The Independent Race Series visited Morgan Park on the weekend, and despite the early threat of monsoon conditions associated with Tropical Cyclone Ului, the conditions were fine and sunny, and the racing top class.
The Morgan Park facility and the friendly and accommodating volunteers and circuit staff fitted perfectly with iRace's brand of racing, and the relaxed, friendly atmosphere the series takes to every round.
Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars fielded a very strong grid, word-of-mouth spreading since the 2009 round, and the racing was close, fair and fun. Frank Donniaux maintained the upper hand over Anthony Soole in Class X, taking three of the four race wins, and winning a BlackBerry from BlackBerryStore.com.au in the process. In the V8 Class it was Daniel Flanagan who took the honours (despite a suspension drama causing a DNF in the final race). In Class A, Richard Mork was strongest, with Sean Soole taking out Class B, and winning the second BlackBerry. John Willmington, driving a Pulsar custom-made for the Morgan Park layout took out Class C (finishing ahead of almost all the Class B cars).
Full Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars results are available here.
HDT Muscle Division and McHitch Touring Car Challenge were combined for this round, and the result was some action packed racing. Frank Donniaux joined the field in his Subaru WRX, and looked to be the early pace-setter, while Joe McGinnes was lifting wheels all over the place as he jetted around in his XY GT Falcon. Norm Stokes was consistently quick all day though, and proved that consistency counts for a lot in the handicap format by taking the McHitch Touring Car Challenge round win, ahead of McGinnes and Donniaux. In the Muscle Division, Rod Gurney drove some fantastic races to take the round win, ahead of Merrick Malouf and Maria Mare.
Full McHitch Touring Car Challenge results here.
Full HDT Muscle Division results here.
Formula Tasman was dominated by Chris Farrell in his 2001 Swift Formula Atlantic, but Farrell was kept honest in all races by Sam Dale in his Reynard 94D. Dale overcame early gearbox dramas to shadow Farrell all weekend, the pair setting their quickest times in Race 2, with 60.2 seconds for Farrell and 60.4 sec for Dale.
Full Formula Tasman results here.
Robert Free looked like the early favourite in RocketSports, but a spin in the opening race, and an engine gremlin for the final race saw local boy Matt Clift take the honours. Free and Clift battled in every race, the most exciting tussle coming at the end of Race Three, where the pair swapped the lead repeatedly, with Clift just managing to get the upper hand at the flag. Adam Dodd, driving a Holden Roadster for the first time, managed to take second place for the round, with another local, John Woolcock taking third.
Full RocketSports results here.
All in all a fantastic meeting, and enjoyed by all who attended. There's already some onboard video action available at
onboard.irace.net.au, with more to be added soon thanks to Launch Helmet Cams. Look out for some photos in the gallery in the near future (
in the meantime, click here to check out some great photos), and details of the TV coverage will be announced as soon as they are available.
Your next chance to get a dose of iRace action is in just under three weeks time! At the fantastic Eastern Creek, 9 April.
Get your entries in now!
Round Three of the 2010 Independent Race Series is rapidly approaching, with just under three weeks until action gets underway.
TV coverage of the latest round of the Independent Race Series from Morgan Park will screen on SBS Speedweek Sunday 4 April. The iRace segment will start at around 2pm, but as always, check your local TV guide to confirm.
We're hosting another competition for those running at Round 2 at Morgan Park on our Facebook page.