The Bend Stadium Sprint - Something New!

There is nothing like a new type of Motorsport event to get your blood pumping for racing again!

The first weekend in July saw the inaugural running of The Bend Stadium Sprint, held at The Bend's stadium circuit; which is separate from the main race track and also used for Go-kart & drift events. The stadium circuit includes three rally cross style dirt sections, but for this event the layout was changed at the last minute to exclude the water splash section. This was because, after all the recent rain it actually had too much water in it. Given the damage that a water splash can do to a car I was quite glad of this change!

There are a lot of potential course layouts available on the Stadium Circuit

FORMAT

The event kicked off on Saturday evening, with an initial un-timed practice session, and two competitive timed sessions; continuing Sunday morning with 5 more timed sessions followed by the Final Shootout to decide the Class & Outright winners. Entry into the final was determined by your fastest single lap time over the weekend; with the 3 fastest cars in each of the four classes shooting it out. Each of the weekends regular timed sessions was 10 minutes long, with up to 6 cars on the track. Given that a single fast lap was the ultimate goal, it was critically important to make sure you had space to perform a clean hot-lap without running into traffic. This is similar format to most regular Time Attack style track days, so I was quite comfortable with this and had no issue hanging back to make sure I was not held up by anyone in front of me; whilst also keeping an eye on my mirrors so I don't accidentally hold anyone else up (remember good track day etiquette).

Just like the main circuit, The Bend Stadium Circuit has excellent facilities and viewing spots; the two most popular spots were the first floor viewing balcony of the pit building, and along the pit wall adjacent to the main straight. Considering the wet weather that was forecast over the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people that come to spectate; luckily for all of us the only rain fell in the early hours of Sunday morning, so it was actually very comfortable. I think the new event format (for here at least) had a lot of people interested, which made the drive out to Tailem Bend worthwhile. I also had the pleasure of racing in front of my lovely wife Lona, my kids, and my dad; who all made a weekend of it, spending the nigh at a nearby cabin, right on the Murray River and only 5 minutes from the track. It is a real motivation having them there to cheer me on!

Saturday night was a blast, this was the first time I have driven my STI on dirt in anger, and as advertised, the condition of the dirt sections was as good a surface as any well kept council road. Once I had done the first couple of sessions and had gotten a feel for how the car handled on the dirt, I then felt confident to push harder and get the car a bit more sideways!

THE COURSE

The course started with a transition from the sealed main straight, quickly turning into a sharp right hander that is a real test of the cars handling and drivers commitment. Because it is at the end of the straight you will be hitting the dirt at a fair clip; I was braking (while still on the asphalt) at a about 140km/h. I found I did best when I got the majority of hard braking done before getting to the dirt, and then accelerating through the corner. As it sweeps around Turn 2 I had to feather the throttle to find the balance of the car, keeping the speed up and also preventing too much rotation; before hitting the brakes and turning in at Turn 3 as it tightens and transitions back onto the asphalt. This late braking while the car is already on the edge and slightly sideways would tip the front end in and rotate the car, eliminating under-steer. When done just right the car would be pointing straight through the corner so I could get the power on quickly and get a good run into the sweeping asphalt left hander.

Here my car always had a tendency to under-steer through the corner as there was always a lot of loose dirt carried trough from the previous section. Letting the car push out towards the end of the corner and then hitting the brakes hard again would help the car rotate further to the left and onto the second dirt section. Coming into this section it was easy to get carried away and be too heavy with the right foot, swinging left onto the dirt and then hard right the car loved to slide; but getting through quickly came from just getting enough momentum to swing the car from left to right and end up with a straight shot back onto the asphalt. This easy right allows for full throttle but quickly turns into a deceptively tight right turn. With the amount of dirt and dust on the course; I was caught out once or twice coming into the right hander a bit too hot and almost ending up off the track thanks to under-steer.

Next was a quick right, no lifting; then a tight left and tight right back onto the straight and start / finish line. In this last little section, keeping the car smooth and balanced was key as there was not a lot of grip and it was easy to push a bit too hard and scrub off too much speed. All in all it was a fun challenging course and was exactly the experience I was looking for.

Photo by Twincam Media - Best Photo of the event in my humble opinion!

RESULTS

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from this event, I knew there were some experienced rally drivers competing in both AWD and 2WD vehicles, so I went in just hoping to get a respectable class result. After the two Saturday night sessions I was an absolute high though! I had managed to get my lap time below 50 seconds; leading my class, and not too far off the big boys in their AWD Rally cars. Not to mention I was having a ball! Getting the car sideways and drifting around the first dirt section was an amazing experience that I couldn't get enough of!

