Australian superbike contestants encountered a new challenge this morning, they began to try to understand The Bend Motorsports Park's complex "international circuit" layout. This brand new facility is located outside Tailem Bend, more than an hour’s drive east of Adelaide, near the intersection of the Dukes and Mallee highways.

The riders were blessed by the God of Weather today. The sky was blue and the wind was small. All the sand around the track was blown up due to the ongoing construction work.

The complex is still in progress, with workers and machines everywhere. Even if we come back here in a few weeks, for the third round of the 2018 ASBK Championship, it will only show the initially almost blank canvas around the tarmac, which will eventually house a hotel complex and a certain level of infrastructure. When finished, other racing facilities in the country will be ashamed...

Even in almost perfect conditions, the track is still full of dust, and this morning, when these two wheeled gladiators really started to take it seriously, the cleaner line was not the one that ultimately became the ideal track.

Tire wear will obviously be a big problem. It is still too early, but even if the driver is now running at a moderate speed, the tires are significantly degraded compared to the real race speed. The sand on the track surface will be part of the problem, and the new surface will also play a role, but early signs are that the track will torture the tires.

Of course, most teams have not even touched the record player or replaced the springs today. This may come later this afternoon. This morning is just to let the drivers understand the direction of the track and start to quickly solve the problem with the very test 18 lap layout.

Penrite Honda amicably operated a car camera for us at the opening ceremony this morning. The camera is not completely parallel to the horizon, but it is enough to give you an idea.

Then I sat down with Penrite Honda team manager Shaun Clarke to check the data trajectory and developed a very rough initial guide to understand the speed of the corners around The Bend.

Glenn Allerton obviously loves this place! The NextGen BMW men concealed all the participants clearly and easily in the opening practice session. However, in the second quarter, his young teammate Ted Collins (Ted Collins) won the honor of two minutes in the first lap around The Bend Motorsport Park!

Obviously, the NextGen team has solved some problems here in the early days of this work.

After the opening two quarters, although the schedule is Ecstar Suzuki's Josh Waters. The complete results are further listed below.

The first person to bite the dirt on the new South Australian circuit this morning was Troy Bayliss! The three-time world superbike champion quickly withdrew from the race, but after the first round of the test, the wear did not deteriorate.

After the opening ceremony this morning, we immediately had a quick conversation with Troy Herfoss to get his initial feedback on The Bend.

Trevor Hedge: We came here with Troy Herfoss who just finished the first lap at The Bend Motorsport Park. What is your first thought on the track?

Troy Herfoss: There are a lot of ideas, we will be playing here in a few weeks, but for what you want to know, I haven't played in such a place anywhere in the world. The first section of the second and third turns reminds me of the slower Silverstone circuit, entering the first hairpin turn at the sixth turn, a bit like Valencia, when you bypass the fast left-hander and be there When you slam the brakes. It's like a reverse Sachsenring down there too. This part of Turns 14 and 15 is like the Red Bull Ring. You step on the accelerator and come down from the mountain, on the edge of the tire, very fast. This is really incredible, too much to accept in 25 minutes. But other than that, the outside is dusty, so the track is very green, so there is no grip at all. The first meeting was very interesting. I wanted to do something for Clarke, but I was too busy sliding around there and enjoying the new track.

Treff: Speaking of coasting, everyone is baking tires here this morning, so we may see half of the season's tire budget in a few days...

Herfoss: I just joked with those people and I am very happy that Deon (Deon Coote, Penrite Honda team owner) flew a bit late today because there are a few tires on the bike... we really have no choice. In the past, we have seen tracks that do damage tires. I don't think this is the case here, I think it is the amount of sand on the track, such as sandpaper. Therefore, once it is cleared, the condition on the tires should be much better.

Treff: Of course, to clarify things for those insiders who have read this article, you are not changing new tires, you are running rubber for a few laps. Because you can't throw money away just to learn a new track.

Herfoss: Yes, we have learned over the years that the new venue is very different. So we are just putting on our existing old tires. At this moment we will rest for 10 seconds, so there is no reason to waste new tires. "

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