The Bend has expressed confidence of its place on the 2024 Supercars calendar after producing a sizeable crowd for the 2023 OTR SuperSprint.
The circuit reported a total attendance of 41,237, the biggest since Supercars’ inaugural visit in 2018 and up about 10 percent on last year’s figure of 37,636.
Alistair MacDonald, CEO of what is now known commercially as Shell V-Power Motorsport Park, hailed the result.
He claimed, “We doubled our interstate attendance on last year and successfully executed several new innovations so we cannot wait to come back and do it all when Supercars return to the Shell V-Power Motorsport Park in 2024.”
The announcement has been made amid confirmation that Supercars is returning to New Zealand in 2024, specifically with the addition of Taupo International Motorsport Park to the calendar.
As it stands, the calendar is comprised of only 12 events, the bare minimum for the television deal but also the maximum before the category must pay extra to teams for putting on the show.
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Logically, The Bend Motorsport Park would be the most likely for the chop if the calendar remained at a dozen events, although Supercars CEO Shane Howard indicated in June that 13 was his goal for next year.
The uplift in crowds at the South Australian circuit coincides with continued investment in turning a race meeting, which is self-promoted, into a genuine ‘event’ for fans.
This year saw the debut of the Saturday night ‘Rocking the Murray Concert’ featuring The Choirboys and Kingswood, off the back of the inaugural Murray Bridge Street Party on the Thursday.
The ‘Town Square’ concept was revamped to include the podium, with the top three drivers walking through the circuit’s Welcome Centre on their way to collecting their silverware.
They are “traditions The Bend will look to continue in 2024,” according to its announcement.
With Tailem Bend more than an hour’s drive from Adelaide, there were also enhanced public transport options for this year’s event.
The Bend Managing Director Sam Shahin remarked, “This is a proud event and we are thrilled that the public continues to support it alongside the year-round activity at our venue as we continue to put South Australia on the world motorsport map.
“I would like to thank South Australians and interstate travellers for backing our event and we hope you enjoyed the stellar conditions.”
Supercars action at the track unfolded amid rumours that the Shahins are looking to buy Supercars, although that speculation is believed to be wide of the mark based on Speedcafe’s enquiries.
The championship returns to South Australia in November for the season finale, the Vailo Adelaide 500.
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