Australian circuit eyes Nordschleife-like challenge

Measuring a little under 7.8 kilometres in length, the GT layout of the brand new facility being built in South Australia is, according to management, going to make it the second-longest permanent, FIA-grade circuit in the world – behind the famous Nordschleife in Germany.

While a 4.9-kilometre ‘international’ version of the circuit will be used more for race meetings, such as a planned Supercars round, the long layout will be used for both endurance sportscars racing, and GT drivers looking to simply come and take on the challenge of the three-minute lap in private sessions.

“I don’t think anyone who is serious about motorsport isn’t excited about it,” Paul Trengove, manager of motorsport development and operations, told Motorsport.com.

“It’s an FIA Category 2 international circuit, it’s world class in its facilities, and the GT track that we have there is the second longest track in the world for a permanent facility, the first being the Nordschleife in Germany.

“It’s a huge track. With that circuit, we’re hoping in the future we can run some great international or national endurance events.

“But then we’re also focussed on driver experiences and track experiences, so we’re expecting your GT category cars to come out and set a time.

“On the simulator it looks like the lap times will be just over three minutes, which is nuts. To nail a lap and get that right will take a lifetime.

“It’s kind of like playing golf; you can be good, but to get great at it will take a lot. We think it’s a really unique experience.”

Completion in 2017, Supercars in 2018

With half a year of construction behind the team at Tailem Bend, organisers are now looking at being finished later this year. The circuit will then open shortly after New Year, with the first race meeting set to take place in February.

“We’ve got about three months left of earthworks to do, and then the next few months after that will be preparing the base for the bitumen, constructing the barriers, and installing the kerbing,” explained Trengove.

“About August or September we’re looking at laying the bitumen, that takes about eight to 12 weeks after that to cure, so we’re hoping that if everything is on schedule we’ll have the track finished by November/December. We’re then planning to open in January 2018.

“We’ll probably do a soft opening to start with, so a lot of track days in January. In February we’re looking at hosting our first major event, whether it be a club event or national round for either cars or Superbikes.

“We’ll start soft and gradually build up and hopefully later in the year we’ll have a Supercars round.”

That first Supercars round is likely to be in the back half of the 2018 season, to distance it from the season-opening Adelaide 500.

“That’s our target – towards the other end of the year, away from Clipsal,” Trengove added.

“It’s still a work in progress, but it’s heading in the right direction. A lot of the detail is done, but the scheduling from a Supercars point of view doesn’t happen until later in the year anyway.

“So we’re not in a position to say too much, because until we know when we’re at there’s not really any point. But certainly our intention is to hold a round in 2018.”