Asian LMS confirms Australian round at The Bend

The 2018/2019 season of the Asian Le Mans Series still hasn’t seen its curtains come down as Sepang will be last location in the calendar, but the next season already has a confirmed destination, and more importantly, it’s a surprise trip to Australia.

The venue to be visited will be The Bend Motorsports Park in Australia, a new facility that has a 7.7 kilometer long circuit as its main course but offers options for different lengths depending of the need, and with the Asian LMS opting for the longest layout, this becomes the longest circuit to be part of the series, which differs a bit from usual venues in the competition, which normally have four to five kilometers.

If you wonder how long the circuit can be, here is a video from the Australian GT round in 2018, which used the full circuit:

Australia saw some ACO-ruled racing in form of the Race of a Thousand Years, an extra round of the American Le Mans Series held at the Adelaide Street Circuit on December 31^st, 2000, which was the idea that helped creating the concept of the Asia Pacific Le Mans Series, which didn’t materialize at that time.

But of the Le Mans style scene, some organizations were still trying some efforts to combine Asian and Australasian venues in a single competition, such as the defunct Asia Pacific 36 series that was created and put on hold by SRO.

The presence of drivers and teams from Australia and New Zealand in Asian competitions is really good, and with the Asian Le Mans Series operating outside of the schedules of the other competitions, this may be an opportunity to boost the grid numbers with some local talent joining, considering that the GT3s are an important part of the Australian motorsport and the LMP3s are gaining momentum there.

There’s no specific date for the event at The Bend, but the announcement will come in a few weeks when the new season will be presented.

PHOTO: Asian Le Mans Series / VIDEO: Australian GT