About the track: Distance: 2.43km Direction:  Clockwise Turns: 7 Top Speed in a V8 Ute: 220 kph Circuit Description: The circuit always makes for good racing, it is a tight track with only 6 out of the 7 turns open for passing. It was resurfaced in 2004 and had a complete refurbish in 2011 including a new pit lane and tower for V8 Supercars. 1)    This is the sixth time the V8 Utes have raced at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth in their 15 year history. The first was in 2008 and this is the third year in a row since 2011.   This will be the second out of eight Rounds of the 2015 East Coast Bullbars Australian V8 Ute Racing Series, a key support category to the V8 Supercar Championship Series. 2)    The current V8 Ute Lap Record is held by two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Tony Longhurst set in a Holden VE 1:07.3147 in Race 1 in 2013. Perth was his best result in a V8 Ute, claiming fourth overall for the round missing out on podium by a mere 3 points to local Rhys McNally. Longhurst retired from racing at the Bathurst 1000 in 2013. Two-time V8 Ute Champion and West Aussie, Grant Johnson, set the first lap record at Barbagallo Raceway in Race 3, 2008 in a time of 1.07.8272 and held onto that until Race 3 2012 when it was broken by Kim “The Assassin” Jane. 3)    There are four local drivers competing at Round 2 including; Rhys McNally, Adam Marjoram, Rick Gill and two-time V8 Ute Champion Grant Johnson.  McNally stepped on podium at the event in 2013, but was unable to better that last year when he had a coming together with then debutant Andrew Nickolls in Race 1. He went to overlap the Team Kleen racer which ended both the West Aussie and debutant’s race. Johnson will make a return to the Series in the All Purpose Pest Control Wildcard formerly driven by Ryal Harris. The Ute may be driven by various drivers over the year. Western Australia has produced two-time V8 Ute Champion (2007 & 2010) Grant Johnson, 2008 Rookie of the Year Glenn McNally, and 2009 Rookie of the Year Paul Williams. 4)    Kris Walton and Ryal Harris are in equal lead of the ARMOR ALL Drivers Championship and will both carry 40kg per the Weight Ballast Rule. George Miedecke will carry 20kg as he is currently third in the Championship. 5)    Perth is one of the only rounds in V8 Ute History with a different ARMOR ALL Pole Award winner each year of competition. Five different drivers have taken out the title including: Grant Johnson, Cameron McConville, Kim Jane, David Sieders and Ryal Harris. Qualifying will run under a new format this year, a two-tier instead of three, giving all 32 drivers 12 minutes to put in a top ten result. The top ten will then battle it out in the last five minutes of the session to determine the ARMOR ALL Pole Award winner. (All times for the top ten from the first session will be dropped and replaced with the time from the second session). 6)    Ryal Harris and Grant Johnson are running a very fine course on taking out the most successful driver for the round.  Johnson has won two out of the three times he has raced there, whilst Harris is yet to win the round. They both have three race wins and an ARMOR ALL Pole Award under their belts. Harris has been on podium three out of the four times he has raced at the event (2008 3rd, 2012 2nd, 2013 2nd, 2014 2nd) and would love the elusive podium win. 7)    New Zealand V8 Ute Racing regular, Peter Ward will re-join the Series at Perth. He last drove in the Aussie Series at the Sydney 500 last year placing in the top 20. He is currently running 6th in the New Zealand Series ahead of Aussie Rookie Mason Barbera. Ward debuted in the V8 Ute Series in the 2012 Trans-Tasman Challenge held in conjunction with the Bathurst round. Ward is the second New Zealand Racer to race at Perth. Current leader Sam Barry raced in the Utes last year. 8)    More than half the field (22 in fact) have raced a V8 Ute before at Barbagallo Raceway including: Andrew Fisher, Adam Marjoram, Craig Dontas, Danny Buzadzic, David Sieders, Gerard McLeod, George Miedecke, Jeremy Gray, Kim Jane, Kris “Killa” Walton, Peter Burnitt, back-to-back V8 Ute Champion Ryal Harris, Nathan Pretty, Multispares Racing’s Ryan Hansford, Noel Edge, Rhys McNally, Rick Gill, Cam Wilson, Charlie Kovacs, Andrew Nickolls, Jordan Skinner and Grant Johnson. Drivers competing in Perth for the first time include: Richard Mork, Rookies Leigh Nicolaou, Adam Beechey, Mason Barbera, Kiwi driver Peter Ward and Warrick Spooner who will make his debut in Team Kleen Racing’s #41 Holden. 9)    Ford has won 7 and Holden 8 races at Barbagallo Raceway. Ford caught up to the Holden’s last year, when Kris Walton took out two races to win the Round. The V8 Utes will hit the track on Friday, 1st May for three sessions, which along with all races will be televised live on Fox Sports.Racing Schedule: See below full race schedule for the V8 Utes in Perth

2014 Round Winner 1) Kris “Killa” Walton                           (Ford FG) 2) Ryal “The Pest” Harris                    (Ford FG) 3) Nathan “Outlaw” Pretty                    (Holden VE)2014 Race Winners Qualifying: Ryal “The Pest” Harris - 1:07:7071 (Ford FG) Race 1: Kris “Killa” Walton                  (Ford FG) Race 2: Jesse “Hitch” Dixon               (Holden VE) Race 3: Kris “Killa” Walton                  (Ford FG)2013 Round Winners 1) David “Sideways” Sieders               (Ford FG) 2) Ryal “The Kid” Harris                        (Ford FG) 3) Rhys “Stormin” McNally                    (Holden VE)2013 Race Winners Qualifying: David Sieders - 1:07.2570 (Ford FG) Race 1: David “Sideways” Sieders      (Ford FG) Race 2: Nathan “Nitrous” Pretty            (Holden VE) Race 3: Ryal “The Kid” Harris                (Ford FG)2012 Round Winners 1) Kim “The Assassin” Jane                (Holden VE) 2) Ryal “The Kid” Harris                         (Ford FG) 3) Nathan “Nitrous” Pretty                      (Holden VE)2012 Race winners Qualifying : Kim Jane – 1:06.9075       (Holden VE Commodore) Race 1: Kim “The Assassin” Jane      (Holden VE Commodore) Race 2: Kris “Killa” Walton                    (Ford Falcon BF) Race 3: Ryal “The Kid” Harris               (Ford Falcon BF)2011 Round Winners 1) Grant “Grunta” Johnson                   (Holden VE Commodore) 2) Chris “Crispy” Pither                         (Holden VE Commodore) 3) Nathan “Nitrous” Pretty                     (Holden VE Commodore)2011 Race winners Qualifying: Cameron “Conkers” McConville – 1:06.8814     (Holden VE Commodore) Race 1: Chris “Crispy” Pither                (Holden VE Commodore) Race 2: Ryal “The Kid” Harris               (Ford Falcon BF) Race 3: Grant “Grunta” Johnson          (Holden VE Commodore)2008 Round Winners 1) Grant “Grunta” Johnson                    (Holden VE Commodore) 2) Kim “The Assassin” Jane                 (Holden VE Commodore) 3) Ryal “The Kid” Harris                         (Holden VE Commodore)2008 Race winners Qualifying: Grant “Grunta” Johnson – 1:13.7195    (Holden VE Commodore) Race 1: Grant “Grunta” Johnson         (Holden VE Commodore) Race 2: Kim “The Assassin” Jane     (Holden VE Commodore) Race 3: Grant “Grunta” Johnson         (Holden VE Commodore)