All 32 V8 Utes competing in the 2011 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series - protected by Armor All will be running a new ECU unit from the second Round of the Series at Barbagallo Raceway, Perth 29 April - 1 May.
The Unit will be provided by MoTeC and design of the units has been in motion for the past nine months.
There will be a slight difference between the Units for the Ford and Holden's, MoTeC product Manager, Ross Buckingham explains.
"The control unit is identical; the only difference is in the wiring and configuration file to the engine."
He believes it will be a great benefit for the V8 Ute Category.
"It will enable the scrutineers to keep a closer eye on the drivers. It will also make cars easier to drive in regards to throttle response. They will have data logging capabilities so the engineers can analyse a problem much easier than previously," said Buckingham.
V8 Supercars use the same hardware in their cars however the software is obviously different.
In the V8 Ute series, no team can get access to the engine map (this will be controlled by the category itself). They will however have access to added data logging including; braking points, acceleration points, gear changes, track maps and lap times on the dash board.
The V8 Ute category has been looking into the use of the MoTeC system for a while now as a more refined tool for checking eligibility and as a driver development aid.
Craig Denyer of SPHERIX, category managers of the Series believes it is time they gave the drivers more data which they are able to develop from.
"It's been our aim for the past 3 or 4 years to turn around V8 Utes from what started as a novelty act to be seen as a true feeder and development category. We are seeing rewards of that with younger guys coming into the category like Sean Carter, Jake McNally and Ryan Hansford and drivers that have moved through the category like; George Miedecke, Warren Luff, James Moffat and Marcus Zukanovic."
"The MoTeC system will enable drivers to access and analyse data before moving in to a category like V8 Supercars where there is an enormous amount of data heavily used," explained Denyer.
Moving in to Round 2, Australian Industrial Supplies driver, David Sieders is leading the ENZED V8 Ute Leader-board by 2 points ahead of VIP Petfoods Ryal Harris on 147 points and Ice Break Racing's Chris Pither in third on 136 points.
Truckline Racing's Ryan Hansford is leading the V8 Ute Rookie title 71 points ahead of West Aussie Jake McNally on 39 points and No Limit Energy Drink/DGM Advertising Sean Carter on 30 points.
The V8 Utes head to Barbagallo Raceway next in Perth for Round 2 of the Series 29 April - 1May.
The 2011 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series - protected by Armor All features 32 Ford and Holden production based V8 racing utes - covering 8 championship rounds, and 25 races through five states of Australia. The series is televised nationally on the SEVEN Network, through Fox Sports, TV3 New Zealand, Motors TV Europe and over 40 countries worldwide.
Replays from Round 1 at the Clipsal 500 can be seen on Network Seven this Saturday, 9th April from 1pm.
