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iRace Retrospective

2010 Prize Winners

The 2010 Independent Race Series End of Season Presentation was held on Saturday at the Marulan Driver Training Centre. All the category prize winners were awarded their trophies at the event, and there were some additional prizes presented to recognise some special contributions to the series during the year.

Click here to view the category champions. Additional prize winners were as follows:

• Corey Gurney - Sportsman of the Year


• Maria Mare - Never Give Up Award


• Phil Andrew - Encouragement Award


• Kylie Willmington - Media Personality of the Year

A selection of lucky door prizes were also presented on the night, with the major prize, a brush cutter thanks to R&A Mowers, went to Natalie Willmington.

iRace 2010 - Short Highlights Video

iRace - All Our Friends

iRace Christmas Gift Ideas

It's not long until Christmas now, and if you're still struggling for an idea for the racer in your family, here are some great products from the companies that support iRace.

An Onboard Camera from Launch Helmet Cams. We recommend the iRacer Package, including a Drift Innovations HD170 camera (check out some sample footage from this camera here), a rugged roll bar mount and a 16GB SD memory card. Great value at only $449, check out the details by clicking here.

A gift certificate from the awesome Marulan Driver Training Centre. There are a range of products available, from Kids Training to Defensive and Advanced Driver Training. You can choose a gift to suit your budget, check out the details here.

Super Hoist Plus specialise primarily in car hoists, and no doubt any racer would love to receive a hoist for Christmas. The guys at Super Hoist Plus also sell some fantastic tools, and they currently have an offer for an extremely comprehensive and good value tool set. Check out the details here.

Not directly related to racing, but great supporters of our series, and stocking some excellent Christmas gifts, BlackBerryStore.com.au and their companion site SmartPhoneStore.com.au offer some awesome mobile devices, and some terrific accessories. Take a look now and you're bound to find some great Christmas ideas.

The McHitch is a fantastic invention from popular iRace Joe McGinnes. The McHitch replaces your traditional trailer coupling and provides much smoother, safer and quieter towing. Starting at $495 the McHitch will prove it's worth on the first long towing trip in reduced fatigue and more pleasurable driving. Check it out here.

And last but by no means least, HDT offers some fantastic high performance Holdens. They also offer a great range of accessories and modifications for the Holden enthusiast in your life. Check out the range here.

UPDATE: Launch Helmet Cams have just smashed the price on their entry-level GoPro Helmet Wide Hero Camera to $149. Check out some sample footage here. Check out the Launch product page here.

Motorsport - Every Second Counts

2011 Calendar

The 2011 iRace calendar is now available. The events are as follows:

• Round 1 - Queensland Raceway - 5-6 March
• Round 2 - Eastern Creek - 29 April
• Round 3 - Lakeside - 18-19 June
• Round 4 - Morgan Park - 23-24 July
• Round 5 - Eastern Creek - 19 August
• Round 6 - Eastern Creek - 23 September

Click here to download a PDF poster of the 2011 calendar.
Click here to download a Mac iCal compatible calendar file.
Click here to access as a Google calendar.

iRace - We Care About...

2010 iRace End of Season Festivities

Racing for the 2010 Independent Race Series has come to a close, and there are a bunch of new champions to be recognised. To cap off a great year iRace will be having a two-part function at the Marulan Driver Training Centre Saturday 11 December.

Part 1 will be a Family Practice and Training Day using the fantastic training loop at MDTC. To drive on the day the fee is $80 (special price for iRacers), to be a passenger the fee is $50 (for iRacers).

Part 2 will be a 2-course Presentation Dinner in the function room at MDTC. The cost for the dinner is $29 per head.

You can choose which parts you get involved with and get more details on this special page on the iRace website: www.irace.net.au/presentation

The cutoff date for responses is December 3rd.

TV Alert!

Round 7 TV coverage will screen on Fox Sports InsideSpeed Wednesday 27 October.

The coverage will also be shown on SBS Speedweek on a date to be advised.

As always, check your local guide for details.

iRace, Will You?

