Yes, that's a Mitsubishi Strada race truck

When we hear the words race truck, we'd typically imagine a rally raid machine taking on tough terrain at high speeds. A circuit racing pickup, on the other hand, is a bit of an oddity. Still, it hasn't stopped anyone from having a crack at it and, in fact, there are a couple of racing leagues around the world that sees these utility vehicles haul more than cargo.

Over in Australia, there's a series called Superutes, and one of the newest contenders is the 2019 Mitsubishi Strada. Yes, barely months since its global debut, it has been transformed into a circuit racer. It's a factory-backed effort too so you know Mitsubishi is quite serious about it.

The Strada (or Triton as it's called in Australia and elsewhere) race truck is actually close to its production counterpart. In fact, it starts out in life as a Strada/Triton GLX but is completely stripped out to shed weight. It then gets a roll-cage, a single bucket seat, and the all-important safety harness. It gets fully-adjustable coil overs on all corners, as well as a more aggressive rear differential.

It's significantly beefier than the Strada/Triton you see in the showrooms, particularly in the engine department. While it still uses the same 2.4-liter MIVEC diesel engine, it gets an upgraded turbo, intake manifold, intercooler, radiator, engine management system, and oil sump. According to Mitsubishi Australia, the Triton Superute packs around 350 PS, and a whopping 550 Nm of torque. They say that it can even reach speeds of up to 240 km/h.

In the Australian racing scene, the new Strada/Triton Superute does battle with the Ford Ranger, Holden (Chevrolet) Colorado, Isuzu D-Max, Mazda BT-50, and Toyota Hilux. So, besides the sales charts, we now also get to see these trucks duke it out on the race tracks.