Another sell-out crowd tipped as top-flight drag racing returns to The Bend in April
Fast and furious: High-intensity drag racing will be back at The Bend strip in April – and fans with a need for speed are being urged to secure their tickets now
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Top Fuel drag racing returns to South Australia for the second time in the National Drag Racing Championship’s inaugural season for the Riverbend Nationals on April 5-7.
After being starved of top-flight drag racing for almost two decades, a sell-out crowd of more than 35,000 spectators was at the Dragway at The Bend last October to see the Australian Top Fuel Championship’s opening round.
Corporate, grandstand and general admission tickets are still available for the April event but organisers have not ruled out another sell-out, urging fans who are yet to see the 11,000hp dragsters in action at more than 500km/h to secure their tickets early.
After two rounds, Rapisarda Autosport International driver and defending champion Damien Harris leads the Australian Top Fuel championship on 268 points, just two points ahead of his teammate Wayne Newby.
Harris won the first round at the new drag strip at The Bend, setting the track speed record of 523.42km/h that weekend.
Newby, meanwhile, set the fastest 1000ft pass time at The Bend of 3.765 seconds, which is less than 0.2 seconds off world-record pace.
Shell V-Power Motorsport Park chief executive Alistair MacDonald said having Top Fuel action twice in SA in one season was a “huge coup for our state”.
“There is nothing like experiencing the speed and noise of Top Fuel and with the additional Group 1 categories and sportsman racing as well as off-track entertainment, bars and food trucks, we believe that the Riverbend Nationals is a must-see sporting event,” he said.
Top Doorslammer returns for the Group 1 category’s third visit to the venue while Pro Stock will feature for the first time at the Riverbend Nationals.
National Drag Racing Championship chief executive Andy Lopez said the event would also be the final round of the western conference in the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship.
“We could not be more pumped to have the Australian Top Fuel Championship returning to the Dragway at The Bend in April off the back of their sold-out track debut at the Spring Nationals in October,” he said.
“Top Doorslammer is also a truly exciting category right now, with championship royalty taking on a growing new pack of racers to mean that absolutely anything could happen in this title chase.
“The fans can expect some extremely high-intensity drag racing.”
Entertainment between drag racing sessions has been boosted with the Hooligans Stunt Show added to the program while the Kids Zone family entertainment precinct will return.
Paddock access remains for all ticketholders, giving fans the chance to meet their favourite drivers as well as witness team mechanics and engineers swap whole engines in the dragsters between runs.
Tickets for the Riverbend Nationals start from $30 for adults while children aged 15 and under can attend free. Visit thebend.com.au
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