V8R the Beast Rolls On

8/3/2019 V8R the Beast Rolls On

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Considering that motorsport has been around now

for over 100 years its extremely difcult to come upwith new ideas. The main point of motorsport has

always been who is the quickest from start to nish

but these days that is not necessarily the case...


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Story byCraig Lord


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60 / V8RACER

EntErtainmEnt. Its a word with an open description for anything that amuses

us humans. Gladiator battles and those forms of similar enterprise are possibly

the most enduring of entertainment throughout human history. In fact, there is

something to be said for the battle of individuals in an enclosed space. Even team sports

are individual to a point, and with boxing, martial arts and wrestling in the mix there is

no argument about what keeps us amused. So does it surprise anyone that motorsport

has over time become more entertainment than strict competition? The answer is no, not

really you can leave that strict stuff to the Olympic pursuits.

The problem with motorsport is you often need new ideas, new reasons for people totune in and new motivations for competitors to be part of it. But ten years ago a trio of

fair dinkum aussie blokes came up with an idea that so far has worked quite well, and

certainly seems to have enough support from many different entities that will allow it to

continue on its merry way.

Late one night and apparently in a bar somewhere, three gentlemen being Craig

Denyer, Ross Palmer and Ian McAlister were discussing how the support categories in

Australia were relatively dire, that they werent entertaining anymore and how something

needed to be done to x it. After a fair amount of discussion it came down to the

plan of using the iconic Australian Ute and thankfully two of the iconic Australian

manufacturers made one.

Setting up a vehicle for racing is not overly difcult, nor is nding track time or

people to race them, the difculty in fact is making it entertaining. With this in mind

the three wise men formatted a plan to make things pleasurable for the masses, and

seemingly without realising it they were about to broach into that old school format

of gladiatorial battle.

The rst draft for the Ute racing was unique, it had a format that would always

create full-on entertainment, and this was done by sorting the grid with a ballot draw.

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Understandably that could be classed as a cardinal sin and was mostly unheard of in the

world of motorsport, where being up front was everything. To make it even more against

the grain they then decided to reverse the ballot for the second of a weekend, but then

to transfer back to something a little more traditional the third race starting positions

would be sorted via accumulated points.

The debut for this was the Clipsal 500 in 2001, but it didnt start with monstrous

glory there were issues to deal with at the beginning, most prominently being the

amount of cars on the grid, and the unknown drivers peddling them. Thankfully they

were smart enough from the beginning to see the challenges and do something about

it. Firstly, V8 Supercars had the big names and rightly so, which meant the Utes had

to create their own stars, hence the nickname requirement for every driver. That alongwith what proved to be great racing action was enough to remove that early concern of

grid numbers for when the 2001 season was over 22 cars were regularly on the starting

blocks and the cap of 32 was quickly reached in the subsequent season.

What was an immediate success was the fan support, from race 1 at the 2001

Clipsal the fans were up to the fence. Sure, there was the novelty factor given that their

everyday working rig was nally on a circuit, but it wasnt just that, it was the slip-

sliding-paint-scraping-no-holds-barred ghting that pulled them in.

Simply put it was gladiatorial battles that worked the charm. As much as we may like

to pretend that they were for the barbaric clans of centuries ago, it was reality not so.

Television was full of over the top entertainment like wrestling and boxing, and recently

the very bloodthirsty sport of MMA ghting has taken a hold upon many. And it seemed

from the outset that so too would the V8 Ute racing. This was conrmed by Channel 7

Australia taking the 2002 and 2003 seasons to spread the new gospel.

From there it has grown to live races, and packages of magazine styled shows that

are spread around the globe. Fighters who use heavy and at times uncontrollable

weapons were getting themselves known they were a different breed of battlers.

To get to the position that the Utes have found themselves in required a new

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operation, something that would ensure that the new entity would function correctly;

it needed a structure that allowed the drivers who were predominantly the team

owners more control and say over how things were to be done. So, after the third

season a commercial venture was ofcially created to ensure the series wouldcontinue on the right path.

Early on the category was funded and owned by Ross Palmer with the individual

grid spots sold, but when Ross left the motorsport scene in 2004 the 32 V8 Ute owners

decided to create a Ute company with each of them having a stake in it. This merely

meant that they were driving for their own company. The company has a charter, of

which includes a system where there are 16 shareholders of each Holden and Ford.

These shareholders via their company then employ Spherix to operate and manage

the class. On top of that each of the franchise holders has the right to race the Ute

themselves, lease the Ute to a team or driver, or set the Ute up as an arrive and drive

package for individual rounds.

