Grand Finale
About the TrackLength: 3.4kmCircuit Direction: Anti-clockwiseV8 Ute Top Average Speed: 114km/hV8 Ute Lap Record: 1:45.5326 set by Cameron McConville in Race 3 (2012)Fastest point: Turn 1, end of pit straightSlowest Point: Mid-corner, last 2 turns (12/13)
Brief description of the circuit: Winding its way around the Sydney Olympic Park complex which hosted the 2000 Olympic Games, track designers, including five-time Series Champion Mark Skaife, focused on creating a real challenge for the drivers with a variety of bumps, camber changes and fast and slow corners making it difficult to complete the perfect lap.
1) The NRMA Sydney 500 marks the final Round (out of 8) of the 2014 Australian V8 Ute Racing Series – fuelled by Hogs Breath Café.
2) Four drivers are still in contention for the Series title including; Kris Walton (850), David Sieders (789), Jesse Dixon (741) and Rhys McNally (713).
Points up for Grabs: 140Qualifying 1st= 35 points 2nd = 33 points 3rd = 31 points 4th = 29 points; it then reduces one point for every position to 32nd place
Race 1 1st As AboveRace 2 1st As AboveRace 3 1st As Above
3) Finals history:
Grant Johnson and Jack Elsegood have the strongest rivalry in V8 Ute finals history. In 2007, Coopers Clear Racing’s Elsegood was leading the Series heading into the final round and had the title in the bag until he had issues with the car in the final race, giving Johnson the title. Elsegood however, was able to redeem himself in 2009 claiming the title after the Sydney Street Race.
In 2010 Grant Johnson was leading the Series by 86 points heading into the round, which was almost guaranteeing him the title over then reigning champion Jack Elsegood. However the weekend was given a shake-up after Johnson was excluded from Qualifying and Race 1 over that weekend due to a front brake line infringement, which put Elsegood within 20 points of the leader heading into the final two races. Johnson was forced to start from the rear of the grid for Race 2 and he fearlessly drove to an amazing fifth place finish, salvaging some valuable points and assuring that he would start a little further up the order for Race Three.
Elsegood started on the front row of the final race alongside Charlie O’Brien but he was unable to beat the veteran and had to settle for second in the race and in the Championship.
Johnson cautiously moved to 15th position, a result that saw him clinch the overall Championship win.
Ryal Harris was close to the title in 2011, until mechanical issues forced him out of Race 2, handing the series win to Chris Pither with David Sieders in second overall. Harris went home with third for the year and so began his rivalry with Sieders.
Sieders has overtaken Elsegood’s mantle - “always a Bridesmaid, never a Bride.” He has placed 2nd overall 2 years in a row (2011 and 2012), and third overall last year.
Ryal Harris claimed a back-to-back championship title last year, and joined the only two other drivers who achieved this, (Warren Luff 2002/2003 and Damien White 2004/2005). Grant Johnson also has two titles under his belt, but they were three years apart (2007/2010). Although he claimed the last round on the Gold Coast, a dismal start to the year was enough to put Harris out of his third title contention.
3) A re-cap on the Championship Lead this year: David Sieders lead after Round 1 at the Clipsal 500, until Kris Walton showed his speed at Round 2, clinching the lead, off Sieders, Sieders retaliated in Darwin claiming the round there and Walton back again for Round four. The two went back and forth for the first half of the year. At the Sandown round, Sieders was off the pace in Qualifying, handing Walton his first V8 Ute Pole Award. Bathurst, and Sieders was back on pace, however taking Pole off Walton, who lost his fastest time after a parc ferme infringement.
4) Phillip Woodbury has claimed the 2013 Wanda Paints V8 Ute Rookie of the Year Award, however will not race in the final round of the Series due to extensive damage from the last round on the Gold Coast. The Lithgow flyer was caught up in an incident at turn 2 when Benn Wilson clouted the tyre bundle, breaking the steering and spearing the Peters Motorsport Holden into the wall. The Ute bounced back into the path of Woodbury causing heavy damage, while Wilson’s own brother Cam Wilson hit the wall trying to avoid both Utes. Both Woodbury and Benn Wilson were taken to the Medical Centre but were deemed OK. Wilson and Woodbury both withdrew from the event following the incident.
