V8 supercar racers take a lap of SA en route to The Bend Motorsport Mark
Racers used to speeds topping 300kph don’t usually scare easily but some Supercar drivers taking in the sights around SA found one area where they’re right out of their depth.
SA News
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It takes a lot to scare blokes who drive at up to 300km/h for a living but if anything could it was South Australia’s unfriendly great white sharks.
Celebrating a down week between racing rounds at The Bend Motorsport Park, Supercars drivers have been sampling all SA tourism has to offer, and naturally picked the thrill seeking of shark diving and the Adelaide Oval grandstand climb.
The full shark dive experience will be telecast by Supercars during two rounds of racing this Saturday and Sunday.
In contrast Ford driver Rick Kelly took the quiet road on his way to SA, and posted scenic pictures of Lake Eyre and Coober Pedy this week on Instagram.
“Myself, my wife Elysia and son Lex had a big roadtrip with our Ford Raptor and Maverick Camper to get to The Bend, he said.
“On the trip we stopped off at the beautiful Lake Eyre and spent some time in Coober Pedy as well.
“The cool thing about camping and road tripping rather than flying is we’ve been able to see so many incredible places around Australia.”
The off-week is a rare opportunity for Supercar teams to enjoy themselves, because they usually must immediately return to base or to the next round after a race weekend finishes.
But in a rare event during non-COVID-19 disrupted seasons, Supercars scheduled two rounds of racing one week apart at The bend last and this weekend.
To take advantage 14 of the Tickford Ford crew conquered the Adelaide Oval southern stand climb and took away souvenir snaps for when they return to their Victorian base.
Brad Jones Racing team members including engineers, mechanics and fabricators spent Thursday visiting Unico Zelo and Applewood Distillery in Gumeracha before stopping in at the National Motor Museum at Birdwood.
Driver Todd Hazelwood said the double-header Supercars events scheduled to maximise racing while teams were on the road also provided a rare opportunity to see a bit more of the places they visit than they normally would during a normal season.
“The boys and girls had a day off, so we said let’s go up to Unico Zelo, a winery and gin distillery, and we did a bit of gin tasting – it was a good way to spend a cold day in the Adelaide Hills,” he said.
“While in the area, we thought we’d go up the road to Birdwood as they had never been to the National Motor Museum.
“Normally we’d be at the airport, the racetrack and go back home (when in town for race weekends) – we’ve been fortunate to spend time in the local community and with the freedoms here, with COVID, being quite relaxed, we had the opportunity to do some sightseeing and see what SA has to offer.”
Meanwhile The Bend is experiencing a late rush of ticket sales following the opening of the border with NSW from midnight Wednesday, and the beginning of school holidays in SA and NSW on Friday.
A Qantas Group spokesperson said it and Jetstar had also recorded a rush on ticket sales between the two states.
Jetstar launched a 36-hour flash sale on Thursday offering 5000 fares between Adelaide and Sydney for just $59.
In the 24 hours since the border announcement earlier this week Qantas and Jetstar recorded 15,000 seat sales.
Jetstar will go from five weekly flights to twice daily in October and then to three times a day in November, while Qantas has now introduced a double daily service until the end of October.
Originally published as V8 supercar racers take a lap of SA en route to The Bend Motorsport Mark