Flanagan Gets Launched

Production racer James Flanagan received a very pleasant surprise at Round 7 of the Independent Race Series - the brand new Drift Innovation HD170 action camera from the awesome guys at Launch Helmet Cams.

Flanagan won the prize as a result of consistently getting his race entries in early. Competitors were notified early in the year that there would be a reward for submitting entries early, and James was in the first five entries received for every round, often being the first to submit his entry.

The Drift Innovation HD170 is one of the best onboard cameras on the market, it features full high definition recording, a variety of mounts (plus a roll cage mount thanks to the guys from Launch) and a full colour LCD screen to help setup the perfect shot.

Launch Helmet Cams are based in Perth, and distribute a full range of fantastic onboard/helmet cameras. They have supported iRace for the duration of 2010, and supplied this fantastic prize. They also have a great deal going at the moment for iRace competitors on an iRacer Onboard package - just $549 for a Drift Innovations HD170 Camera, a Rugged Roll Bar Mount
and a 16GB SD Memory Card. Click here for all the details.

2010 iRace Champions

Officially Awesome

The final round of the Independent Race Series for 2010 was held at Eastern Creek on the weekend, and the drivers weren't the only ones to do some winning. As part of our ongoing recognition of the awesome work our volunteer officials do, iRace was able to reward three lucky officials from the meeting.

Stu Inwood, our very dedicated scrutineer, won a Fastrack V8 Super Drive and Ride. Experience V8 Racing / Driving at its best, with the best, you and a professional race car driver behind the wheel of a V8 Race Car You Drive for 6 (NSW-SA) or 8 (VIC-WA) heart-racing laps. Then be taken for 3 thrilling Hot Laps as a passenger with your pro race car driver.

The Gurney Racing team, in conjunction with R&A Mowers, provided two fantastic lawnmowers, which were won by: Paul Brissington, Turn 2 Flag Marshall, and Mick Harvey, Fire Marshall.

With the cold and windy conditions experienced at Eastern Creek, every single official was deserving of our recognition, and we're very grateful to Fastrack and R&A Mowers to be able to offer these prizes as part of that recognition.

If you'd like to find out more about becoming a volunteer official with the Independent Race Series, click here.

Vale Ray Lintott

Gentleman racer, Ray Lintott passed away recently, and iRace would like to extend their condolences to Ray's family and friends.

Lintott passed away on September 12, at age 67, after succumbing to a 12-month battle with cancer.

Lintott was known for racing a wide variety of cars, and being a noted car dealer. He joined iRace in January 2010 for the last ever race meeting at Oran Park, driving his Porsche 911. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Gerry Murphy Supporting Day of Difference at Eastern Creek

Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars competitor Gerry Murphy will carry the Day of Difference (DoD) logo on the bonnet of his MoComm Racing HSV GTS in an effort to raise awareness about the vital work undertaken by this important charity.

The charity was founded in November 2004 by the parents of little Sophie Delezio who suffered unimaginable burns to 85% of her body in a terrible accident at her child care centre. Thanks to the skill and dedication of hospital staff, Sophie survived.

But there are many more children like Sophie, who suffer critical injuries and need our help. On average, 68,000 children aged 0-14 years are admitted to children’s hospitals due to injury.

That’s 186 per day and 8 every single hour.

Driver Gerry Murphy said “Sophie’s situation was the catalyst for us getting involved with DoD. I just wanted to do something to help her and the hundreds of kids like her. If our involvement can assist to raise the profile or prompt someone to donate, then I feel we have helped in some small way.”

The Day of Difference Foundation
The Day of Difference Foundation is a national children’s charity dedicated to working for critically injured children and their families across Australia, by supporting them on the life changing journey from Intensive Care through to recovery.

The mission of the charity is to offer family support, hospital resources, access to communications and accommodation, community engagement and education in the acceptance of difference.

The Family Support Program
The lives of families where children have been critically injured are often changed forever. The psycho social impact of the trauma they face is well documented in research and for some, it is lifelong and something from which they may never recover.

