Round One Photos

Darin Mandy of Digital Realism has posted some great photos from Morgan Park over on his website.

Click here to visit the gallery. There are links to purchase images at the top of the gallery page.

Darren offers prints in various sizes, as well as the popular images on CD option.

UPDATE: Darren has now finished uploading the photos for this gallery - check out the links above, and if you find some photos you like, support Darren by making a purchase!

Round Report - Round One - Morgan Park

The opening round of the 2009 Independent Race Series has been run and won at Queensland's Morgan Park circuit.

The meeting took place under clear skies and warm weather, and was for many competitors (and the iRace Series) their first visit to the technical circuit.

Friday saw unofficial practice, and the first chance for the competitors to get to know the layout. There were no major occurrences during the day, other than an oil line coming lose on Robert Townsend's Minetti, leading to a fire, and Robert's unfortunate retirement from the meeting.

Saturday morning saw official practice, again held in fine conditions. Darren Saillard was the early pacesetter in the Touring Car Challenge field, lapping in 1m04s. Quickest in the RocketSports field was Robert Free (1m10s). Sam Dale was the sole Formula Tasman entrant, lapping in 1m04s. The Production Racing Cars boasted the most competitive field, led by Anthony Soole in his Class X Lotus Exige (1m12s), but the middle part of the field spread by just a couple of seconds.

In qualifying, the leaders remained unchanged - Saillard took pole for the Touring Car Challenge, Soole for Production Racing Cars, Dale for Formula Tasman/Le Mans Sports and Robert Free in the RocketSports. In each case the midfield groups were tightly grouped, promising some great racing come Sunday.

Sunday morning was again fine, and the first event was the RocketSports, featuring Future Cars. Robert Free led from pole, with John Biddlecombe settling into second place. It was the Holden Roadsters of Graham Smith and Clive O'Connor in third and fourth respectively.

For the second RocketSports race, Robert Free led from start to finish again, but John Biddlecombe succumbed to a fuel problem, and was forced to retire from the rest of the meeting. Smith again got the better of O'Connor in the Holden Roadsters.

In the third RocketSports event, Graham Smith delivered a wakeup call to Robert Free, taking the lead at the start. The two tussled for a couple of laps before Free used the nimble handling of the Future Racer to open up a gap. Smith came home in second, with O'Connor third.

In the RocketSports finale, Robert Free led all the way, but O'Connor managed to get the better of Smith in the early stages, running in second place. Smith got the upperhand at half-distance, and held second to the finish.

Robert Free took the overall win for the round, and Smith took the Holden Roadster honours.

In the Formula Tasman and Le Mans Sports category, Sam Dale was the sole survivor come Sunday, with the other cars not making it to the first race. Dale used the event as a test session, and was clearly not content to slow down, improving his laptime with each session.

The Production Racing Cars proved to be highly competitive, with some very close racing. Anthony Soole dominated, in his Class X Lotus Exige. Behind Soole was a mix of Class A, B and C cars.

In the first of the Production Racing Cars races, it was Clark Stott second overall, and first of the Class A cars. Behind him it was Richard Mork, in his Class A Honda Integra. John Willmington was punching above his weight, first of the Class C cars, and fourth overall! Best of Class B was Malcolm Rea.

Production Racing Cars Race Two saw a reverse grid start shakeup the order a little, Soole needing to push his way through from the rear. He managed it fairly comfortably, taking the lead on the seventh lap (of 10). Nick Chambers took second place, top of the Class A cars. Hans Riehs led much of the race, but a slip saw him drop back to third at the finish. John Willmington again topped the Class C cars, finishing 6th outright, and ahead of ALL the Class B cars. Debutante Carly Black was the first Class B car home, in 8th outright.

The third Production Racing Cars race reverted to a normal grid, and Anthony Soole took another win. Again it was Nick Chambers putting in a strong performance in Class A, taking the class win and second outright. John Willmington was top Class C, 6th outright, and Neil Byers won Class B in his first finish for the weekend.

For the final Production Racing Cars race, Anthony Soole elected to start rear-of-grid, and drove an epic race to come through for the win. Clark Stott took second outright, and top spot in Class A. John Willmington did it again in Class C (6th outright), and Neil Byers took Class B.