5) George ‘Slick’ Miedecke will celebrate his 100th V8 Ute Race start when he starts Race 3 over the Sydney 500 weekend. Miedecke was in the Series full-time in 2007 – 2009 where he drove a Ford. He returned to the Series for two rounds in 2013 and back full-time this year.
5) Cameron “Conkers” McConville was unstoppable in 2013; he set a new Qualifying record in a time of 1:45.5081, and also set a new Race lap record in Race 1, broke it again in Race 3 and holds it in a time of 1:45.5326 (the only driver to go under 1:46 during a race). George Miedecke set the first lap record in a V8 Ute around Sydney Olympic Park, back in 2009 in a time of 1:47.9107.
6) There are new additions to the field this round including New Zealand regular Peter Ward, who raced in the Aussie Series back in 2012 as a part of the Trans-Tasman Challenge at Bathurst.
He will be joined by Mason Barbera who also competed in the New Zealand Series, standing on Podium at the last round claiming third at the Pukekohe Round.
At the ripe age of 17years old, Barbera will be the youngest driver to ever compete in the Australian V8 Ute Racing Series.
Returning to the series will be Michael Almond, who drove at Sandown Raceway last year. He will drive his #44 Copyworld Holden and V8 Supercar Endurance driver Tim Blanchard, will steer the #41 Williams Race Tech Holden.
Debuting in a V8 Ute for the first time is former V8 Supercar Development Series driver Nathan Vince. He will steer the #19 Holden that was driven by Bathurst local Terry Nightingale. Former Karter and Aussie Racing Car Driver, Tyler Greenbury will also debut for Big Gun Racing.
7) The Utes have raced at Sydney since the events inception in 2009, with Ford dominating taking out four of the five years.
9) Seven drivers out of the 32 are from Sydney including; David Sieders, Jesus Racing’s Andrew Fisher, Andrew Nickolls, Bruce Oaklands and Jeremy Gray hails from Musselbrook in the Hunter Valley region.
10) In 2010, the V8 Utes had their first driver from Japan compete in the Series - Japanese GT driver Ryo Omire. Omire nicknamed himself “Hamburger” as he didn’t’ want to end up squished like a Hamburger when racing. Unfortunately when he took to the track in Race 1 he clouted the wall hard at Turn 8, setting off a chain reaction that claimed Sieders, Fisher, Kim Jane, Gary MacDonald and Nandi Kiss.
Orime’s Holden was totally destroyed, while Jane suffered damaged to the front and rear along with Sieders who took his car to a panel shop to get worked on overnight.
11) Race 2 in 2012 was deemed a non-race after a red flag fell following separate incidents involving a quarter of the field. The incident almost handed Harris the win, with 35 points taken off the table, Harris only had to bring his car home in 15th or better in Race 3 to win the championship. He did even better than that coming home in 4th in the final race.
12) About the top four Series contenders:
Previous driving History:
#68 Kris “Killa” Walton – Rentco Racing – Ford
- Reigning NZ V8 Ute Champ, (won at Pukekohe last weekend)- former QLD Saloon car champion- won Race 2 on debut in the V8 Ute Series at Sandown 2011- claimed the 2012 Rookie of the Year Award
#8 David “Sideways” Sieders – Mine Site Fencing Australia - Ford- debuted in motorsport in 2002 in Super Trucks- 2006 Ford Performance Test and development driver- 2009 V8 Supercar debut finishing his first race inside the top 15- 2010 joined the V8 Ute Series and won the round and the Armor All Pole Award on debut. Sieders went on to claim the 2010 V8 Ute Rookie of the year title.- 2011 Sieders claimed second overall for the year- 2012 claimed second overall for the year.- 2013 came 3rd overall.
