It's not every day you get to experience a brand new race track for the first time. Here in SA we've been blessed with the new motorsport park at The Bend which is an international class facility with four main track configurations. Over the last two years I've been lucky enough to have a run on the three main circuits in the West, International and GT layouts but until recently the East circuit hasn't been used.

The Bend was laid out such that the East and West circuits could be run independently with separate events taking place on each at the same time, the West running out of the main pit complex and the East using a second smaller pit lane and race control. The reason the East circuit has not been run much before? The race control building was only recently completed so previous running was limited to private hire but now the facility is complete and ready for the more usual track days.

While Motorsport was mostly shut down during the Covid19 restrictions The Bend was able to continue running limited track days with small fields and appropriate distancing measures and this first event at the East circuit is a track day for historic vehicles limited to just 20 cars.

The East Circuit is a 3.93km 22 corner test of your forearms and is made up using part of the back section of the full GT track joined up with a reverse direction section from the International circuit. On paper it looks tight and twisty with barely a straight section but in reality it's actually fast and flowing and in a small light car like my Elfin Clubman it's run entirely in third and forth gears with only about 10 gear changes in the whole lap.

Slowest corner is the run onto the start finish straight at just 67kmh and top speed of 160kmh approaching turn 14 although that's more a reflection of the actual top speed of the Elfin so expect the quick cars to be much faster here.

For me this day is really about shutting the demons back in the box as my last visit to The Bend with the Elfin over a year ago now resulted in a major engine failure that sparked a swap to the more common crossflow engine and a subsequent rethink of the induction and exhaust. The new engine is actually a used race motor from an internet forum of unknown condition and age with just a new head gasket and valve stem seals to hopefully keep the smoke in. A tune and dyno run at The Powerhouse confirms the engine is healthy (and strong with around 90hp) but the torque delivery is peaky and needs revs to keep it singing, not the best for my old cast iron crank and lucky dip build quality.

So not only is this the first look at a new track it's also the first run in anger for the new engine combo and part of me expects it to all end in a puddle of oil (again) so the first few laps are super cautious.

Sorry, did I mention it was raining?

New track, new engine, open top car, no windscreen, field full of priceless historic race cars and standing water. This should be fun.

And it was. Despite the on and off again rain the weather and the track did dry enough that during the day we got plenty of running and the low entry numbers allowed an "open pitlane" experience with no sessions so you could head out anytime and make the most of the dry times.

In fact I ran over 50 laps in the 5 hours allocated and gradually came to grips with the technical track layout although there are still plenty of spots where I'm sure there are better lines. Typical of The Bend the track is very technical and it's often about linking corners together to set yourself up two corners ahead rather than maximising the one in front of you, it's challenging in a great way and really rewards keeping your eyes up (I can hear Cameron Wearing shouting "look up, look up!").

There is also the odd blind corner where you have to turn in before you can see the apex (difficult to do) and passing is a real art here as the ideal racing line is constantly moving making it hard to position for a safe pass. Might not be an issue for door to door racers but for us track day warriors where any contact is strictly forbidden it’s a lot harder to just stick your nose in mid corner and push through (sorry Sean)….

Apart from a bit of oil blowing out the dipstick the little Elfin ran strong all day and the only technical problems were with the video camera (typical) which is welcome news as the first Hillclimb of the year is just two weeks away.

Verdict? Awesome little track (50% longer than Mallala with twice the corners!) that is perfect for smaller groups on track days and rewards good handling over horsepower heroes and as such is probably easier on your car than the other track layouts although it is hard on your tyres (and biceps).

Now, can I fit an extinguisher in the Golf R……

Heading East