The Day of Difference Foundation aims to practically address the issues these families face through a new program called the Family Support Program; following the principles of family centred care. We believe this program will result in fewer hospital delinquencies and translate to cost savings in the overall heatlhcare of the family.

The final round for 2010 of the Independent Race Series will be held at Eastern Creek, 16 October. Find out more at the official website: www.irace.net.au

For more information on the Day of Difference Foundation, visit: www.dayofdifference.org.au

Rush Hour: Round 6 Report

Round 6 of the 2010 Independent Race Series was held in fine weather at Queensland Raceway 14-15 August. As with the earlier round held at Lakeside, only a selection of the iRace categories attended: Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars, McHitch Touring Car Challenge and HDT Muscle Division.

The action came thick and fast, with each category completing five races. The fast layout at Queensland Raceway, with the long straights meant the more powerful cars were at an advantage.

Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars saw plenty of on-track action, with two of the races red-flagged when cars went into the gravel traps, but when the flags were green the racing was spectacular. Class X saw a dominant performance by Franck Donniaux in his WRX STi once again, winning outright in all five races. The V8 Class was blitzed by Daniel Flanagan in his Commodore ute - Flanagan didn't have it all his own way though, he was forced to start from pitlane in the opening race, but still managed to finish second outright, and first of the V8 Class (onboard video here). Class A was won by Clark Stott (Mazda MPS) who enjoyed some epic battles with Graham Lusty. Class B went to Barry Black, the quiet achiever of Class B. Black kept his nose clean, while Neil Byers and Sean Soole kept each other busy. Class C was once again dominated by John Willmington (Pulsar SSS).

HDT Muscle Division saw a diverse array of cars, from turbo-powered 4 cylinders to fire-breathing V8s, and the on-track action was equally as exciting. Tony Saint (Mazda RX7) showed great consistency and solid performances in the handicap races to take the round win, ahead of Paul Chaffey (Subaru WRX) and Rod Gurney in his beautifully turned out XT GT Falcon. Gurney's team, in the true spirit of iRace, also helped another competitor get back on track - Maria Mare spectacularly broke an axle, and it was Corey Gurney who was instrumental in getting the Commodore saloon car back up and running.

McHitch Touring Car Challenge turned plenty of heads for this round, with the introduction of the Oz Truck stock cars. The 500+ HP, V8-powered utes look the part, and proved that they can lap with the best of them, setting very fast times, and taking the round win outright, with Chaz Mostert winning all but one race. Second for the round was the spectacular Dwayn Taylor in his wheel-hiking Torana. Third was Graham Struber in the second of the Oz Trucks.

In all, another epic round of the Independent Race Series. TV coverage from this round will screen on SBS Speedweek, Sunday 5 September at 12.30pm. The grand finale for 2010 will be held at Eastern Creek, Saturday 16 October. Don't miss out!

McGinnes the McHitch Inventor

Joe McGinnes, popular McHitch Touring Car Challenge competitor, and inventor of the awesome McHitch will be appearing on the TV program New Inventors tonight on ABC1 at 8pm.

McGinnes invented the revolutionary McHitch Trailer Coupling, and supports the Touring Car Challenge category. Check back here after the show for a rundown of what happened, and links to some additional information.

UPDATE: Joe's outline, including some video from the show, has now been posted on the New Inventors website. Check it out, and VOTE FOR JOE if you support his outstanding invention!

UPDATE #2: Joe has won the "People's Choice" award! Congratulations Joe, and thank you to all those who voted!"

Lucky Officials from Round 5

At iRace we love our officials. At every trophy presentation drivers extend their thanks to the volunteers who stand in the sun, rain or wind all day to make our racing possible - we couldn't do it without these guys. And when we can, we try to give something back. At our most recent round at Eastern Creek, every official went into a draw with a chance to win one of two great prizes. The winners from that round were as follows:

Judy Ellacott from Race Control won a weekend for two at the Blue Hills Farm Retreat, with thanks to the Gurney family. Situated in the heart of historic Hartley Vale, Blue Hills Farm Retreat offers relaxing country charm for both couples and families providing an ambient, romantic and cosy place to unwind and relax. Surrounded by native Australian bushlands with wild life a plenty, breathtaking mountain escarpments and glorious sunsets, this is a special place.

