32 V8 Utes will head to Barbagallo Raceway for the third year in a row (35 May) to compete in Round 2 of the Auto One V8 Ute Racing Seriesprotected by Armor All and will all be fitted with brand new gearbox shifters for the Chill Perth 360.

V8 Ute competitor, Phonsy Mullan, designed the Shifters himself through his company GM Motorsport and is confident they will be a great asset to all of the racing Utes.

32 shifters went out this week, weve upgraded them all with heavier springs. It was a massive effort; the Ford Shifter combines a gear leaver all in one piece, which is a new product for us so it should be good. They are different than your average street shifter, to meet the constant pressures of racing, said Mullan. 

RIPSHIFT is the fastest manual shifter in Australia and manufactured at the GM Motorsport base in Melton Victoria. Made of billet alloy, it has positive stops to prevent synchro breakage, and a unique spring action that makes 2nd & 3rd shifts ultra-fast. The RIPSHIFT significantly improves shift time, without straining the Australian Transmission Component control gearbox. Mullan is looking forward to trying them out on the race track.

The Australian and World Sprint Jet Boat ace is starting to find his legs on land, becoming more competitive with each round.

Im looking forward to racing next week. There is no better place to test than on a race track and I cant wait. With the practice Ive had with the new shifter, at least my gear changes should be the fastest on trackhopefully that will transfer to even quicker lap times, Phonsy explained.

Category Manager of SPHERIX, Bill West, believes the shifters will increase speed time and make for some quicker and even more exciting racing.

Our technical department worked closely with RIPSHIFT to develop the shifters and having Phonsy as a driver is also an asset. Were looking forward to some really exciting action for the Perth fans and the shifter speed should allow for quicker changes, said West.

The V8 Utes will hit the track on Friday, 3 May for two practice sessions and Qualifying; Race 3 will be televised LIVE on Sunday, 5th May as part of the coverage on Network Seven.

See below full race schedule for Perth: Friday, 3rd May         Practice 1           8amFriday, 3rd May         Practice 2          11amFriday, 3rd May          Qualifying         3:55pmSaturday, 4th May     Race 1             11:05amSaturday, 4th May     Race 2              3:50pmSunday, 5th May       Race 3              1:35pm