Aussies to race D/C diesel utes
So the rumours WERE true, our Aussie cousins ARE going to race turbo- diesel double cab utes; a series backed by East Coast Bullbars kicking off next year. The first two completed SuperUtes were revealed recently at the Townsville round of the Virgin Australis Supercars Championship along with confirmation of key details for the new series. A Ross Stone Racing Ford Ranger and Sieders Racing Team Mitsubishi Triton were uncovered in front of media at the Reid Park street circuit ahead of the series’ kick- off in 2018. The Mazda BT-50, Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max and Holden Colorado have also been homologated for the turbo diesel dual-cab category which replaces the traditional V8 Utes. A standard Hilux and BT- 50 were also present at the launch, with the latter set to underpin Peters Motorsport’s entry into the series. The new category will run under the ECB SuperUtes Series name and will start at the opening V8 Supercars round at the Adelaide 500 before subsequent rounds at the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown, Townsville 400, Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint, Red Rooster Sydney SuperSprint, Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Gold Coast 600 and Coates Hire Newcastle 500. Supercars CEO James Warburton, MD Matt Braid and Sporting and Technical manager David Stuart joined SuperUtes category manager John Casey and consultant/ competitor Ross Stone at the launch. “This week the Ford Ranger and the Toyota HiLux were again the most popular cars in Australia, selling more units than any other model in the country,” said Braid. “These SuperUtes not only look stunning but are a purpose-built race car which will be amazing to drive, are market relevant, affordable and with the highest safety levels.” The production-based race vehicles feature a list of control components including roll cage, gearbox and differential, brakes, tyres, wheels, springs/ dampers and pedal box. Each will run their own diesel powerplants, with Supercars’ engine expert Craig Hasted working closely alongside electronic specialists Motec to achieve parity.