V8 SuperUte champion Ryal Harris, 39, banned from racing after domestic violence charges

A Queensland V8 champion has been barred from racing after allegations of domestic violence, including stalking, surfaced against him.

V8 SuperUte racing champion Ryal Harris at the Supreme Court in Brisbanes. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

A Gold Coast V8 champion has been barred from racing after allegations of domestic violence surfaced against him earlier this year.

SuperUte champion Ryal Harris was granted bail in January for domestic violence charges including stalking and using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence.

The charges involved Harris, 39, allegedly calling his ex-partner incessantly and driving past her house in efforts to see his son.

He attended Brisbane’s Supreme Court on Wednesday in a bid to remove the bail condition that he claims caused him to be barred from racing this year.

Defence lawyer Ashkan Tai submitted to the court that Harris’s ankle monitor interfered with his work as both a racing car driver and as a screen printer.

“The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile would not allow him to race as a result of that tracker on his leg,” Mr Tai said.

Harris’s SuperUtes bio labels him as the “most-successful Utes driver in Australian motorsport history”, having won five titles across three eras.

Ryal Harris racing in the ECB SuperUtes Series at the Townsville 400. File picture: Alix Sweeney

He is still listed as a V8 SuperUte driver for the 2025 series, but recent motorsports publications have noted he had recently stepped back to attend to “personal matters”.

In addition to the tracker’s impact on Harris’s racing career, Mr Tai said it would also get caught and tangled at Harris’s workplace in Ashmore.

The court heard Harris had moved his warehouse from Southport to Ashmore earlier this year to comply with another bail condition requiring him to avoid Southport, where the complainant had resided at the time.

When initially granted bail, Harris had been required to live at an address in Slacks Creek – but Mr Tai told the court his client now wished to move closer to his work.

Mr Tai emphasised that the allegations against Harris did not include any threats or suggestion of physical harm.

Ryal Harris is still listed as a V8 SuperUte driver for the 2025 series. File picture: Supplied

“The 11 days that my client spent in custody (on remand) really was a wake-up call for him,” Mr Tai said.

“He is committed to being a good father. He was anxious to re-engage with his son, who he hasn’t seen for 11 months.”

A spokesperson for the V8 SuperUtes Series said Harris had only competed in one round of their 2025 series in February, and that his licence was not suspended at that time.

“As far as the Series is concerned, Mr Ryal Harris did compete at one round only this year, but hasn’t raced since due to a decision made by the team owner, not because of any suspension of his license,” the spokesperson said.

They explained that Motorsport Australia conducted stringent licence checks on behalf of the FIA on any motorsport series that operated under FIA regulations.

“The Series takes the safety and wellbeing of all its competitors seriously and does have the ultimate right to accept or deny any request to compete at our rounds,” the spokesperson said.

“... We don’t have any request from Mr Ryal Harris to compete at present, nor has any current team owner raised this as a future possibility with the Series.”

“All our 24 licenses to compete which are owned by our teams are all filled for the remainder of 2025.”

Justice Sean Cooper said he wasn’t satisfied that the ankle monitor and residential condition remained necessary, noting Harris had complied with his conditions since being granted bail in January.

He granted the application to vary Harris’s bail, with a new condition requiring Harris to report to the Nerang police station on a weekly basis.

Originally published as V8 SuperUte champion Ryal Harris, 39, banned from racing after domestic violence charges