Superbike coup: The Bend snares a world championship motorcycle race

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The world’s highest level of production motorcycle racing is coming to the Bend Motorsport Park.

A round of the Superbike World Championship will be staged at Tailem Bend for at least four years, starting in 2028, Premier Peter Malinauskas announced on Friday morning.

The event is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the Murraylands, including tens of thousands of international visitors each year.

“This is a world-class facility … and the opportunity to be able to showcase that on a top-flight, international level with Superbikes is a good thing for South Australia,” the premier said.

Until now, the championship’s Australian round – the only one staged outside Europe – has been at Phillip Island, Victoria.

Championship sporting director Gregorio Lavilla said he was excited about the move.

“Australia has always held a special place within World SBK, and it remains an important market for our championship, manufacturers, teams and fans,” he said.

“The Bend is an impressive venue with exceptional facilities and a strong commitment to motorsport.

“We believe it provides an outstanding platform for World SBK and we are excited to begin this journey together.”

Securing the World SBK race will further boost attendance numbers at the motor sport park, South Australia’s third-most visited attraction after Adelaide Oval and Adelaide Zoo, with 400,000 people passing through its gates each year.

This year’s race attracted more than 47,000 spectators to Phillip Island in February, a similar number to what the annual Supercars race brings to the Bend.

Unlike Moto GP, which uses custom-designed racing bikes, World SBK uses modified versions of the Yamaha, Ducati, Honda, BMW and Kawasaki bikes available for sale to the public.

Competitors are expected to reach speeds in excess of 340 kilometres per hour as they race along the Bend’s main straight – faster than any other track in the world.

Venue managing director Sam Shahin said securing an international motorcycle race had been his dream since he and his family built the Bend at a cost of $150 million a decade ago.

“The Bend was always an ambitious and proud project from the outset: a venue capable of hosting top-tier, world-class events,” he said.

“Well, the dream is here, the dream is a reality.

“As a Palestinian migrant who landed in this wonderful country over 42 years ago, I could not be prouder.”

Motorcycling Australia CEO Peter Doyle described the Bend as the best motorcycle race track in the nation.

Two officials from the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the peak body for world motorcycle racing, were also present at Friday’s announcement, and to advise on some of the technological and safety upgrades the circuit will need before 2028.

The agreement comes hot on the heels of Mr Shahin’s bid to bring a round of Moto GP, the top level of international motorbike racing, to South Australia.

That pitch ended with the announcement earlier this year that a Moto GP race would be staged in Adelaide.

Mr Malinauskas said Friday’s World SBK announcement had been a condition of the same deal.

However, he suggested Moto GP would never come to the Bend, even if the Adelaide race fell over.

That was only because series owners Liberty Media – who also own Formula One – were intent on staging races in the heart of major cities.

The Bend already hosts two rounds of the Australian Superbike Championship, the domestic competition, each year.