The Bend Motorsport Park has set a new standard for Australian motorsport and is looking to improve as it prepares for its second Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and, from 2020, an endurance event.
In a few short years, The Bend Motorsport Park grew from what seemed to be a fanciful idea to what is now considered the benchmark for Australian motorsport facilities. What was a few years ago a dustbowl at the former Mitsubishi test track at Tailem Bend is now a hub for all manner of motoring activity.
There hadn’t been a new motorsport facility built in Australia in close to two decades, and with permanent circuits at risk of closing across the country, it seemed an ambitious project for the Peregrine Corporation to build a world-class motorsport hub 100 kilometres south-east of Adelaide.
Yet South Australians knew not to doubt the Shahin family and their Peregrine Corporation, which grew from humble beginnings with a single petrol station in 1984 to one of the top 15 private companies in Australia and the largest in South Australia.
The Shahins are motorsport fanatics, with Sam and brother Yasser regular competitors in the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup and Australian GT categories respectively, and the desire to build The Bend Motorsport Park was to give something back to the community, sport and country. And the Peregrine Corporation has done just that, confounding the sceptics who didn’t believe the grand project would see the light of day.
“It’s a grand vision, a grand project, a very optimistic project, but in tough economic times, and when the chips are down and times are tough, you need people to step forward of the line up,” said Sam Shahin.
“I’m very motivated to build a facility in Australia that ranks alongside some of the great circuits and facilities around the world.”
The Bend Motorsport Park is now fully operational. An ‘On The Run’ petrol station, the Peregrine Corporation’s core business, sits on the entry of the circuit off the Dukes Highway.
This story is from the August - September 2019 Issue 112 edition of V8X Supercar Magazine.
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This story is from the August - September 2019 Issue 112 edition of V8X Supercar Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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1960 – 2020 TOP 60 DRIVERS
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TOP END TALENT
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JACK BE QUICK
After championship wins in the Kumho Tyre Australian V8 Touring Car Series and New Zealand V8 Touring Cars, three seasons in the Dunlop Super2 Series, four main-game wildcard rounds and a PIRTEK Enduro Cup campaign, Jack Smith graduates into the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship with Brad Jones Racing in 2020.
EXPANSION & CELEBRATION
The 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship marks the 20th anniversary of Brad Jones Racing’s arrival in the category. And the team celebrates the milestone with an expansion to four entries, cementing its place in Supercars as the oldest team not to have had an ownership change since its arrival.
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Thirty-year-old Scott Pye joins his fourth Virgin Australia Supercars Championship team when he links with an expanded Team 18 in 2020, pairing with Mark Winterbottom in the Charlie Schwerkolt-owned team in his bid to find a long-term home.
AS THE DECADES ROLL ON...
With the Australian Touring Car Championship/Virgin Australia Supercars Championship celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2020, we look back at the decade-on years in the history of the sport.
Right On Track
REFLECTING BACK
