Brute Force

They’re big and brash and should make for spectacular racing, but can the new diesel-engined SuperUtes really replace the V8 trucks in the hearts of Aussie race goers?

- Stefan Bartholomaeus

The death of Australian automotive manufacturing and its home-grown Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore has presented major challenges for organisers of the Supercars Championship. It is evolving to welcome V6 turbo engines and, possibly, two-door body shapes as well. But while that marks a significant technical challenge for the category and an adjustment for a fan base brought up with its beloved V8 sedans, the evolution doesn’t stop there.

One of Supercars’ key support acts is the V8 Utes Racing Series which, running since 2001, played on the Ford vs Holden rivalry by featuring production Falcon and Commodore-based utes. While iconic in Australia, the car-based utes (‘ute’ is short for utility and is the Australian term for a pickup) have been overrun across the last decade in the road car market by imported SUV based trucks. The SUV-based utes now represent almost 20 per cent of the new vehicle market, with the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger among Australia’s highest selling individual models. So, although not natural race cars at first glance, when it came to future-proofing the Ute series, the direction seemed obvious.

Thunder’s truck

Supercars took over the V8 Ute Series after the previous management, in which the competitors were the shareholders, fell into financial stress at the end of 2015. Plans had been announced earlier that year for a new generation Ute platform featuring a purpose built control chassis, to be fitted with various SUV-based bodies and V8 engines. But this was expensive and lacked manufacturer support and failed to get off the ground, so Supercars has now headed for a low-cost, very much production-based, formula to move forward.