About the Circuit: Length: 2.87km longTurns: 14Fastest Average Speed: 122 kph

Hidden Valley Raceway has one of the fastest straights at 1.1km long.

V8 Ute Races at Darwin: The V8 Ute Series has completed a total of 279 laps and 879.43km around Hidden Valley Raceway over the past 7 years.

The Darwin weather is yet to disappoint, the V8 Utes havent had one wet race at the top end over the past 8 years.

1)    The V8 Utes have raced at Hidden Valley eight times including; 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Only the Adelaide Parklands track rivals it in V8 Ute appearances.

2)    Gary Baxter set the first ever lap record in 2005 in Race 1 in a time of 1:24.08 and held onto it until 2006 when it was broken by Kerry Wade in a time of; 1:23.57. Grant Johnson beat it two races later and held onto the record until 2009, when Baxter reclaimed the record.

The current lap record is held by David Sieders, Sieders set the record in Race 1 in 2011 in a time of 1:22.3675. Sieders broke Grant Johnsons record set in Race 1 2010 in a time of 1:22.88. Although Johnson still broke his lap record that year, by almost two hundredths of a second, he was out-qualified by both Sieders and 2011 champion Chris Pither.

Sieders also broke the Qualifying record last year in a time of 1:21.5715. Marcus Zukanovic had held the record of 1:21.8499 since 2006.

3)    Race 3 in 2007 was the closest ever V8 Ute race finish with Jack Elsegood taking out Grant Johnson in a photo finish by one one-hundredth of a second to claim the round, putting Elsegood into the Series lead. He held onto the lead until the final round at Phillip Island where he had mechanical failure and Johnson took the Series title.

Hidden Valley boasts three out of the four closest ever V8 Ute finishes. The other two were in 2006 - Kim Jane pipped Damien White by only 0.0544s, and in 2009 Layton Crambrook almost stole the podium from Grant Johnson when he beat him to the chequered flag by a mere 0.0570s to claim Race 3.

4)    2011 Series frontrunners Chris Pither, Grant Johnson and David Sieders all had a coming together at turn 5 Race 2 in 2010, Cameron McConville was also caught up in the incident breaking his front strut forcing him into the pits. Pither was lucky to get the Ice Break Holden over the line, ending the race without his front bar and finished in 22nd overall.

5)    Five of the 32 V8 Ute drivers competing in the 2009 Season have raced at Hidden Valley all eight times including: Gary Baxter, Jack Elsegood and Kim Jane.

6)    Eleven drivers will be racing a V8 Ute around Hidden Valley Raceway for the first time including; Jesse Dixon, Elliot Barbour, Adam Marjoram, Ben Dowley, Cam Wilson, Grant Bromley, Wayne Wakefield, Stephen White, Richard Bloomfield, Matthew Nolan and Tony Longhurst.

Although this will be Longhursts first time racing a V8 Ute around the track, he has competed at Hidden Valley Raceway three other times in the V8 Supercar Series (2001, 2002 and 2004). It will be almost 12 years to the day since Longhurst last hit the Top End track.

Glenn McNally will return to Hidden Valley Raceway for his first time since 2009, when he claimed third overall for the Round. McNally will race against brother Rhys. Rhys has competed against a brother at every Darwin Round except for his Rookie year in 2010. For the past 2 years, younger brother Jake raced in the Series and now Glenn has made a comeback.

Ben Dunn will also return to the field for the first time this year, however will hit the Darwin track for his 7th time in a V8 Ute.

7)    Kim The Assassin Jane was unlucky in his seventh appearance at Darwin last year when he hit the tyre bundle going into Turn 1 and rolled onto its roof during Race 3. Jane made it out of the car and was rushed to the medical centre as a precaution but was deemed OK.

Janes rollover caused the second safety car of the race. The first came when Bundaberg Racings Cameron McConville and Craig Dontas made contact at the first turn on the first lap. McConville retired for the race and was penalised 15 championship points for the incident.

8)    Grant Grunta Johnson has the best track record at Hidden Valley posting five out of six possible podiums including three wins (2006, 2009, 2010), one second (2007) and one third (2005).

9)    Ryal Harris leads the ENZED Drivers Championship heading into this round by a mere 7 points ahead of Rhys McNally. Gary Baxter and David Sieders are on equal 3rd (216points) only 17 points behind Harris and Nathan Pretty is in fifth on 209 points.

