Australian V8 Ute Racing today released an expanded calendar and TV package for next year, with all series rounds returning to support the V8 Supercar Championship.
The 8 round series point-score will kick off with the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, and finish with the V8 Supercar finale at Phillip Island in December. The series rounds will include Eastern Creek, Darwin, Symmons Plains Tasmania and Queensland Raceway.
The V8 Ute's will also be part of V8 Supercar Australia's expanded TV package next year with new host broadcaster the SEVEN Network. Plans are underway to include a number of live V8 Ute races within the V8 Supercar telecast, and stand alone post produced programmes to be replayed in a late afternoon weekend timeslot. All production will be under the control of V8 Supercars Executive Producer Murray Lomax.
"We are absolutely thrilled with the final package and are working with V8 Supercars Australia on extending this to a multi year arrangement," explained V8 Ute's category manager Craig Denyer.
"The potential for live coverage of some of the V8 Ute races takes the category to a whole new level, and the weekend timeslot for the delayed races will lead to a significant increase in audience share, which is a fantastic result for all partners.
"We have spent the past 2 years cleaning up the driving standards and eligibility issues to the point where the series is now seen as a true feeder category for V8 Supercars, particularly when you consider the number of drivers now moving through the Utes into the Fujitsu V8 series. This is a fitting reward for all the effort our Board and shareholders have put in over the past two seasons."
Warren Luff, Dean Canto, Chris Pither, Grant Denyer and Gary MacDonald all graduated through the Ute ranks, while Marcus Zukanovic, Jack Elsegood and ! Damien White will add more talent to the Supercar stable next year.
The V8 Utes are planning non championship appearances at the Australian Grand Prix in March and the Bathurst International Motor Festival over Easter.
The series features Ford and Holden production based V8 Utes, with limited modifications. A return of the successful Trans Tasman challenge between Australian and New Zealand drivers is also part of the plans for 07.
