V8 SuperUte Series beefs up parity process

The balance of performance between the brands in the multi-marque Ute class has been a hot topic amid the series’ recent surge in growth.

That has led to two significant changes; the addition of more parameters upon which parity is measured, and the handing over of final sign-off on changes to Motorsport Australia.

The latter move appears to address any remaining concerns over a conflict of interest surrounding Luke Sieders and the Sieders Racing Team.

Sieders rescued the series following its failed diesel engine era under Supercars management and had been category and technical manager until this year.

A new structure was revealed ahead of Round 1 in February, where Filippa Guarna was installed as category manager and Wayne Williams as technical chief.

Updated balance of performance measures were signed off by Motorsport Australia on Wednesday and presented to teams at the Symmons Plains circuit yesterday.

“The Tyrepower V8 SuperUte Series is a unique platform where we have six manufacturers represented on the grid but that includes multiple generations of car within that, so all up we have nine different models and the related Recognition Documents registered with MA to govern those technical setups,” Guarna explained to Speedcafe this week.

“Anyone with experience in this industry knows that the process of coming to an ideal BOP setup for any category takes time.

“In fact, we’ve been working with Paul Ceprnich and PACE Innovations consistently on BOP since Sandown in late 2023, and the effort he’s put into the series has been tremendous; he’s also someone that Motorsport Australia has encouraged us to work with as an independent party and we will continue to support that technical partnership.

“As our BOP stands, we currently have three ratified measures of BOP, being weight, ride height and camber settings.

“But measuring BOP is like having many strings to a bow, where the more you have the better music you’ll be able to create.

“So since Round 1 at Sydney Motorsport Park, we’ve held dozens of calls, emails and zoom meetings with Motorsport Australia representatives, our shareholder group and our own internal technical Advisory Panel to work through additional options and how best to at least ratify another element of measurement.”

Scott Taylor publicly called for changes to the parity system earlier this week, pointing to disadvantages faced by the Ford Rangers driven by himself and teammate Paul Morris.

“Our Ford Ranger is wider and more stable, but a bit blunt in the nose, so in a straight line it’s not so good, though in the corners it is better,” he said.

“Hilux has a higher centre of gravity and to paritise the field some robust testing needs to be done.

“They’ve done a good job so far, but we think there can be enhancements to that like getting an independent party to test the cars.”

Taylor also said his STM squad has been working with the SuperUtes series on improving the parity process.

“Numerous shareholders have been extremely helpful in providing their insight, ideas and technical suggestions in recent weeks to make BOP better, including Scott Taylor, and all of that information has been collated by the series and Wayne our technical manager, and communicated with our advisory panel and MA for ongoing review and assessment,” added Guarna.

“To be clear, the series has not engaged with any specific team to do testing or BOP reviews on behalf of the category itself.

“Each team of course is able to do their own private test days prior to each round but what they do at those test days is up to them.

“The series acknowledges that there is always room for improvement and we have been cooperative in all discussions with MA of late.

“The Tyrepower V8 SuperUte Series remains committed to working with MA, our shareholders and our stakeholders to ensure fair, competitive and, most importantly, safe racing for all for the longterm.”