Fast Facts about the V8 Utes at the Sucrogen Townsville 400

About the Track: Location: Reid Park, Townsville, QLDLength: 2.84km longTurns: 13 turns Direction: Clockwise  

1) The Auto One V8 Ute Racing Seriesprotected by ARMOR ALL will return to the Townsville Street Circuit after a one year absence. The V8 Utes were at the inaugural round in 2009 making this their 4th appearance at the event including 2010 and 2011. 

2) George Slick Miedecke set the first lap record in a V8 Ute at the Sucrogen Townsville 400, however Ford rival Jack Elsegood snatched it by the end of the weekend (Race 2 2009) and held it for two years. Reigning V8 Ute Champion Ryal Harris set the current record in 2011 in Race 1 in a time of 1:28.2930.

3) One of the fiercest battles for the Armor All Pole Award took place in Townsville. In 2009 Jack Elsegood pipped George Miedecke, in the last 30 seconds of the Qualifying session by only 1/100ths of a second in a time of 1:27.94. In 2011, Harris pipped Chris Pither, the 2011 Champion, by only 9/100ths of a second.

4) Jack Elsegood and Grant Johnson have the best track record in Townsville; Two-time V8 Ute Champion Grant Johnson has two race wins and three podiums (2nd 2011 & 2010, 3rd 2009) under his belt. Elsegood has claimed two podiums (1st in 2010 and 2nd in 2009) and two pole wins however he is yet to win a race at the Reid Park circuit. Ryal Harris, the reigning V8 Ute Champion, has won two races and one pole but is yet to stand on the podium.

5) Race 3 at Townsville will mark the halfway point for the 2013 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Seriesprotected by ARMOR ALL.

6) Townsville local, Graham The local Kid Edwards will make his third appearance at his local track. He debuted in the V8 Utes in Townsville in 2010 and raced at home again in 2011, he has competed in 4 other V8 Ute rounds including 2011 Clipsal 500, 2011 Sandown 500 and the 2011 ARMOR ALL Gold Coast 600. 

7) This will be the first year the Ford FGs have raced in Townsville, with the introduction of the new model last year.

8) Almost half the field (15 drivers) are yet to drive at the Townsville Street Circuit. First time V8 Ute drivers to the event include; Todd Zani, Elliot Barbour, Adam Marjoram, Cam Wilson, Grant Bromley, Jesse Dixon, Gerard McLeod, Wayne Wakefield, Stephen White, Tony Longhurst, Phonsy Mullan, Matt Nolan, Ben Dowley, Richard Bloomfield, and Kris Walton.

Seven drivers in the Series have competed in Townsville at all V8 Utes events, including Craig Dontas, Peter Burnitt, Jack Elsegood, Kim Jane, Andrew Fisher, Ryal Harris and Gary Baxter.

Gary MacDonald will re-join the Series for the first time since Bathurst last year. This will be MacDonalds second time competing at the Townsville Street Circuit; he also competed there in 2010.

Due to incidents at Round 3 in Darwin, #41 that was driven by Spud Wood and #72 of Danny Buzadzic will not be competing at this round. The two cars were written off in two separate incidents and both require a rebuild.

Elliot Barbour has changed from #12 to #7 for the rest of the year. His teammate David Sieders had the number at the previous round 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. Sieders will be back in #8.  This will make Barbour the third driver to wear the number this year, Jeremy Gray gave it up at Round 2 to switch to #67 for good luck.

Cam Wilson will continue to don #24 to promote his 24 hour Go Kart Challenge set to take place this November at his Gold Coast Karting Centre, he will try to 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.

9) The V8 Utes will once again be involved in a street parade through Townsville. This year, the Utes will end up at The Strand to take part in a signing session.  

10) All V8 Utes will run a sticker in memorial of Allan Simonsen who passed away recently at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. Simonsen ran in a three-car V8 Ute team in 2005 alongside Ian McAlister and Jack Elsegood for Coopers Pale Ale Racing. Jon Hart, Simonsens PR Manager designed the stickers in his honour, the two met each other when Hart was the PR Manager for Coopers Racing and have been friends ever since. Hart unfortunately wont be in Townsville, as he is flying to Denmark this week.

ENZED Drivers Championship Leader Ryal Harris will also honour Simonsen this weekend doning the Red and White colours of the Danish flag on a new race-suit, which he will then auction off at the end of the weekend for a charity of the Simonsens  familys choice.

Points Breakdown: 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 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.

Broadcast time: Race 1 will be televised live on Network Seven at 1:50pm (check local guides). The V8 Utes Post Show will be televised on Network Seven, Saturday, 13th July at 12:30pm (check local guides).

Event Schedule: Friday, 5th July        Practice 1        8:00amFriday, 5th July        Practice 2        11:10amSaturday, 6th July    Qualifying        7:50amSaturday, 6th July    Race 1            1:50pmSunday, 7th July    Race 2            8:45amSunday, 7th July    Race 3            12:10pm

Past Race and ARMOR ALL Pole winners:2011Qualifying    Ryal The Kid Harris (Ford BF)Race 1        Ryal The Kid Harris (Ford BF)Race 2        Chris Crispy Pither (Holden VE)Race 3        Chris Crispy Pither (Holden VE)

2010Qualifying    Jack The Hustler Elsegood (Ford BF)Race 1        Grant Grunta Johnson (Holden VE)Race 2        Jeremy Lost It Gray    (Ford BF)Race 3        Grant Grunta Johnson (Holden VE)

2009Qualifying    Jack The Hustler Elsegood (Ford BF)Race 1         George Slick Miedecke (Ford BF)Race 2         Ryal The Kid Harris    (Holden VE )Race 3         Layton Leadfoot Crambrook (Ford BF)

Past Round Winners:20111ST     Chris Crispy Pither (Holden VE) 2nd     Grant Grunta Johnson (Holden VE) 3rd     Cameron Conkers McConville (Holden VE)

20101st      Jack The Hustler Elsegood (Ford BF) 2nd     Grant Grunta Johnson (Holden VE) 3rd      Jeremy Lost It Gray (Ford BF)

20091st      Layton Leadfoot Crambrook (Ford BF) 2nd    Jack The Hustler Elsegood (Ford BF) 3rd     Grant Grunta Johnson (Holden VE)