Rodney Gard from Recovery won a V8 Super Drive and Ride thanks to the guys at Fastrack. Experience V8 Racing / Driving at its best, with the best, you and a professional race car driver behind the wheel of a V8 Race Car You Drive for 6 (NSW-SA) or 8 (VIC-WA) heart-racing laps. Then be taken for 3 thrilling Hot Laps as a passenger with your pro race car driver.

Similar rewards will be offered at our final round for 2010, again at Eastern Creek, in October. If you would like to learn more about becoming an official, or getting involved with iRace, click here.

We'd also like to extend a huge thank you to Prolific Systems who provided two safety cars at the round. Prolific Systems offer quality, affordable emergency vehicle lights and siren amplifiers, as well as a range of other equipment for emergency and industrial vehicles.

Cracking Racing at the Creek: R5 Report

Round 5 of the 2010 Independent Race Series took place under cloudy skies on Friday at Eastern Creek. Great fields across all categories put on some terrific racing, and as always a great atmosphere and plenty of camaraderie.

In Formula Tasman, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis was expected to be a major force in his 1985 Ferrari F1 car, and he took pole position in Qualifying 2. Guido was destined not to make the grid for the first race though, after the car succumbed to gearbox gremlins. Chris Farrell retained his stranglehold on the front spot, leading the field all the way in his Swift Formula Atlantic in Race 1. Sam Dale slipped into second place in his Reynard 94D and kept it to the chequered flag, Ron Coath was in third. As the field awaited the start of Race 2 the skies darkened, and it seemed inevitable that it would rain at some time during the race. The rain fell as the cars completed their warmup lap, and with all cars on slicks and an extremely slippery surface, it was a steady start to the race. Sam Dale managed to get the power down a little better and took the lead at the start. Despite the treacherous conditions Farrell held second to the finish, with Ron Coath again in third. Farrell and Dale ended the round equal on points, but Dale was awarded the round win due to his higher finishing position in the final race. Ron Coath took third for the round.

LeMans Sports saw it's most impressive grid yet, with a clutch of Radicals joining the series for the first time. Peter Opie was fastest in qualifying, and peerless in both races, taking the top spot for the round. In fact, in the wet Race 2, Opie was able to pass the leading Formula Tasman cars (the categories were running together) and take a strong outright win. Second place in the opening race went to Rowan Ross (Radical), third was Andrew MacPherson (West). The wet conditions in Race 2 changed the order somewhat, with Greg Smith (Radical) second and Andrew MacPherson again third. Peter Opie won the round, with Rowan Ross second and Andrew MacPherson a close third.

The McHitch Touring Car Challenge saw a V8 Supercar in the ranks again, and it was Dean Neville (BA Falcon Supercar) who took pole position by a comfortable margin. Neville took victory in the first race, but suffered a blown tyre at the very high speed turn one in the second race, ruling him out for the remainder of the day. The always consistent Norm Stokes was second in the opening race, first in Race 2 and second in Race 3, giving him enough points to win the day and extend his championship lead. Second for the round went to Barry Jameson who DNF'd the opening race, but finished second and first in Races 2 and 3 respectively.

RocketSports saw the popular Holden Roadsters and Future Racers joined by an extra group of production-based sports cars for this round. The three groups were extremely close, with their different strengths coming to the fore in different sections of the circuit. Jade Barnes took pole position in his Future Racer, ahead of Michael Caine in his twin turbo RX7. Caine turned the tables in the opening race, taking the win ahead of Steve Dascarolis and Kosi Kalaitzidis (both in Future Racers), best of the Holden Roadsters was Rod Moynahan. In Race 2, Caine was again the outright victor, ahead of a recovering Jade Barnes and Stephen Borness in his 911 Carrera, Moynahan was again best of the Holden Roadsters. In the final race Jade Barnes was able to take the win ahead of Caine, and Rodney Barnes was third. Graham Smith was quickest of the Holden Roadsters. For the round, Michael Caine took the outright victory, Jade Barnes won the Future Racer category, and Rod Moynahan took out the Holden Roadsters.

