Kody Garland returns to the S5000 this weekend for just his second round in the category but is buoyed by the equal footing on offer at The Bend Motorsport Park.
The South Australian circuit has hosted S5000 just once before, in 2019, but none of the drivers on the current grid were a part of the field for that visit. Garland will be able to draw upon a strong on track history.
In 2022 Garland won the Aussie Racing Cars round at The Bend Motorsport Park, a category in which the Motor Traders’ Association of New South Wales backed driver was the leading points scorer in 2021.
Garland’s debut in S5000 came at Sydney Motorsport Park, where he was quickly up to pace in Friday practice. An off in qualifying put Garland back in the pack, from where the intricacies of open wheel racing and the push-to-pass system were a steep learning curve.
Now armed with more knowledge and a round of experience under his belt, Garland is optimistic that he can continue to move forward while continuing to learn more about the unique category.
“I am looking forward to applying what we learnt in Sydney,” said Garland.
“The Bend is a great track, I enjoy racing there and it was a great round for me last year in the Aussie Racing Cars. It’s all about flowing the car through the corners and keeping that mid-corner speed up through the fast sections. The S5000’s are going to be extremely fast, and the new softer compound should be a lot quicker than the times they did in 2019.
“It’s nice to have some sort of equal footing again. Last round we were all learning the new compound for the first time, and this round it will be everyone’s first S5000 round at the track. So it should be a relatively fresh start for everyone.
“We’re all going to be learning, and it’s going to be high speed stuff, I’m ready for an exciting weekend,” said Garland.
The penultimate round of the Australian Drivers’ Championship takes place from August 18-20 at The Bend Motorsport Park for the OTR SuperSprint.