After taking out the 2011 NSW Formula Ford Championship, Sydneysider, Steve Charman, is preparing to make his debut in the 2012 Auto One V8 Ute Seriesprotected by Armor All, at Mount Panorama, Bathurst. 4-7 October 2012.
Charman, 35 year old from Gordon, will join the Sieders Racing outfit for the Bathurst and Gold Coast rounds of the 2012 Championship, before a full assault on the category in 2013.
Im very excited to make my debut in a V8 Ute at Bathurst, said Charman, Its going to be a great event; I could think of no other place Id rather do it.
The team currently prepares two of the top four Championship runners, in Andrew Fisher and David Sieders, so that also gives me a lot of confidence in knowing Ill have the right package beneath me.
In preparation for his V8 Ute campaign, Charman tested with the Sieders Racing Team (SRT) at the end of 2011, and recently joined fellow SRT-prepared drivers, Andrew Fisher and Ben Dunn, for the 2012 NSW Production Touring Car Championship Enduro at Wakefield Park, 11-12 August 2012.
We first ran a test day with Steve at Christmas last year in Daves [Sieders] Ute, and we were really happy with not only his speed on the day, but effective feedback to help make improvements throughout the day,said Sieders Racing Team owner, Luke Sieders.
As part of our pre-Bathurst test programme, Steve joined the team at Wakefield recently,said Sieders, he was pretty impressive in his first race outing in the Ute, qualifying 0.07s off pole in his class, and consistently quick all weekend."
Charman will be racing the Ford FG V8 Ute that was debuted by Danny Buzadzic at Symmons Plains earlier this year, and will be one of four entries being run by Sieders Racing.
This is the fourth FG the team will be looking after, and with the other three that the Team has built and run showing front running pace, I cant wait to get behind the wheel.
Charman will hit the track for his debut on Thursday, 4th October for his first practice session and then on Friday for practice session two and Qualifying.
The full V8 Ute Racing Schedule is as follows:Saturday, 5th October Race 1 9:50amSaturday, 5th October Race 2 3:05pm (Televised LIVE on Network Seven.)Sunday, 6th October Race 3 8am (Televised LIVE on Network Seven).
This year Bathurst will celebrate 50 years of the Great Race and will be rolling out a show beyond all expectations. Sporting fans from around the world will be expected to flock to Mount Panorama for a massive line-up of on and off track entertainment as we pay tribute to the magical history behind Australia's most renowned sporting events.
The 2012 Series consists of 26 races over eight rounds raced throughout Australia covering six states and one territory and is televised nationally through-out Australia on Network Seven and 7 Mate and internationally through Motors TV Europe, TV3 New Zealand and SPEED online in the USA.