HDT Muscle Division turned on some awesome action, and once again proved that consistency is key, and ultimate pace is not always enough to take victory in the category. Joel Knott (Nissan GTR) won the opening race, but was unable to take the grid for the following races. Stuart Inwood (Nissan GTR) took second in Race 1, with Brian Anderson (BMW E46) third. Anderson took the win in Race 2, the first of the handicap races, ahead of Mark Abnett (EVO 4) and Allan Ross (Cooper S). Race 3 saw Stuart Inwood take the victory ahead of Brian Anderson and Paul Butler (EB Falcon). The outright win for the round went to Brian Anderson, ahead of Stuart Inwood and Mark Abnett. Category winners were: Brian Anderson (Improved Production/Sports Sedans), Robert Marchese (HDT Cup) and Stuart Inwood (Japanese Turbo).

In the very popular Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars, pole position went to Franck Donniaux (WRX) by a clear margin. The classes were hotly contested, with Donniaux winning Class X from Mal Smith (WRX) and Leon Black (WRX). The V8 Class saw two different race winners on the day, but was ultimately won by Geoff Kite (Commodore), ahead of Tony Grant (Monaro) and Daniel Flanagan (Commodore Ute). Class A saw Richard Mork back amongst the action, and winning all races to take the class win ahead of Clark Stott (Mazda 3 MPS) and Nick Chambers (Mini). Class B went to Neil Byers (Mitsubishi 380) ahead of Sean Soole, fresh from a massive rebuild after his accident at Lakeside in his Celica, and Carly Black (Peugeot 306). Class C went to John Willmington (Pulsar SSS), ahead of James Flanagan (Hyundai Sonata) who took his first ever race win and Chris Reeves (Proton). BlackBerry Store awarded awesome BlackBerry devices to Richard Mork and James Flanagan.

A successful round in no small part thanks to the awesome volunteer officials (with some great prizes going to a couple of lucky workers thanks to Blue Hills and Fastrack), and the spirit of the iRace competitors and their teams.

Coverage from this round will air on SBS Speedweek Sunday 25 July.

The next round of the series will be held at Queensland Raceway, 14-15 August. Entries are already open. The series returns to Eastern Creek for the season finale in October.

Round 5: Bumper Fields at The Creek

Round 5 for the 2010 Independent Race Series will be held tomorrow at Sydney's fast Eastern Creek circuit, with solid fields across the board.

Formula Tasman and LeMans Sports will field it's most diverse grid yet, with a Ferrari F1 car entered, a number of Formula Atlantics and F3 cars, plus a solid offering of Radical prototype cars. Chris Farrell will return, looking to maintain his series lead.

RocketSports will feature three distinct, yet competitive groups, with the nimble Future Racers, the popular and distinctive Holden Roadsters and the super fast Production-based Sports Cars. Nathan Jess will be looking to defend his 2009 Future Racer championship while Michael Caine is expected to be super fast in his Twin-Turbo RX7.

Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars will field another strong grid, with Anthony Soole returning to the group, but in a new car this time - a Mitsubishi EVO8, taking the 4WD turbo fight to Franck Donniaux. Morky is back in Class A, giving Clark Stott a run for his money. Daniel Flanagan and Geoff Kite will be duking it out in the V8 class, while Neil Byers and Carly Black are front runners in Class B. And can anyone break the dominance of John Willmington in Class C?

The HDT Muscle Division and McHitch Touring Car Challenge showcases a huge diversity of production-derived tin tops and touring cars. Norm Stokes will be looking to maintain the upper hand in the Touring Car Challenge ranks, but will have his work cut out for him with Barry Jameson and Dean Neville putting up plenty of competition. The Muscle Division is too close to call, but Rod Gurney leads the championship, and his car is only getting quicker!

