Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James May, plus V8 Supercar regulars Craig Lowndes and Fabian Coulthard all took the wheel of a V8 Race Ute last weekend at the Top Gear Live Festival at Sydney Motorsport Park.

This is the first time that the hosts of the BBC Top Rating programme and the Aussie V8 Supercar stars have all been in a Ute and it was a spectacular sight.

Clarkson and May were the first to take the wheel of David Sieders Ford and Richard Bloomfields Holden to find out Which is better, Ford or Holden?

To do this they proposed 3 challenges, a straight-line burnout a drag race (1/8th mile) and a race around the track (North Circuit). The 10-minute feature was performed once each day and both Clarkson and May were talking to the crowd whilst driving, with the fans were going wild. Clarkson drove my Ford and he did a great job. I obviously think the Ford is better and it lived up to it, said 2012 V8 Ute Series runner-up Sieders.

Lowndes and Coulthard were next to steer the V8 Ute in the Tri-NationsBeaut Utes battle; each driver over-filled the back of the Ute with cardboard boxes and then set off to complete a lap of the South Circuit. As boxes fell out, they had to pull over and put them back in the Ute; so slow and steady won the battle. For every box they dropped, they lost points, for every box they didnt deliver, they lost points. It was a tricky task but exactly what Coulthard needed in his preparation for this weekends V8 Supercar Round at the Australian Grand Prix. The New Zealander took out his first 2013 win this morning (Friday, 15th March). 

The event saw 40,000 fans on site over the two days and the crowd went absolutely wild when May and Clarkson drove the Utes down the main-straight of Sydney Motorsport Park. The 2013 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Seriesprotected by Armor All is next in action at the Chill Perth 360 at Barbagallo Raceway, 13 May.

The V8 Utes Series is managed by SPHERIX, and consists of 32 Ute field made up of 16 Ford and 16 Holdens. The Series has been in action since 2001 and is televised nationally through Network Seven.

Ronald McDonald HouseSouth East QLD is the Official Charity to Australian V8 Ute Racing. Ronald McDonald House is dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families and provided vital help to over 75,000 families through a wide range of programs.