The newest circuit on the Supercars calendar will play host to three races across two days in the South Australian countryside.
The action kicks off with a pair of half-hour practice sessions on Saturday morning, followed by the return of three-part qualifying system to determine the grid for the opening 120-kilometre race.
Two back-to-back, all-in qualifying sessions will determine the grids for the remaining two 120-kilometre heats on the Sunday.
Drivers will have access to five new sets of the soft compound Dunlop control tires from the beginning of Saturday qualifying onwards, with each race featuring a mandatory stop for at least two tires.
As for the pre-event form, the leading Ford teams arrive at Tailem Bend as the favorites based on recent history.
Since the Mustang debuted in 2019 it’s been 10 wins from 11 races for the Blue Oval, including last year when then Grove Racing driver Andre Heimgartner took his first Supercars race win.
The Mustang form could open the door for the likes of Dick Johnson Racing pair Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison to close the gap to runaway series leader Shane van Gisbergen, a two-time winner last time out in Townsville.
Tickford’s Cam Waters is also likely to be in the game, while Grove Racing spearhead David Reynolds could look to build on the team’s The Bend form last year and snag a first win since leaving Erebus.
While the circuit hasn’t been the happiest hunting ground for the Holden teams in recent seasons, van Gisbergen and his Triple Eight team may be be buoyed by a recent rookie test at the circuit for Broc Feeney.
T8 did the same before the Winton round which led to van Gisbergen taking a rare race win at the home test track for the Melbourne teams.
Heimgartner, now driving for Brad Jones Racing, could look to add to his wins tally too, particularly given the purple patch in the form of BJR is currently experiencing.
There are two wildcards in the field this weekend, Tickford’s Zak Best and Image Racing’s Jordan Boys joining the 25 regulars.
The focus won’t just be on the current hardware this weekend, with significant running for the Gen3 prototypes as Supercars looks to sign off on the control oil system.
The Camaro and Mustang will have an hour of dedicated running on Friday before continuing with a full test day on Monday.
2022 Supercars The Bend SuperSprint session times
All times local (GMT+9:30)
FridayJuly 29th
8:40-9:00 Historic Touring Cars – Practice 1
9:10-9:30 Sports Sedans – Practice 1
9:40-10:00 V8 SuperUtes – Practice
10:10-10:30 Aussie Racing Cars – Practice
10:50-11:15 Carrera Cup – Practice 1
11:25-11:45 Historic Touring Cars – Practice 2
11:55-12:15 Sports Sedans – Practice 2
12:25-12:40 V8 SuperUtes – Qualifying
13:25-13:50 Carrera Cup – Practice 2
14:00-14:20 Historic Touring Cars – Qualifying
14:30-14:50 Sports Sedans – Qualifying
15:00-16:00 Supercars – Gen3 track time
SaturdayJuly 30th
7:35-7:55 Historic Touring Cars – Race 1
8:05-8:25 Sports Sedans – Race 1
8:35-8:55 Aussie Racing Cars – Race 1
9:10-9:30 V8 SuperUtes – Race 1
9:45-10:15 Supercars – Practice 1
10:30-10:50 Carrera Cup – Qualifying
11:00-11:20 Historic Touring Cars – Race 2
11:35-12:05 Supercars – Practice 2
12:25-12:45 Sports Sedans – Race 2
12:55-13:15 Aussie Racing Cars – Race 2
13:30-13:40 Supercars – Qualifying Part 1
13:45-13:55 Supercars – Qualifying Part 2
14:00-14:10 Supercars – Qualifying Part 3
14:30-14:55 V8 SuperUtes – Race 2
15:05-15:30 Carrera Cup – Race 1
16:15-17:18 Supercars – Race 1
sundayjuly 31
8:00-8:20 Aussie Racing Cars – Race 3
8:30-8:50 V8 SuperUtes – Race 3
9:00-9:20 Historic Touring Cars – Race 3
9:35-9:45 Supercars – Qualifying (Race 2)
9:55-10:05 Supercars – Qualifying (Race 3)
10:20-11:00 Carrera Cup – Race 2
11:10-11:30 Sports Sedan – Race 3
11:40-12:00 Aussie Racing Cars – Race 4
12:30-13:33 Supercars – Race 2
13:55-14:15 V8 SuperUtes – Race 4
14:25-14:50 Carrera Cup – Race 3
15:40-16:43 Supercars – Race 3