Grant Johnson may be the hot favourite to take out round two of the 2011 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series - protected by Armor All at Barbagallo Raceway, but there are two brothers eager to stop him.
Rhys and Jake McNally will be piloting their respective V8 Utes in front of their Western Australian home crowd. They are both familiar with what it takes to go fast around Barbagallo and will be looking for a strong result, especially with family in the stands.
With a name like McNally, there is bound to be motorsport in the blood. Older brothers Mark and Glenn are also successful drivers. Mark made it all the way to V8 Supercars where he raced with Kelly Racing in 2009, while Glenn was the 2008 V8 Utes rookie of the year. Glenn has been sharing his knowledge and providing as much advice as he can to his younger brothers.
"Rhys will probably be up to speed, so not too much advice needed there, but we'll be helping Jake as much as we can. Jake knows his way around Barbagallo, so it will just be about getting him into the groove. My younger brother Mark will be on the radio to Jake giving him as much advice as he can while I'll be up in the corporate areas!" We're always there for each other and will be trying to get him up to speed," explained Glenn.
After stepping out of karts and Formula Ford, West Coast Racing's Jake McNally made his V8 Utes debut at an action packed Clipsal 500 where the 19 year old stayed out of trouble to sit 27th on the ENZED Driver's Championship table. When racing a Formula Ford, Barbagallo Raceway was the scene of Jake's worst accident, where in a practice session he suffered brake failure while entering the last corner at 210km/h. Jake is keen to avoid a repeat of the incident and is instead looking forward to a strong showing in the West Coast Racing Ute.
"I've never raced there in a Ute before but I've done lots of laps in a Formula Ford. We have a test day at Eastern Creek before Perth so hopefully we'll be able to learn some things and have the Ute going well for Barbagallo, if so then I'll be happy. All our sponsors are WA based so it should be good to race in front of them. It has been easier to attract sponsors with the series racing in Perth so hopefully the category will continue to race there," said Jake.
The Stratco Holden of Rhys McNally may have won the Armor All Best Presented Award at the Clipsal 500, however the Ute was not looking its best after Rhys hit Adelaide's infamous turn 8 wall during slippery conditions in Race 4. 2010 marks Rhys' second year in V8 Ute Racing after finishing third in last year's Rookie of the year standings. With a new partner on board in Stratco, Rhys is eager to hit the Barbagallo Circuit and race competitively.
"Grant will definitely be quick; however I've done millions of laps around Barbagallo in Formula Fords so it should be great. It's going to be exciting for Stratco and our other sponsors JSW Australia and Hammond Electrical, as they are WA based so they're really happy that we're racing there. I'm pumped for the weekend!"
Rhys and Jake see V8 Utes as a feeder category to bigger and better things and hope to follow in the footsteps of drivers such as Warren Luff, George Miedecke and James Moffat who all have made successful careers as professional race drivers after competing in the V8 Utes.
The V8 Utes head to Barbagallo Raceway next in Perth for Round 2 of the Series 29 April - 1 May.
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.