That makes it a small point of difference from times gone by. In the era when you

worshipped the wrong god, or stole someones goat herd you were likely to be placedinto some form of arena to face off against champions of cruelty and punishment, and

while many would enjoy seeing that today, if you want to try it in motorsport then you

have to buy your shot instead. (Although many would argue that amongst the drivers

there possibly are a few goat herders and rustlers).

Realistically though there is no free motorsport nor is there cheap motorsport they

all have costs of some kind. So buying into a series is actually a clever thing to do. And

one of Spherixs main tasks is not only to ensure that the entertainment remains, but to

ensure the costs are kept to a minimum so that the class can maintain its stronghold of

32 war engaging beasts.

This is not such an easy task as it may seem, the category needs to be brutish to

keep the fans pleased, but it also needs controlled costs and controlled driver standards.

That can be a tough compromise, there needs to be the biff and bash, but if there is too

much of it then teams may not survive the nancial costs and disappear not good for

the vehicle sponsors or the corporate sponsors of the class itself.

The category managers also have to smack down heavily on anyone who wishes to

break the rules, and it has happened many times. One driver was banned from a race

at Bathurst in 2010 for having a minor component infringement, and again it happened

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at Homebush when a minor roll cage addition was found. Now whilst that cage

change may have improved the safety of the vehicle it was against the rules and the

punishments were handed down. Even the engine from the season winner was removed

immediately after the nal race to be sent to Queensland for dyno testing before being

stripped down for a full inspection. Being strict on the rules is a necessary evil to ensure

the class remains transparent, fair and sustainable.

Fairness naturally is a big part of any sport and whilst the Ute teams are there as

entertainers they still have competitive blood and will not drop to the ground withoutshedding as much of it as they can physically or nancially handle. But they are also still

racing teams and will do whatever they can within their interpretation of the rules to get

the advantage over others, and it is a big part of the Spherix job to control that.

As well as keeping the series fair, it still needs to stay entertaining. That is something

that the powers to be are highly aware of. Over the last ten years they have managed

to do that with various options like changing race formats now and then to suit special

events. They also keep the entertainment side going by ensuring the Utes are up to spec

by being the latest models. While that again is a cost to teams they are not forced to

immediately upgrade when a manufacturer does, its a similar format to the Supercars

where there is forewarning of years not weeks. Having the latest model may seem minor

but in reality no-one really wants to see the old tubs in with the new.

Also to keep it on the engaging level, the Utes are more suited to the punchy sprint

races rather than the longer endurance event. In saying that the category would not be

off the idea of doing a longer endurance event but they are realistic with the facts that

not only is the Ute class not designed for pit stops and has a limited fuel run, there is the

possibility that the race over a long distance could get boring and that goes against

the whole grain of what the code is about.


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They do however have one segment of the operation to consider deeply, and that is

the future of the code with the vehicles available to operate in it. The Supercar series

is going down that current path, and so too is the NZ category of V8 Tourers, the Utes

however have the issue of actual production to consider. Ford has cancelled future

construction of the station wagon, and what if heaven forbid either Ford or Holden

decided to stop making a Ute?

While that scenario is highly unlikely, it is something that the category is not taking

for granted, so a study is currently being undertaken to look at the future who knows,maybe a Lexus powered Hilux could one day be spinning tyres with the rest....

The Ute category has certainly grown over its ten year lifespan, Spherix was originally

Craig Denyer and Bill West running around, and now however the series is so successful

that there is a team of ten staff needed on deck to keep the beast under control.

Amongst the crew is Matt Mackelden who runs the Commercial side of things and

Erin Bain who ensures the PR and Media are up to scratch. Altogether its a well oiled

machine with each cog operating efciently.

Initially the series was not a provider to higher racing honours or a test ground for up

and coming drivers, but that has changed over time. Many now use it as either a step

towards the Fujitsu series or Supercar series and some even travel the ditch to race in

the sister series on New Zealand soil. The thing is, the Ute series has come from nothing

and in ten years has become arguably the second most popular class of motorsport in

Australia and probably New Zealand as well.

Battle. Mle. Skirmish. Blood. For 10 years now the Australian V8 Ute Series has

provided it all. It sprouted with the need for support class entertainment for the masses,

and there seems to be no stopping the gladiatorial juggernaut. Strangely enough that is

exactly what the racing fan is hoping for. V8R

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V8R the Beast Rolls On