10)    Cam Wilson will change race numbers from 14 to 24, to promote a 24 hour Go Kart Challenge in November at his Gold Coast Karting Centre, and will try and set a new Guinness World Record for the greatest distance travelled in 24hours. He will also be doing this to raise funds for Huntington Association, a hereditary disease that his father was recently diagnosed with.

This is a very special round for Sieders; he will be hanging up his #8 for the Round and running under #7 in memory of his friend Rodney Crick who passed away last week. The 5 time Australian Truck Racing Champion and racing veteran was a close friend of the Sieders family

11)    There is a total of 175 points up for grabs on the weekend.

The point system awards the top three place getters with bonus points. First place will receive 35 points, second place 33 points, third place 31 points and fourth place 29 points; it then reduces one point for every position to 32nd place.

The determination of the Grids is determined as follows. Race 1 Grid is determined by Qualifying. Race 2 grid is determined by a random ballot drawn by the Race 1 winner.  The number that is drawn is the number of Utes that will be reversed on the grid for that race. The Grid for Race 3 will be a progressive grid from the finishing positions of Race 2, the grid for Race 4 will be determined by the highest aggregate points earned from the results of Race 1,2 and 3. (Qualifying points not included.) In the event of a tie, the highest grid position will go to the fastest qualifier.

The new qualifying format will also be run at this Round. The new format, similar to the qualifying system used in Formula 1, features a 30 minute session broken up into 3 individual segments. Qualifying 1 will include all 32 V8 Utes and after 10 minutes, the top 20 fastest drivers will continue into Qualifying 2, for a shorter 7 minute session. The top 10 drivers from this session will then start Qualifying 3, a short 5 minute session allowing for a 1 or 2 lap shootout. The fastest lap times will then determine the top ten grid for the start of Race 1, with the balance of the grid filled as they drop off in lap time from each segment.

Television Broadcast: Race 2 and Race 4 will be televised live as on Network Seven. Event Schedule: Friday, 14th June             Practice 1    8:40amFriday, 14th June             Practice 2    12:40pmSaturday, 15th June        Qualifying    8:30amSaturday, 15th June        Race 1        11:30amSaturday, 15th June        Race 2         2:20pmSunday, 16th June          Race 3         9:00amSunday, 16th June          Race 4        11:50am

Previous Race and Round Winners:20121) Ryal The Kid Harris2) David Sideways Sieders3) Andrew Fishtail Fisher

Qualifying: SiedersR1 - David Sideways SiedersR2 - Ryan Rhino HansfordR3 - David Sideways SiedersR4 - Ryal The Kid Harris

20111) Kim The Assassin Jane2) David Sideways Sieders3) Ryan Rhino Hansford

Qualifying - David Sideways SiedersRace 1David Sideways SiedersRace 2Charlie OBrienRace 3Ryan Rhino HansfordRace 4Ryal The Kid Harris

20101) Grant Grunta Johnson2) Kim The Assassin Jane3) Jack The Hustler Elsegood

Qualifying  - Grant Grunta JohnsonRace 1Grant Grunta JohnsonRace 2Kim The Assassin JaneRace 3 - Grant Grunta Johnson

20091) Grant Grunta Johnson2) Layton Leadfoot Crambrook3) Glenn Evil McNally

QualifyingGrant Grunta JohnsonRace 1Grant Grunta JohnsonRace 2Layton Leadfoot CrambrookRace 3Gary ChuckyBaxter(Baxter was later charged with a technical infringement handing the race win to Layton Leadfoot Crambrook) Race 4Layton Leadfoot Crambrook

20081) Layton Leadfoot Crambrook    2) Kim The Assassin Jane3) George Slick Miedecke

QualifyingLayton Leadfoot CrambrookRace 1Layton Leadfoot CrambrookRace 2George MiedeckeRace 3Layton Leadfoot Crambrook

20071) Jack The Hustler Elsegood2) Grant Grunta Johnson 3) Gary Chucky Baxter

QualifyingMatt KingsleyRace 1   Gary Chucky BaxterRace 2Ray Sidey SidebottomRace 3Jack The Hustler Elsegood

20061) Grant Grunta Johnson2) Marcus Mayhem Zukanovic3) Kim The Assassin Jane

QualifyingMarcus Mayhem ZukanovicRace 1Grant Grunta JohnsonRace 2Kim The Assassin JaneRace 3Grant Grunta Johnson

20051) Jack The Hustler Elsegood2) Rod Red Line Wilson 3) Grant Grunta Johnson

QualifyingAllan SimonsenRace 1Allan SimonsenRace 2Jack The Hustler ElsegoodRace 3Jack The Hustler Elsegood