We’re back at The Bend for year two, as we the newest purpose-built circuit in Australia hosts the OTR SuperSprint this weekend, Round 10 of the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

Inspired by some of the world’s most iconic racetracks, The Bend offers eight different circuit configurations over its 7.77km long journey. We return to the ‘International Circuit,’ which is 4.945kms long, with 18 corners throughout the lap, so it’s fair to say there’s a bit going on!

It’s a fast, flowing and technical, with corners seven through 10 consist of a long, sweeping right hander that is just under 180 degrees in total. It will be crucial to keep the car balanced through there when setting up the rest of the lap.

Results wise, last year has some real positives with Scott Pye qualifying fourth on Sunday before finishing sixth, and JC passing a huge 16 cars during Saturday’s race to finish eighth.

The biggest thing to take from last year was the lack of tyre degradation. Hard tyres, a smooth surface and low track temperatures meant generating tyre temperatures was the biggest challenge for the field, and a key focus heading into the weekend.

Weather wise, there’s no rain forecast at this stage, with temperatures sitting in the mid-to-high teens for the weekend.

There will be a 120km race on Saturday, a 200km on Sunday and a knockout qualifying session on both days.

We’ve got Jack Perkins and Warren Luff jumping on board for the additional driver session to begin proceedings on Friday morning, followed by practice 1 and 2 later that day.

As always, you can catch every lap on Fox Sports.

Scott Pye

“I’m really looking forward to getting back to The Bend, and back to South Australia.

“We finished the weekend with some real momentum last year. It’s a fun circuit to drive, it’s fast and flowing, so I’m looking forward to the weekend as a whole.

“We have had a few weeks to recharge and reset, now we are all looking forward to getting stuck in for three days.

“It’ll be great to have Luffy in the car for the first session, his feedback is really valuable.”

James Courtney

“Last year at The Bend was a lot of fun, so it’ll be great to get back out there.

“The facilities are great, and provides a lot of different aspects to keep in interesting.

“It’s a low-grip surface, so our focus will be getting the car hooked up when we roll out Friday, and Jack jumps in first.”