Check out the entry list here.

The schedule is available here (on track action kicks off at 9am).

The weather is looking like another variable, with showers predicted, and seeming likely to spice things up even more.

Location:General Holmes Dr,Sydney Domestic Airport,Australia

Support Mark Bell

As we mentioned previously, popular Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars driver Mark Bell was injured in a testing accident at Queensland Raceway in late June.

From all reports Mark's recovery is slowly progressing, but it will no doubt be a long haul. To support Mark and his family, iRace will be holding a fundraising raffle.

Tickets will be available at our Eastern Creek round next Friday (9 July), but we'd like you to pledge your support in advance if possible (and if you can't make it to Eastern Creek, and want some tickets, let us know and we'll sort something out). To reserve your tickets, please head to the support form by clicking here and complete your details.

Prizes have been arranged by R & A Mowers, operated by the Gurneys (HDT Muscle Division competitors), and with thanks to Parklands, Karcher and Makita.

First prize:


Parklands DX-250 electric kids bike

Second prize:


Karcher electric pressure water cleaner

Third prize:


Makita cordless drill

Tickets are $10 each or you can get 10 tickets for $50.

If you would like to share a message of support for Mark and his family, you can do it on our Facebook page (click here).

If you want to tell your friends about this, you can use the address: supportmarkbell.irace.net.au

Support MDTC

The Marulan Driver Training Centre (MDTC) is a top-class driver training facility just an hour from Sydney. MDTC offers driver training for all levels, and is dedicated to educating and skilling Australian drivers to reduce the likelihood of accidents.

MDTC is owned and operated by members of the iRace family, Garry and Natalie Willmington.

To show your support for this fantastic facility, there is a poll being run by the Marulan Regional Portal - head over by clicking here and vote in the poll.

Officially Rewarded

iRace is a great community of racers, but we couldn't go racing without the fantastic volunteer officials. These guys spend their spare time standing out in all sorts of weather to help make our racing possible. We like to show our thanks whenever we can, and not a trophy presentation goes by without the officials being thanked in a number of speeches. And as we have done in the past, we are now able to offer a little more recognition to our officials.

Thanks to the Gurney family, and Blue Hills Farm Retreat, one randomly selected official will win a fantastic weekend for two at the Blue Hills Farm Retreat, located in the Blue Mountains, near Lithgow.

Situated in the heart of historic Hartley Vale, Blue Hills Farm Retreat offers relaxing country charm for both couples and families providing an ambient, romantic and cosy place to unwind and relax. Surrounded by native Australian bushlands with wild life a plenty, breathtaking mountain escarpments and glorious sunsets, this is a special place.

And thanks to Fastrack, another randomly selected official will win a V8 Super Drive and Ride.

Experience V8 Racing / Driving at its best, with the best, you and a professional race car driver behind the wheel of a V8 Race Car You Drive for 6 (NSW-SA) or 8 (VIC-WA) heart-racing laps. Then be taken for 3 thrilling Hot Laps as a passenger with your pro race car driver.

A huge thank you to our fantastic supporters for helping us recognise the efforts of our volunteer officials! We will have similar rewards on offer for our final round for 2010 at Eastern Creek in October, check out the details closer to the event.

If you are interested in being an official at one of our events, please check out the info and get in touch.

Best Wishes to Mark Bell

We would like to extend our wishes for a speedy recovery to Mark Bell, a valued member of the iRace family.

Mark was injured in an accident while testing his Falcon at Queensland Raceway on Friday.

Mark joined the series last year, and recently upgraded his car to V8 spec, enjoying at excellent run at Lakeside earlier this month.

We ask everyone to spare a thought for Mark, we are thinking of you, wishing you a speedy and full recovery, and hope to see you soon.