In the final standings for Production Racing Cars, Anthony Soole took the Class X victory, young-gun Nick Chambers won Class A, James Flanagan was victorious in Class B and John Willmington was dominant in Class C.

Darren Saillard dominated qualifying for the Touring Car Challenge, but he gave his pole position away for the opening scratch race - electing to start from the rear-of-grid. He made up places quickly though, making his way halfway through the field by the first corner. He picked off the rest by the second lap, and led for the remainder. Behind Saillard the action was hot, with a number of battles evolving. Dave Gardner retired with throttle problems, and Gary Leaton with driveline issues. Richard Mork and Phil Groeneveld had an epic, racelong battle, Mork ultimately getting the upper hand and taking second overall. Joe McGinnes (XY Falcon Muscle Division car) and local-boy Matthew Clift (Mazda RX2) also had a nail-biting battle - the two swapping places a number of times, with McGinnes leading at the flag. Merrick Malouf (BA Falcon V8 Ute) and Paul Bruce (Mazda RX2) also enjoyed a racelong battle, with Bruce coming out on top.

Race Two of Touring Car Challenge was a handicap affair, and Darren Saillard tried his heart out to take the win. He didn't quite make it though. Local driver Matthew Clift pedaled his Mazda RX2 to a handy lead and held it to the finish. Saillard make quick progress through the field, but found a wide Commodore at the hands of Richard Mork, and had his progressed delayed just enough to hand Clift the win. Merrick Malouf drove a strong race to third place.

In the third race - another handicap, Saillard again did his level best to make up the deficit, but this time he was beaten by Dave Gardner. Gardner had suffered a terrible run of luck - alternating between a throttle stuck wide open, and no throttle at all! It all turned around for him in this race though, he took a popular win. Merrick Malouf again took a strong third place.

In the final, Darren Saillard turned the tables, and took a dominant victory. Gardner took second place, with local driver Matthew Clift in third.

Overall results saw Saillard take the outright victory, ahead of Merrick Malouf and Dave Gardner. Saillard took the V8 Supercar honours, Phil Groeneveld the V8 Giants honours and Merrick Malouf took out Muscle Division.

A solid weekend of racing at Morgan Park revealed what a great driver's circuit it is. The challenging layout proved popular amongst competitors, and is expected to draw larger fields at the next event held at the track in June.

The next round of the Independent Race Series will be held at Sydney's Oran Park, 15-16 May, when they host the SuperTrucks for their farewell from Oran Park. All the details are available on the official website: www.irace.net.au

Round Two Entries Open

Round Two entries are now open.

We're expecting this to be our biggest round yet, and the first competitor to get their entry in will receive half price entry at the following round. Dave Gardner won this prize by getting his Round One entry in first, and will be eligible for entry to Round Two at half price. Get your entry in now to be eligible for the discount for Round Three.

And just to allay some fears about making payments over the internet - we DO NOT take your credit card details via the internet. If you wish to complete your entry via the online system, we ask you to either fax, post or phone your credit card details through. With your agreement, we can keep your credit card details on file for the year, and process your payment for each round as you submit your online entry. The other electronic payment option is PayPal - this is the safest system on the internet. PayPal invest massive funds to ensure their system is secure.

To access the online entry form, please click here.

To access the printable pdf version of the form, please click here.

Round One TV Details

The first round of the 2009 Independent Race Series from Morgan Park will go to air in April 2009.

The program will be broadcast via two channels:

SBS Speedweek - Sunday 12 April at 1pm

Fox Sports - Wednesday 29 April

As always, check your local guides for details.

The TV coverage for this round is supported by Marulan Driver Training Centre - visit the official website: www.mdtc.com.au

Onboard at Morgan Park

Anthony Soole - Lotus Exige - Production Racing Cars


Dave Gardner - VS Commodore - Touring Car Challenge

Kumho Tyres Round One Winners

Kumho Tyres are supporting competitors and officials associated with the Independent Race Series. Competitors are in the running to win a pair of Kumho race tyres, and one volunteer official per round will win a set of four Kumho road tyres.

