The Bend Motorsport Park Driving Experiences

The Bend runs its own drive and hot lap menu out of the Welcome Centre at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend, South Australia. The headline is a drive session at the wheel of a manual V8 Mustang or V8 Holden racecar on the 3.41 km West Circuit with a professional racing driver coaching from the passenger seat. Passenger hot laps run in the same two V8s plus a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car and a Radical SR3, with a pro driving.

The rest of the menu is a timed cone course in a Westfield Clubman on the skid pan, a rally car ride on the off road track, and own car track time that starts at a pace car cruise with lunch and goes up to full Open Track Days on the 4.95 km International Circuit. The circuit hosts Supercars, Australian Superbikes and WorldSBK rounds, and its 7.77 km GT layout is the second longest permanent circuit in the world after the Nordschleife.

Tailem Bend is south east of Adelaide on the Dukes Highway. The drive seats suit anyone comfortable in a manual who wants real circuit time with a coach, the hot laps suit teenagers and anyone not keen to drive, and corporate groups book the lot as a day.

• The drive cars are a V8 Mustang (480 hp, manual) and a V8 Holden racecar (460 hp). Hot lap cars add a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (450 hp, 1,200 kg) and a Radical SR3 (232 hp, 620 kg), plus a rally prepared Subaru (182 hp) on the dirt. The shop rates the Radical about 2 seconds a lap quicker than the Porsche, and a GT3 Cup car stands in when the Radical is unavailable.
• Drive Experience: you drive, a professional racing driver instructs one on one from the passenger seat, and the laps run the full West Circuit including the main pit straight. Hot laps: a pro drives and you ride shotgun for about 5 minutes in the Porsche and Radical and about 7 minutes in the V8s and the rally car.
• Helmet and hairnet are supplied for every car, a HANS neck restraint goes on in the Porsche and Radical, and the Clubman motorkhana adds a race suit.
• On the day: sign on at Motorsport Reception in the Welcome Centre, waiver and wristband, then a safety briefing. Sessions run hourly and the aim is to have you in the car and done within the hour. Lockers take bags and purses, and secure pocket items can stay with you.
• Clubmans Motorkhana: a Westfield Clubman (150 hp, 500 kg) through a cone course on the skid pan, one car out at a time, one practice run then three timed runs and a top three shootout. Clipped cone or missed obstacle adds 5 seconds, missing the stop box adds 10, wrong direction deletes the run. The fastest time each month wins a Radical hot lap.
• Watching: level 1 at APEX Bar x Dining and the level 4 Skydeck look over the main straight, and rally laps are watched from the Rally Building viewing platform. The Bend Car Museum in the Welcome Centre is open to the public and has its own AE listing.
• Own car: Lunch and Laps is a pace car cruise at road speed then a set lunch at APEX, about 2 hours. Speed Off The Street is a 3 hour session on the West Circuit for street registered cars with no speed limit and about 20 cars on track at once. Open Track Days are five 20 minute sessions on the 4.95 km International Circuit in four groups (road registered, track cars, race cars, open wheel) with a garage included. Performance Test Days are open pit lane, 9am to 4pm. Pit Lane Getaway is a cruise session in your own car, dinner, a night at Rydges Pit Lane Hotel and breakfast.

• Prices and laps: Drive Experience in the V8 Mustang or V8 Holden is five laps of the 3.41 km West Circuit (about 15 km, four runs down the main straight, about 5 minutes on track), AU$349, one driver per booking. Hot laps are three laps with two runs down the main straight, AU$199 in the V8 Mustang, V8 Holden or rally car, AU$349 in the Radical, AU$399 in the Porsche, up to 5 people on one booking. Clubmans Motorkhana is AU$129 for four runs. Own car: Lunch and Laps AU$59 adults and AU$29 for children under 12 years of age, Speed Off The Street AU$175 (capped at 60 cars), Open Track Days from AU$349, Performance Test Days from AU$1,750 (30 entrants), Pit Lane Getaway AU$299 for two.
• Booking is online through the availability checker on shop.thebend.com.au. Sessions run hourly on the dates shown. The motorkhana needs 5 bookings per session and the operator confirms about a week out. Lunch and Laps bookings close 48 hours before the day, and every driver and passenger pre books and completes the emailed waiver.
• The booking terms ask for arrival at the Welcome Centre 30 minutes before the scheduled time. Motorsport reception is open 8:30am to 4:30pm. Licences are inspected at sign on.
• Drive experiences and the motorkhana: 21 years of age and over, a valid Australian driver's licence or equivalent, and proficient in a manual. Hot laps: 14 years of age and over. Height and weight limits: 185 cm and 100 kg in the V8 Holden and the Radical, 188 cm and 110 kg in the Porsche. Anyone the operator reasonably suspects is under the influence of alcohol or drugs is refused without refund.
• Clothing: wrist to ankle, with fully enclosed flat soled shoes and no platforms. The supplied race gear is worn as directed.
• Vehicle damage liability sits at AU$50,000 per participant unless a damage waiver is bought: AU$25 caps it at AU$20,000, AU$99 at AU$10,000, AU$199 at AU$5,000, AU$299 at AU$1,000. The waiver is not insurance, is not refunded if nothing is damaged, and is not available to anyone under 21 years of age or under 30 years of age holding a motor racing competition licence. Damage to the facilities is uncapped, and damage from negligence or ignoring instructions is charged to the card on file.
• Add ons sold on top: the damage waiver tiers above, and on Open Track Days helmet hire AU$55, fire extinguisher hire AU$25 and a one day Motorsport Australia licence AU$37.50 pre booked with entry. No photo or video products are sold with the drives or hot laps.
• Cancelling, groups of 4 or fewer: more than 14 days out you can substitute a participant, reschedule once or take a credit note; 14 days or less, no refund or credit, and a reschedule is at the operator's discretion. Groups of 5 or more: more than 60 days out, credit note, one reschedule or refund less 10 percent; 30 to 60 days, credit or one reschedule; 14 to 30 days, one reschedule only; 14 days or less forfeited. The operator can cancel for weather, vehicle or staff availability or a motorsport booking, with a full refund; if a rescheduled date does not suit, a substitute or credit note is requested within 14 days.
• Gift vouchers come two ways: a 1 year voucher at the experience price, or a 3 year voucher at double the price (AU$698 for a drive experience, AU$398 for a AU$199 hot lap). Neither is redeemable for cash.
• Open Track Days: a Motorsport Australia Speed licence at minimum (AASA not accepted), with a come and try day licence usable once per calendar year by drivers over 16 years of age. Cars must be roadworthy, meet Motorsport Australia Schedules A and B and carry a fire extinguisher; helmets to AS1698 or ECE22.03. No passengers; spectators and pit crew are welcome. A minimum of 10 entrants or the date moves. Cancellation needs 5 business days notice for a transfer or a 6 month voucher; inside that the fee is forfeited.
• Spectators: under 18 years of age with a non participating parent or guardian, no animals except guide dogs, designated areas only.
• Groups of 10 or more book through the corporate enquiry form, with karting, hot laps, track sessions and catering packaged together. The Kartdrome (1.1 km, kart hire 10am to 5pm daily) has its own AE listing.
• Getting there: 543 Dukes Highway, Tailem Bend, south east of Adelaide. Free on site parking; own car days park on the main race paddock beside the Welcome Centre. Apex Lounge pours coffee 7am to 3pm daily, APEX Bar x Dining serves breakfast and lunch Wednesday to Sunday, and Rydges Pit Lane Hotel and BIG4 The Bend Holiday Park are on site.

• Last verified: 18 October 2026
• Official link: https://www.thebend.com.au/experiences