Round 2 of the Australian Stock Car Championship (also known simply as Stock Cars Australia) is going to be at The Bend this weekend (May 3-4, 2025).

It is a groundbreaking weekend for VMRC and for Stock Cars Australia, both have never been to South Australia, so it is a whole new chapter to the story.

Both the Bob Jane era and the V8 Stock Cars era went to South Australia in the past; the former raced at the Adelaide International Raceway and the latter raced at Mallala.

Also in action on the weekend are Victorian Super TT, the Australian Drivers Championship, Vic V8 and Sports Compact.

This is The Bend from the view of Google Earth, this round will be using the West Circuit, the circuit is 3.410 km in length with twelve turns.

Shane Van Gisbergen set a Supercars record of 1:16.2224 around the track in 2020, the best Trans-Am time is 1:20.6785 and that was set by Jordan Boys in June 2024.

Practice is on Friday with Qualifying, Race 1 and Race 2 on Saturday with Race 3 and Race 4 on Sunday.

Weather

At this stage Saturday is expected to be Partly Cloudy with a maximum temperature of 24 degrees and Sunday will be Partly Cloudy and a maximum of 26 degrees.

Admission

Admission for The Bend is free for everybody, usually it is $20 for one day and $30 for the weekend at VMRC events etc but this weekend everybody gets to experience the action for free.

Competitors

We have ten entries for you this round, it is a smaller field than usual but prior commitments, mechanical issues and the expense of interstate travel can eat into the field.

For the first time, Scott Nind’s team will have two cars on the track instead of one racing and the other being the spare, Scott will be driving the #34 Ford Mustang.

For the #16 Mustang, Scott has gone for a driver with a lot of racing experience and that driver is nine-time Super2 winner Jack Perkins.

Jack has the new name ‘Shane Van Perkinsbergen’ courtesy of Ryan Walkinshaw, Jack should do just fine in the Mustang and there’s no doubt that Scott will make sure that Jack has the steering wheel on correctly to avoid any Scott Pye like mishaps.

Jeff Stubbs has a Top 3 car in the TA2 Challenger, the Dodge can run fairly close lap times to the Mustangs, but it will come down to who has the greater consistency over the entirety of the race as the gap changes in surges.

Richard White is back after missing Winton due to being at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, the #8 Monte Carlo is back in top shape after a loose steering wheel put Supercars driver Scott Pye into the wall at Adelaide and knocked in the left front corner of the car with emergency repairs enabling the car to complete the full weekend there.

When asked about his expectations for the round, Richard says ‘Looking for a good clean weekend of racing with no DNF’s. Being first time at the Bend learning the track will take a few sessions.‘

Daniel Stubbs will be in the thick of the action in the #19 Monte Carlo, there is little doubt that this car will have plenty of company with the #7 OzTruck and the #8 Monte Carlo close competitors.

Danny Burgess, the defending series champion is making his first appearance for 2025

When asked about his expectations for the round, Danny said ‘Being a fast, open style of track, I think it’ll suit the big HP cars better than the trucks, but we will be there or there abouts‘

Mick Heppleston had to sit out of Winton as his gearbox was getting work done on it, the gearbox is all sorted and Mick is back and is ready to be in the thick of the action.

2024 Muscle Division champion Michael Rice will be at The Bend in the #108 VT Commodore, expect to see this car hanging around the #71 of Jamey Hollier as they had a great weekend in the season opener at Winton and the #22 of Lukas Gates who is joining the field for the first time this year.

Flying the Ford flag in SCA AUSCAR is Jamey Hollier, the multi-time Sportsman winner and car builder is as above expected to run with the #108 of Michael Rice and the #22 of Lukas Gates.

The #22 Holden Commodore of Lukas Gates is back in action after a late engine issue ruled it out of running in the season opener at Winton, the #22 may be looking a little different this year as the front will feed the engine some more air.

Barring any late entries, this is the field that we will be seeing at The Bend.

That concludes this preview for the round, as always ASCN will report on qualifying and the four races as the unfold all weekend long followed by a recap of all the action.