At Round One, the winners were as follows:

Marulan Driver Training Centre Production Racing Cars - Class C: John Willmington

RocketSports - Future Car Division: Robert Free

Marulan Driver Training Centre Touring Car Challenge - V8 Giants Division: Phil Groeneveld

Volunteer Official: Rex Jolly, Scrutineer

The prize awarded to the racing categories will rotate between subcategories at each round. For Round One, the prize went to Class C for Production Racing Cars, Future Cars for RocketSports and V8 Giants for Touring Car Challenge. The next round will see the prize awarded to a driver from a different subcategory.

The Super Hoist Plus Trophy

As announced previously, our friends at Super Hoist Plus are supplying prizes for the overall Series Champion and Series runner up at the end of 2009.

As the Independent Race Series is a very diverse series, with a wide range of categories competing, and different race formats depending on the category, the best way to decide a "Series Champion" has proved to be a significant challenge.

We have arrived at a formula that is intended to be fair and equitable for everybody, and at the same time manageable. The system will work as follows:

Competitors will be awarded points for their position in their subcategory for each race. First place will receive 4 points, second place 3 points, third place 2 points, and fourth through to last receives 1 point. Competitors will also be awarded a point for each of the other cars in their subcategory that they defeat (for the purposes of this, the number of cars in each subcategory will count every car that attempts a race over the course of a race meeting). For categories that have less than four races over the weekend, points will be divided by the number of races, and then multiplied by four to achieve an equivalent allocation of points as the categories that do have four races. In the event that none of the subcategories within a category have at least three cars, then all cars will be considered as one category for the purposes of Series points calculation.

This does all sound a little complicated, but it is the fairest method we can devise for the purposes of determining a Series Champion.

The standings after Round One are as follows:

Robert Free - 28
John Willmington - 24
Nick Chambers - 22
Darren Saillard - 22
Graham Smith - 19
Merrick Malouf - 19
James Flanagan - 18
Carly Black - 18
Sam Dale - 16
Anthony Soole - 16
Matthew Clift - 16
Clark Stott - 15
Mal Rea - 15
Paul Bruce - 15
Richard Mork (Production) - 14
Neil Byers - 14
Dave Gardner - 14
Josh Riehs - 13
Clive O'Connor - 10
Candace Shafell - 10
Phil Groeneveld - 10
Hans Riehs - 8
Joe McGinnes - 7
John Biddlecombe - 5
Richard Mork (Touring Car) - 4
Gary Leaton - 0

So, everything is very close after the first round, and a reminder of what is on offer:

Series Champion - Two Post YSJ-3000 Hoist

Series Runner Up - Resto Roller

Morgan Park - Race Day

The Independent Race Series first visit to Morgan Park has come to a close, and some great racing took place over the course of the day. A full round report will follow, but the results from the round were as follows:

Touring Car Challenge & Muscle Division

1. Darren Saillard - BA Falcon V8 Supercar
2. Merrick Malouf - BA Falcon V8 Ute
3. Dave Gardner - VS Commodore V8 Supercar

V8 Supercar - Darren Saillard
V8 Giant - Philip Groeneveld
Muscle Division - Merrick Malouf

Production Racing Cars

Class X - Anthony Soole

Class A
1. Nicholas Chambers - Mini Cooper S
2. Clark Stott - Mazda 3 MPS
3. Richard Mork - Honda Integra

Class B
1. James Flanagan - Hyundai Sonata
2. Carly Black - Peugeot 206
3. Malcolm Rea - Toyota Celica

Class C
1. John Willmington - Nissan Pulsar
2. Candace Shafell - Toyota Corolla
3. Joshua Riehs - Proton GTi

RocketSports & Future Racers

Future Racer - Robert Free

Holden Roadster - Graham Smith

Formula Tasman & Le Mans Sports

1. Sam Dale - Reynard 94D

Morgan Park - Day Two

Conditions at Morgan Park were ideal for most of Saturday for Independent Race Series practice and qualifying. A little bit of wind and a few drops of rain made way for fine conditions in the afternoon.

The action on the circuit was mixed. The Formula Tasman and Le Mans Sports field was quite small, and Sam Dale set the fastest time in his Reynard 94D, with a 1m04.9s lap. John Biddlecombe in his Saker clocked a 1m13.4s lap.

