(Grand Finale)
About the TrackLength: 3.4kmCircuit Direction: Anti-clockwiseV8 Ute Top Average Speed: 114km/hV8 Ute Lap Record: 1:46.6669 set by David Sieders in a Ford BF in Race 1 (2011)Fastest point: Turn 1, end of pit straight Slowest Point: Mid-corner, last 2 turns (12/13)Brief description of the circuit: Winding its way around the Sydney Olympic Park complex which hosted the 2000 Olympic Games, the newest V8 Supercar circuit is a real mixture. Track designers, including five-time Series Champion Mark Skaife, have focused on creating a real challenge for the drivers, with a variety of bumps, camber changes and fast and slow corners making it difficult to complete the perfect lap.
1) The Sydney Telstra 500 marks the final Round (out of 8) of the 2012 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Seriesprotected by Armor All.
2) Four drivers are still in contention for the Series title including; Ryal Harris (863), David Sieders (848) Nathan Pretty (817) and Andrew Fisher (788). There are only75 points separating the top five drivers.
Points up for Grabs: 140Qualifying 1st= 35 points 2nd = 33 points 3rd = 31 points 4th = 29 points; it then reduces one point for every position to 32nd placeRace 1 1st As AboveRace 2 1st As AboveRace 3 1st As Above
3) Finals history:
Grant Johnson and Jack Elsegood have the strongest rivalry in V8 Ute finals history. In 2007, Coopers Clear Racings Elsegood was leading the Series heading into the final round and had the title in the bag until he had issues with the car in the final race, giving Johnson the title. Elsegood however was able to redeem himself in 2009 claiming the title after the Sydney Street Race.
In 2010 Grant Johnson was leading the Series by 86 points heading into the round, which was almost guaranteeing him the title over then reigning champion Jack Elsegood.
However the weekend was given a shake-up after Johnson was excluded from Qualifying and Race 1 over that weekend due to a front brake line infringement, which put Elsegood within 20 points of the leader heading into the final two races. Johnson was forced to start from the rear of the grid for Race 2 and he fearlessly drove to an amazing fifth place finish, salvaging some valuable points and assuring that he would start a little further up the order for Race Three.
Elsegood started on the front row of the final race alongside Charlie OBrien but he was unable to best the veteran and had to settle for second in the race and in the Championship.
Johnson cautiously moved to 15th position, a result that saw him clinch the overall Championship win.
Ryal Harris was close to the title last year, until mechanical issues forced him out of Race 2 handing the series win to Chris Pither, with David Sieders in second overall, Harris went home with third for the year.
4) Kris Walton has claimed the 2012 Australian V8 Ute Racing Series Rookie of the Year Award as his points tally cannot be matched by rivals Danny Buzadzic and Gerard McLeod. Walton was in for the Series title at one stage, taking out the four race wins and two podiums in the first half of the year.
5) The current lap record was set by David Sideways Sieders in Race 1 last year in a time of 1:46.6669. Sieders broke George Miedeckes record that was set in 2009 in a time of 1:47.9107.
6) The Utes have raced at Sydney since the races inception in 2009 with Ford dominating taking out the top spot all three times.
7) 21 out of 32 drivers have competed on the Sydney Olympic Park circuit before.
8) Ten drivers out of the 32 are from Sydney including; Wake-up Racings Warren Millet, Jack Elsegood, David Sieders, Jesus Racings Andrew Fisher, Ben Dunn, Ben Kavich and Jeremy Gray hails from Musselbrook in the Hunter Valley region.
9) Two drivers will reach milestones this weekend including Craig Dontas who will celebrate his 150th Race, and Jack The Hustler Elsegood who will celebrate his 250th Race. Elsegood is the second driver in V8 Ute History to achieve this (Charlie Handlebars Kovacs (Sydney 2010)) and is the longest standing V8 Ute driver in the Series.
10) Professional Rally Driver Chris Atkinson will steer the Auto One Wildcard in Sydney. Atkinson drove with Team MRF winning this years Asia Pacific Rally Championship and he finished off the year driving for Team Mini Portugal replacing, Armindo Arajo, for the last five rounds of this years World Rally Championship.
Atkinson is no stranger to street circuits, having raced in Townsville (2009) alongside V8 Supercar driver Steve Owen in the MINI Challenge series, at Mount Panorama in the 2007 Bathurst 12 hour driving for the Subaru team, (finishing 2nd overall) and the 24 hour race at Nurburgring.
11) Gold Coaster Charlie OBrien will make a return to the Series for this round. OBrien is the 2011 Sydney champion. He joined the Series in 2010 after he drove in the 2010 Ten Years of Legends Race at the Clipsal 500 where he raced alongside Steve McFadden.
12) In 2010 the V8 Utes had their first driver from Japan compete in the Series - Japanese GT driver Ryo Omire. Omire nicknamed himself Hamburger as he didnt want to end up squished like a Hamburger when racing.
Unfortunately when he took to the track in Race 2 he clouted the wall hard at Turn 8 after under steering on oil, setting off a chain reaction that claimed Sieders, Fisher, Kim Jane, Gary MacDonald and Nandi Kiss.
Orimes Holden was totally destroyed, while Jane suffered damaged to the front and rear along with Sieders who took his car to a panel shop to get worked on overnight.