#49 Jesse “Hitch” Dixon – Hayman Reese Racing – Holden - He began go karting at the age of 12 in memory of his late father who shared the same passion for motorsport- 2010 represented Australia in the 2010 Formula BMW Pacific Championship, as a BMW Motorsport Development Driver, racing throughout Asia and Europe- Won the 2012 Shannons Supercar Showdown and raced at the 2012 Bathurst 1000- Jesse was in the youngest team to ever race in the Bathurst 1000 in 2012 when he raced alongside Cameron Waters- 2012 Jesse debuted in the V8 Ute Racing series as a recipient of the Chris Pither – powered by Ice Break Scholarship racing in two rounds (Tasmania and Perth)- 2013 Dixon joined the V8 Ute Racing Series full-time and came runner-up in the Rookie title
#26 Rhys “Stormin” McNally – Stratco Racing – Holden - started off in Formula Ford- 2008: 3rd WA Formula Ford Championship, 3rd Island Magic- 2009: 2nd WA Formula ford Championship- 2010: Joined the V8 Ute Racing Series in and came runner-up in the Rookie of the Year title- celebrated his first V8 Ute Win in 2010 Gold Coast 600- 2012: claimed his first V8 Ute Round Podium- 2013: came 4th overall in the Series
Past Sydney Podium winners:
2013 1st Kris Walton Ford2nd David Sieders Ford3rd Nathan Pretty Holden
20121st Cameron “Conkers” McConville Holden2nd Nathan “Nitrous” Pretty Holden3rd David “Sideways” Sieders Ford
20111st David “Sideways” Sieders Ford2nd Cameron “Conkers” McConville Holden3rd Chris “Crispy” Pither Holden
20101st Charlie “Charlie” O’Brien Ford2nd Jack “The Hustler” Elsegood Ford3rd Chris “Crispy” Pither Holden
20091st George “Slick” Miedecke Ford2nd Grant “Grunta” Johnson Holden3rd Andrew “Fishtail” Fisher Ford
Past V8 Ute Championship Winners: 2013 – Ryal “The Kid” Harris, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW2012 – Ryal “The Kid” Harris, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW2011 – Chris “Crispy” Pither, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW2010 – Grant “Grunta” Johnson, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW2009 – Jack “The Hustler” Elsegood - Sydney Olympic Park, NSW2008 – Layton “Leadfoot” Crambrook – Oran Park Raceway, NSW2007 – Grant “Grunta” Johnson – Phillip Island, VIC2006 – Marcus “Mayhem” Zukanovic – Gold Coast Street Circuit, QLD2005 – Damien “Ice” White – Symmons Plains, TAS2004 – Damien “Ice” White –Mallala Raceway, SA2003 – Warren “Rock Dog” Luff – Gold Coast Street Circuit, QLD2002 – Warren “Rock Dog” Luff – Gold Coast Street Circuit, QLD2001 – Rod “Red Line” Wilson – Sandown Raceway, VIC
Past Podium Outright Series Winners:
2013: 1st Ryal “The Kid” Harris, 2nd Nathan “Nitrous” Pretty 3rd David “Sideways” Sieders
2012: 1st Ryal “The Kid” Harris, 2nd David “Sideway” Sieders, 3rd Nathan “Nitrous” Pretty
2011: 1st Chris “Crispy” Pither, 2nd David “Sideway” Sieders, 3rd Ryal “The Kid Harris
2010: 1st Grant “Grunta” Johnson, 2nd Jack “The Hustler” Elsegood, 3rd Andrew “Fishtail” Fisher
2009: 1st Jack “The Hustler” Elsegood, 2nd Grant “Grunta” Johnson, 3rd George “Slick” Miedecke
2008: 1st Layton “Leadfoot” Crambrook, 2nd Kim “The Assassin” Jane, 3rd Grant “Grunta” Johnson
2007 - 1st Grant “Grunta” Johnson 714, 2nd Jack “The Hustler” Elsegood 699 3rd Kim “The Assassin” Jane 582
2006 - 1st Marcus “Mayhem” Zukanovic 769, 2nd Jack “The Hustler” Elsegood 732, 3rd Grant “Grunta” Johnson
2005 1st Damien “Ice” White 634, 2nd Marcus “Mayhem” Zukanovic 626, 3rd Gary “Chucky” Baxter 601
2004 1st Damien “Ice” White 497, 2nd Jack “The Hustler” Elsegood 368, 3rd Gary “Chucky” Baxter 312
2003 1st Warren “Rockdog” Luff 363, 2nd Gary “Macca” MacDonald 326.5, 3rd James “Thrustor” Brock 246.5
2002 1st Warren “Rockdog” Luff 1006, 2nd Damien “Ice” White 913, 3rd Gary “Macca” MacDonald 904
2001: 1st Rod “Redline” Wilson 2nd Damien “Ice” White 3rd Gary “Growler” Young
