Why is The Bend such a difficult circuit?

Car set-up will be the major challenge facing teams at The Bend Motorsport Park for this weekend’s OTR SuperSprint.

The tricky, technical circuit has bitten even the biggest teams and drivers, none bigger than Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup.

In 2018, McLaughlin and the Shell V-Power Racing Team battled in the category’s first visit to the South Australian venue.

McLaughlin finished no higher than sixth in the races as he ceded the championship lead to van Gisbergen, who 12 months later suffered a more ignominious fate.

In one session alone at the 2019 event, van Gisbergen fired off a staggering four times as he failed to hit the sweet spot with his Commodore.

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This weekend marks the fourth year Supercars will tackle The Bend, which also hosted the official pre-season test last season.

The Bend is Australia’s newest permanent racing circuit and, at 4.95km, is the second-longest circuit on the Supercars calendar.

Car balance and tyre management will crucial across the weekend’s three races; few circuits punish the Dunlop Soft Tyres more, a contrast from the pint-sized Symmons Plains layout which hosted the last event last event.

“We’re coming off the back of Symmons Plains, which is a 50-second lap over seven corners. Here, it’s 18 corners in 100 seconds,” former team owner and broadcaster Mark Larkham told Supercars.com.

“The opportunity to get it wrong in one lap here is huge, and the percentage of the lap you are turning is higher than any other track we go to.

“Here, if your car is fractionally out of the window; a shock absorber setting not quite right, a rebound setting, a little bit of geometry, 10-pound out of spring… whatever it may be, you’re going to be in a world of pain.

“You won’t be able to make it up over those 18 corners. It’s going to punish you 18 times; a lot of the corners here are similar to each other, and a lot of them are in what we call a dynamic state, meaning the car’s in its working state for a long period of time.”

Larkham explained that, when the cars aren’t in the window, it’s up to drivers to make the difference.

“For me, the trick for circuits like this, which is much more easily said than done, is to open your window. You need to create a bigger window for yourself,” Larkham explained.

“If you can’t do that with the car, the really good drivers have an ability to adapt and do the best job from the driver’s seat. Some guys are better than most.

“Guys like Jamie Whincup; on days when his car is not quite there, I reckon he has an ability to adapt, make his window larger, and he’ll yield the best result he can on the day with the car he’s got.

“Some guys throw it in the sand trap trying to win races they know they can’t.

“Shell’s first year here shows how easy it is to fall out of the window.”

Few circuits on the 2021 calendar, if any, test the driver-engineer relationship greater than The Bend.

Chaz Mostert’s engineer Adam De Borre, who tasted success with the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver last time out at Symmons Plains, explained the fine balance between one-lap and race set-ups at the South Australian venue.

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“To have good one-lap speed, you need to be able to maximise your tyres pretty early on in the lap,” De Borre told Supercars.com.

“You need a car that can flow, this track’s about flowing speeds and having a car that’s really progressive, borderline push, just so you can keep stability and momentum.

“For the race car, now we’re on the softs, it’s all about managing tyres and trying to reduce the energy that goes into the tyre.”

When asked if The Bend provides the biggest window between having a good car and a bad car, De Borre replied: “Yes, on the soft tyre for sure. Absolutely.

“A good car is historically a fast car, whereas that’s not what you need as a good race car here.

“You don’t need a fast car here, you just need a car that’s really kind to its tyres.”

Supercars will hit the track for Practice 1 of the OTR SuperSprint at 9:15am AEST. Tickets are on sale now.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo with highlights on 7 and 7 Plus.