As everyone wound down for the night I headed back to the cabin that my family and I had rented, and tried to get some sleep. This a bit tricky for two reasons, the excitement for the next day; and also the thunder and torrential rain that pounded through the night. By morning the rain had stopped, but the track was a different beast from the night before. I figured that until it dried out there was no way I was going to match my times from Saturday night so I resolved to just have some fun for the first two sessions.

My lap times reflected this as I was a second or two slower than the other guys in my class; but I was having a ball sliding the the car and getting a bit too excited in the corners. On reflection I think this was actually a good way for me to find the limit of the car and its grip; and also an opportunity to try different ways to get out of less than ideal situations. After the second Sunday session the track was drying out and the EVO IX of Sam Sharman (also in my Clubman AWD class) was dipping below the 50 second mark; time to get a bit more serious again!

In the third Sunday session we were back to a dry track and I managed a PB lap time of 49.65; I was pretty happy with that, but when I saw that Sam had got his time down to 48.89 I knew there was still work to do.

“Evo vs. STI the challenge was on!”

The next session I pushed again, and managed the quickest class time with a 48.78 seconds which was also only 0.1 seconds off the quickest outright time set by Steve Glenney in his Evo 8MR Rally car. For the final session I was not able to match my PB but my time was enough to hold pole position going into the Clubman AWD Class Final Shootout; and also still the 2nd fastest time outright!

As mentioned earlier the Final Shootouts were different from the other sessions, each shootout was only 5 minutes long (just long enough to cut about 5-6 laps), and the shootout lap times alone would decide the final placings. The top 3 Clubman 2WD cars were up first with Tony Wallis the clear favorite, he was consistently 2-3 seconds faster than the rest of his class, and was the only 2WD driver to register a time below 50 seconds (including the 2WD rally cars!). He can really steer that Toyota Starlet and just by watching him I picked up a few tips on how to keep a smooth line out of the last corner and carry that extra corner speed down the main straight. His speed remained consistent through the shootout and he came away with the class win and 7th outright.

Next up was my Clubman AWD class. With limited time available the pressure was on, so on my first hot lap I attacked the first corner hard, coming in a tad too fast and spinning the car on the dirt (the first time I had done that all weekend!). After waiting to let the WRX of Andrew Laird past, I re-entered the course, now with even less time to set a quick lap! After a few deep breaths I had calmed down; I could visualise what I needed to do, so my next lap was back on pace with 49.89 seconds; improving to a 48.88 next lap, and that was enough to take the class win. My shootout time was pretty close to my PB for the weekend, but I would have to wait and see how it would stack up against the AWD Rally Cars, and find out if I could claim an outright podium place as well!

But first it was the 2WD Rally cars, again there was a clear favorite; Mark Povey from SA Motorspot Tyres in his Datsun Stanza taking the class win with a shootout time of 50.11 seconds.

Then it was time for the AWD Rally Car Shootout, Steve Glenney dominated with a lap time of 47.39 seconds; the only person all weekend to get below 48 seconds and taking a well deserved outright win. However, what I was paying closer attention to though were the Subaru STI's of Zayne Admiraal and Ben Calder. I had been quicker than them both earlier but when the shootout was on they really closed the gap. Zane got his best time for the weekend with 48.64 seconds (beating me by 0.2 seconds); and Ben very nearly caught me with a time of 48.98 (only 0.1 seconds slower than me). With only 0.3 seconds separating 2nd, 3rd & 4th; this kind of close competition is what makes racing so exciting.

So there it was, I had taken 1st in my class and while Zane Admiraal had managed to pip me in the shootout, I also picked up 3rd outright; far exceeding my expectations for the weekend!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Guy Tyler (Motorsport Administrator at The Bend) for putting on this new event; it was an absolute blast and I can't wait to get back on the Stadium Circuit again. The feedback from competitors and spectators was overwhelmingly positive so I hope that this Rally Cross Sprint style event has a strong future ahead of it. Thank you Guy and all your team for this amazing opportunity; see you again soon.

This video is for anyone that can’t get enough of the Stadium Sprint. Over an hour of footage; both in car and from the side lines. Highlights:

0:50 Family Cheer Squad!
54:28 Finals Time! (including my spin)
61:45 Zayne Admiraal obviously pushing hard out of the last corner and finding a little extra dirt! (and also grabbing 2nd outright)
64:45 Steve Glenney getting fastest lap of the event!