In the RocketSports and Future Racers, local star Robert Free set the pace, with a 1m10.4s lap, holding out the Holden Roadster-mounted Graham Smith. Biddlecombe in the Saker was next fastest, with Clive O'Connor taking fourth in another Holden Roadster (1m16.6s).

The categories with the greatest amount of jostling were Production Racing Cars and Touring Car Challenge.

In the Production Racing Cars, most of the field is covered by just 6 seconds, and there are 8 cars covered by just 3 seconds - the action should be hot on Sunday! Anthony Soole took pole in his Lotus Elise (1m12.4s), Hans Riehs got his Mini Cooper S really moving to take second (1m14.1s), just edging out Clark Stott in his Mazda 3 MPS (1m14.9s). Richard Mork took 4th, John Willmington 5th, Neil Byers 6th, newcomer Josh Riehs 7th, Malcolm Rea 8th, James Flanagan 9th, Nick Chambers 10th, and newcomers Carly Black and Candace Shafell filled 11th and 12th.

In the Touring Car Challenge and Muscle Division, Darren Saillard set the fastest time, but it almost didn't happen - Saillard was fighting a gearbox problem which forced him to drive with one hand while he used the other to hold the car in gear! Saillard still managed a blistering 1m04.4s lap. Richard Mork was next quickest, with a 1m08.0s lap, Gary Leaton in 3rd, Phil Groeneveld 4th, and a relieved David Gardner in 5th. Gardner had his throttle jam wide open at the end of the straight, and his quick reactions saw him pull up just short of contact with the tyre barrier. Next up was the two-wheeling Joe McGinnes in his XY Falcon, followed by Merrick Malouf in his V8 Falcon Ute.

Onboard video from Dave Gardner's V8 Supercar will be available shortly on the iRace Blip TV page - click here to view.

A live gallery of photos from the event is available. Visit the iRace gallery here. Or you can access the images directly through the iRace Flickr gallery, where you can download the full resolution versions for printing or reproduction.

The weather looks good again for tomorrow, when all the action is scheduled to happen at the exciting Morgan Park circuit.

Morgan Park - Day One

Friday practice has been completed, with a number of cars taking to the Morgan Park track. The general consensus from competitors is that Morgan Park is a challenging, exciting and rewarding layout - it's mix of fast sweeping corners and tight direction changes makes mastering a fast lap tough, and nailing the right setup essential.

A selection of photos have been added to the Live Gallery, available by clicking here.

Schedule Now Available

With apologies for the delay in getting this online (somebody dug through the iRace HQ phone/internet lines!), the Round One schedule is now available for download.

Click here to download the PDF schedule for Round One.

Keeping you up to date at iRace.net.au

The Independent Race Series is always working to serve our competitors and fans in the most effective way possible. We try to innovate and capitalise on useful advances in technology that can make everyone's lives a little more streamlined.

When the site launched, we offered our news as a RSS Feed (click here for more information on how you can have every articled delivered to your email program or other RSS reader).

We've started a mailing list and send regular updates to all our subscribers (subscribe here if you haven't been receiving the emails).

We've launched a fully featured Online Entry System that makes it easier for competitors to submit their entries, and makes life a little easier at our end by automatically putting all the entry information into a handy spreadsheet.

And now, in the leadup to Round One, we're ready to launch something else new. Live Updates. The iRace website has always been kept pretty well up-to-date, but race weekends are always a challenge to get new information on the site. This is a problem, because race weekends are what we are all about. Well, now we've introduced two ways to overcome this.

We now feature a live "photostream" on the front page of the site. There is only one photo there now, but that will change once the round gets underway. The most recent photos from the current round will appear in this section. And to view all the photos from the current round, go via the Multimedia page to the round in question and select the Live Photo Feed. The link for Round 1 is here.

We'll also be adding short live news updates to the front page. We can send these in from a mobile phone, so trackside news should appear fairly regularly. The most recent items will appear on the front page, and to view them all, you can check out this link. If you already have a Twitter account, you can 'follow' iraceupdates and receive the news in your 'tweets'.

