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The2020 4 Hours of The Bend was anendurancesportscar racing event held on January 12, 2020, atThe Bend Motorsport Park inTailem Bend,Australia. It served as the second round of the2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series season.[1]
The race was announced in 16 February 2019,[2] and included into theAsian Le Mans Series season calendar by replacing the4 Hours of Fuji five days later.[3] The competing classes wereLMP2,LMP3 andGT, with both LMP2 and GT split to include the AM class.
The race was the first major international motor race held on The Bend's 35 turn, 7.770 km (4.828 mi) long GT Circuit, officially the second longest permanent motor racing circuit in the world behind only the 20.832 km (12.944 mi)Nürburgring Nordschleife. The race was attended by the President of theAutomobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO),Pierre Fillon.[4][5]
| Date | Time (local:ACDT) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, 10 January | 16:10 | Free Practice 1 |
| Saturday, 11 January | 9:30 | Free Practice 2 |
| 13:30 | Qualifying | |
| Sunday, 12 January | 13:00 | Race |
| Source:[6] | ||
| Free Practice 1 | Class | No. | Entrant | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMP2 | 1 |  Eurasia Motorsport | 2:36.496 | |
| LMP2 Am | 59 |  RLR MSport | 2:46.312 | |
| LMP3 | 12 |  ACE1 Villorba Corse | 2:52.431 | |
| GT | 88 |  Team JLOC | 2:59.913 | |
| GT Am | — | |||
| Free Practice 2 | Class | No. | Entrant | Time |
| LMP2 | 26 |  G-Drive Racing withAlgarve | 2:35.418 | |
| LMP2 Am | 59 | RLR MSport | 2:43.416 | |
| LMP3 | 12 | ACE1 Villorba Corse | 2:50.933 | |
| GT | 88 | Team JLOC | 2:58.787 | |
| GT Am | 16 |  Astro Veloce Motorsport | 3:04.525 | |
| Source:[7][8] | ||||
British driverBen Barnicoat took pole position for the 4 Hours of The Bend with a time of 2:35.698 driving aDallara P217 LMP2 forThunderhead Carlin Racing. It was the first time that the Dallara P217 had scored a pole position in any LMP2 competition. Young Scottish driverColin Noble took pole in LMP3 with a time of 2:50.802 in hisNorma M30 forNielsen Racing's first ever LMP3 pole, while ItalianDavide Rigon scored the GT pole in the HubAuto Corsa'sFerrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 with a 2:56.109 lap.[9][10]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold.
The minimum number of laps for classification (70% of overall winning car's distance) was 54 laps. Class winners are marked inbold.
