Sieders Racing has cemented pole position in the evolUTEion race to the new V8 Ute platform, by being the first team to lodge a deposit for the initial Ute that is currently under design by Australian Race Engineering (ARE).

ARE Principal, Oscar Fiorinotto is a technical consultant with the Australian V8 Ute Racing Series, and is the category control shock supplier through his subsidiary Company Supashock. The Adelaide based engineer is looking forward to the opportunity to be involved with the Series moving forward.

“Yes we’re looking forward to the challenge of making it a good looking, highly entertaining product that’s cost effective to build, repair and run. It will be home-grown and designed in our workshop here in Australia,” said Fiorinotto.

Sieders Racing Team owner, Luke Sieders, is excited to be the first in the door to secure one of the new Utes for the 2016 Series.

“I’m excited about the direction the category is going, you need to grab it with both hands and run with it, or wave a white flag and let go. I was keen to get our name down and show commitment, and in the long term we will be one of the most prepared teams moving forward with the new platform,” said Sieders.

There series is targeting to have 10 new evolUTEion Utes to be built for the start of the 2016 season and is expecting a full field on the grid in 2017. The new Utes will be based on light truck/utility models such as the Holden Colorado, Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara, Toyota Hi-Lux, and will feature production based petrol or diesel engine options.

The launch of the new series will coincide with Ford and Holden’s withdrawal from manufacturing of the current production based Ute’s, which have featured as the series base vehicle for the past 15 years.

The launch of the new evolUTEion platform is set to be at the Clipsal 500 in 2016. It’s expected the first race Ute will be completed for a public launch and display at this year’s Sandown 500 in September.