Bottom of site front page

And if all this sounds like too much for you, you can relax, because all the regular news and updates will still happen. Round reports, and post-event news items will be available in the normal way.

So, get ready for the year ahead. And if there's anything else you'd like to see on iRace.net.au, you can always provide feedback through the Contact Us page, or in the Suggestion Box.

Marulan Driver Training Centre Support for TCC and PRC

The Touring Car Challenge and Production Racing Cars categories will boast support from the exciting new Marulan Driver Training Centre at Round One of the Independent Race Series.

The Touring Car Challenge features cars from the past 20 years of Australian Touring Car racing, and a diversity format where everyone has a chance to take victory.

Production Racing Cars is dedicated to road-based, production cars, from the showroom floor, via a couple of safety modifications, straight to the race track.

The Marulan Driver Training Centre is dedicated to road safety through driver training and education. The centre, around an hour and a half south of Sydney, features top quality training facilities and a 1km long, 8m wide track, specially designed to feature a variety of driving challenges. Visit www.mdtc.com.au for more information.

Competitors in TCC and PRC will display MDTC windscreen banners in recognition of the support.

Round One of the Independent Race Series heads to Morgan Park this weekend, 20-22 March. Keep track of all the action on www.iRace.net.au

Preorder Tyres for Round One

A special notice to competitors

To ensure the Kumho Tyres truck at Morgan Park is carrying the tyres you need, competitors are asked to preorder their tyres using this form. Orders should be placed by opening of business Mon 16 Mar to ensure the correct tyres are onboard the truck.

Get Your Entries in for Round One

There are still a few days left to get your entries in for Round One, at Warwick's Morgan Park.

The Independent Race Series will visit the Morgan Park circuit for the very first time 20-22 March. Entry fees are set at an affordable $395, including TV coverage on Fox Sports. As well as a great weekends racing, competitors put themselves in the running for a pair of Kumho tyres, and the great Super Hoist Plus prizes at the end of the year.

To submit your Round 1 entry via the online system, click here.

To access the old-school mail/fax-in entry form, click here.

For more information on Morgan Park, and the first round of the Independent Race Series, click here.

SuperHoist Plus to Reward Overall Series Performers

Super Hoist Plus will be providing two outstanding prizes for the overall Independent Race Series winner and runner up.

The highest point scorer across all categories over all 6 rounds will receive a fantastic Two Post Hoist (YSJ3000), and the runner up will receive a Resto Roller (or equivalent credit toward an alternate SuperHoist product).

Laurie Betland from Super Hoist Plus said "Super Hoist Plus are proud to sponsor the 2009 IRace Series. We want to take this opportunity to thank Rod Dale and Garry Willmington for their efforts to get the series up and running."

For more information on Super Hoist Plus, please visit their official website: www.superhoistplus.com

Competitors AND Officials in the Running for Kumho Rewards

Kumho tyres have thrown their support behind the Independent Race Series and will be providing 4 pairs of tyres at each round for round winners across all categories on a contingency basis.

F Sports' John Mills, supplier of the Kumho race tyres has also put forward a set of road tyres at each round for a lucky official whose name will be drawn out of a hat.

John said he "wants to acknowledge the hard work that the officials do at race meetings in all sorts of weather conditions".

Independent Race Series to Host Super Trucks at Oran Park

The Independent Race Series are pleased to announce that they will be hosting the last ever Oran Park race for the Australian Super Truck Championship.

After a history spanning over 20 years, the Super Trucks will have their final race meeting at Oran Park as part of Round 2 of the 2009 Independent Race Series.

Australian Super Truck President Stan Seton said he "was very pleased to be part of the Independent Race Series Program " and is "keen to work with Rod Dale and Garry Willmington to ensure that the trucks go out with a bang at the last truck race to be held at the Camden circuit."

Garry Willmington has a special connection with truck racing at Oran Park. Garry took part in the first ever truck race at Oran Park and what's more that was at the wheel of the Leppington Pastoral Company owned Volvo F12 co-driven by the late Gregg Hansford.

A large crowd is expected to turn out to see the trucks for the last time at Oran Park on May 15th and 16th.