 4.95km circuit without prior experience.

“It looks like it’ll be good fun and I can’t wait and see what it’s like,” he said.

“It’s pretty cool, it’s pretty impressive new facility and it’s awesome for South Australia.”

DUGGAN IS DRIVEN TO SET UP

THE Toyota 86 Series support category makes its debut in South Australia at The Bend, showing rising talent hoping to be the Supercars stars of the future.

The one-make series of Toyota 86 cars, which are road cars modified for racing, began in 2016 and has a field of 35 cars.

The Bend is the third round of its six-round calendar but the second time competitor Emily Duggan will race, after she joined the series late in Townsville.

Duggan, 27, has only been racing for four years and this year has made the step up from the Hyundai Excel racing series.

“Hyundai Excel is a cool category – it’s a bit of a grandma’s car, being front wheel drive and 73 horsepower at the wheel,” she said.

“Toyota 86 is rear wheel drive, with 147 kilowatts at the wheel.

“This is a good step up toward my goal.”

Emily Duggan at The Bend with her Toyota 86. Picture: Sarah Reed

Duggan wants to be a full-time Supercar driver and, rather than just make up the numbers or fly the female flag, has her sights set on being a future Supercars champion.

“I don’t enter races to fill the grid – I enter races to win them,” she said.

“If I don’t come first, I’m not really satisfied with the results.

“I want to win the (Supercar) championship.”

Duggan said the people she looked up to mostly were outside of motorsport but there were two current drivers who she wanted to emulate.

“I love the longevity Craig Lowndes has been able to have in the sport,” she said.

“Scott McLaughlin - his ability to put the car on pole position time after time is absolutely phenomenal and something that I want, to be able to learn the skill.”

The Tailem Bend track might suit her, as she said one of the best things about racing was going around corners very fast.

“I understand why they call it The Bend, not just because it’s in the town of Tailem Bend,” she said.

“There’s so many corners and a lot of blind corners which is a lot of fun.

“I like going extremely fast around a corner. Going in a straight line is not the be all and end all.

“I’m a very competitive person to start with, I’ll make anything into a game.

“I like (in Toyota 86) that all the cars are pretty much identical, so a lot of it is the drivers’ skill and merit, not how much money you can throw at the car.”

Duggan is backed by Surelinc but will run a Buy A Bale livery this round to support the agriculture initiative.