V8 Utes welcome Queensland Crowd Favourite who returns to Racing

Wayne Wakefield will return to racing when he steers a V8 Ute this weekend in Round 7 of the 2012 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series – protected by Armor All at Winton Raceway. Wakefield was hot property back in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, racing in the Bathurst 1000 numerous times and also in the V8 Supercar Development Series. The Brisbane based driver hasn’t been in a car since 2006 and is jumping at the bit to get behind the wheel of a race car. “I’ve thrown myself in the deep end – the last time I drove was 6 years ago. I’ve been itching to drive for a while, but it’s been a massive process to get my licence back. I only got it back on Tuesday so I’ve had a few sleepless nights in the process,” said Wakefield. After meeting ENZED Drivers’ Championship leader Ryal Harris on the Gold Coast, the Brisbane DJ decided to take up a drive with the Big Gun Racing Team, steering the #51 car driven by Benn Wilson on the Gold Coast “I met Ryal at the Gold Coast and he gave me the inspiration to follow-through and here I am. I’ve never seen the car before so I’ll need plenty of tips off Ryal. He said they were pretty hard to drive. I always have high expectations, so I hope to do well, I won’t really know how I’ll go until I get down there but I’ll be pretty disappointed if I’m not competing in the top ten,” he said. Harris is looking forward to having Wakefield on his team. “I met him a few weeks back and said he missed racing and wanted to make a come-back. He had a lot of talent back in the 90’s but didn’t have the money to keep going so I thought I’d help him tee up a drive. I’m looking forward to see how he goes,” said Harris. Wakefield is infamous for being the only driver to start on pole twice in two different V8 Races at Bathurst on the same weekend. He began his racing career in the QLD Gemini Series before moving into a Mazda 808 Wagon Improved production car, and became a real crowd pleaser at Lakeside Raceway with his flawless car control. The Mazda wagon regularly out raced much more sophisticated equipment, making Wakefield of the popular drivers in the paddock.After a stint in the Super Touring Championships, he was picked up to race V8 Supercars where he debuted alongside former Auto One Wildcard driver Dean Canto in 1999. Like most drivers, Wakefield had his up’s and downs and didn’t finish his first Bathurst 1000. He drove in the V8 Supercar Development Series the following year and finished third behind Canto and another Auto One Wildcard driver David Besnard. He raced in the Bathurst 1000 again that year with V8 Ute Driver Gerard McLeod’s brother Ryan, but was unfortunate not to finish again. In 2001, he participated in only one round of the V8 Development Series, finishing second at Lakeside, before being selected to drive alongside Marcus Ambrose for the enduro race.Wakefield put the car on pole in the Bathurst Development Series race and went on to win. Ambrose qualified on Pole for the Great Race, which gave Wakefield his second pole position for the weekend. The main race didn’t go so well for the pair, with the V8 Supercar expiring after 42 laps.In 2003 and 2004 Wakefield only competed in the Endurance Races with Paul Morris Motorsport, which was his last stint at the Bathurst 1000. Wakefield raced with Peters Motorsport (currently running Kris Walton and Ryan Hansford in the V8 Utes) in the bulk of the 2004 Development V8 Series, where he finished 12th overall. He missed the 2005 season, but raced in most of the 2006 season, finishing 12th overall again.Wakefield will take to the track for the first time in a V8 Ute for two practice sessions on Friday, 16th November. The remainder of the V8 Ute Race Schedule is as follows with Race 1 Televised Live on Network Seven. Saturday, 17th November Qualifying 11amSaturday, 17th November Race 1  3:15pmSunday, 18th November Race 2  10:30amSunday, 18th November Race 3  12:35pm


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