The Bend Motorsport Park announced today the appointment of a local contractor and the start of construction of the 7.77 kilometre racing circuit, which is set to become one of the world’s longest permanent circuits, second only to Nurburgring in Germany.
South Australian civil construction company Lucas has been awarded the contract, which will see an estimated 140 new jobs created in the twelve-month construction of the racing circuit. This important milestone is part of the $100 million investment by the Peregrine Corporation, which will see it become an iconic sporting facility for South Australia championing local, national and international motorsport and major events for the state. “The Bend’s racing circuit is a world class, with inspiration drawn from the best racing circuits around the world including Spa, Red Bull Ring, Paul Ricard, Nurburgring, Suzuka and Silverstone,” said Dr Sam Shahin, Executive Director of the Peregrine Corporation. “The circuit will be a permanent bitumen race track of international standard with 35 turns, a one kilometre long main straight and a width of 15 metres that continues into turns two and three for fantastic side-by-side racing action, and top speeds approaching 300 kmph,” said Dr Sam. “While the racing circuit will host top-level racing, it will be open to the public for a driving experience like no other, either in their own cars or in specially prepared track cars,” concluded Dr Sam. The State Government has invested $7.5 million and Premier Jay Weatherill said the project will become a tourist drawcard and inject millions into the State economy. “An independent economic study has shown that once fully developed, The Bend is projected to create 1631 full time jobs and its economic impact to the state is likely to be $236 million in Gross State Product annually, attracting 339,000 extra visitors to the region, Mr Weatherill said. “We promised in 2014 to invest in the Bend Motorsport Park and that’s exactly what we’ve done. It’s great to be here today and see the project take another step forward.” The Bend Motorsport Park will also feature a pit building, hotel and conference facilities; a purpose-built drift and karting circuit; an international Group 1 dragway; driver training facilities; an airstrip; a 4WD adventure park and an off-road facility. The circuit is estimated to be complete by the end of 2017; the next stage of construction will see the pit building and surrounding infrastructure built creating 300 more jobs. Commencement of construction for this will be announced shortly.