Genesis Fitness Club to Support iRace

Round 4 of the 2010 iRace series at Lakeside Raceway will see a brand new supporter join the series with GENESIS the fitness club for every body, coming on board.

Genesis is a long established chain of fitness centres serving locations around Australia, and will be title sponsors of the RocketSports category. Genesis will also sponsor Stephen Pocock in his Honda Civic competing in Muscle Division.

Genesis has 40 Fitness centres around Australia staffed with leading professionals to help you achieve your goals. This is very relevant area for the motorsport competitor for trimming kilos and improving cardio fitness for improved race performance. Fitness is a major part of motorsport preparation at any level, so catch up with a Genesis team member at Lakeside or drop into your local centre.

Visit the Genesis website here.

Check out Genesis on Facebook here.

Follow Genesis on Twitter here.

Round 4 of the Independent Race Series heads to Lakeside Raceway 12-13 June 2010. Check out all the event information here.

Rewarding our Unsung Heroes

Every iRace meeting (every race meeting in general) can only happen thanks to the support and effort of our awesome volunteer officials. We are grateful to each and every one, and at our most recent round we were lucky enough to be able to express this gratitude in a unique way.

Thanks to Fastrack Racing, we randomly selected one of our officials to receive a gift certificate for 3 Hot Laps around Eastern Creek with Fastrack. The prize was won by Flaggie Ross King, from Wyong.

A big thank you to Fastrack and all our awesome supporters, and to the great bunch of volunteer officials who help make our racing possible.

The next round of the Independent Race Series will be held at Lakeside, 12-13 June. For more information, click here. We'll be working to offer more prizes to our officials at future events.

To learn more about Fastrack Racing, click here.

And to find out how to get involved in the Independent Race Series as an official, click here.

Community Spirit

The Independent Race Series is all about having a great community of racers. We strive to have a relaxed atmosphere at our events, and encourage everyone involved in the series to look after each other. So it was a great honour last week when one of our competitors, Stuart Inwood, requested a digital version of our logo so he could have some signs made for his racecar (you can get the logos yourself by clicking here). Stuart will be competing in some supersprint events in the coming weeks, and wants to encourage his fellow supersprint competitors to join iRace.



Stuart did this at his own expense, and on his own initiative, and it's a great example of someone really getting behind our great series, and understanding that he can help to make it even better.

If you see Stuart at an event in the future, give him a pat on the back for his efforts.

So, what can each of us do? There are a few simple things that can help our series grow, and make it better for all of us:

• You can tell your friends and acquaintances about the series
• If they need more information you could print them a copy of this flyer
• You can put the official iRace sticker (as has been distributed at the rounds this year) on your racecar, tow car, road car (request a sticker here, or ask for one at sign-on at the next round)
• You can join us on Facebook, and share some of our posts with your friends
• You can request some iRace mini cards to hand out to people you think may be interested in joining us
• You could even add a link on your website to www.irace.net.au

Most important of all though, keep doing what you're doing - competing at our great events, and helping maintain the relaxed atmosphere and mate-against-mate racing. The entry form for the next round is available here.

April Update

We're into the second quarter of 2010, and we've already seen plenty of action in the 2010 Independent Race Series. Here are some of the highlights since our last update:

• Round 2 took place at Morgan Park: friendly atmosphere, great racing
• Speedweek coverage from Morgan Park available online
• Round 3 was held at Eastern Creek: one day format proved a success
• Speedweek coverage for Eastern Creek scheduled for 6 June
• More onboard footage than you can poke a stick at!
• iPhone application released
• Flag signals feature article
• VHoldR ContourHD Helmet/Onboard camera review
• Basic editing of onboard footage tutorial
• Blackberry Store comes onboard as official communications partner
• Loads of photos in the gallery (mostly from R3)
• iRace Series Rules & Regulations available for download

Our next event is Round Four, to be held at Lakeside in Queensland. Spaces are limited at this event, so if you haven't already, get your entry in asap!

UPDATE: Please note that due to a scheduling change with SBS (as a result of their cycling coverage), the telecast dates have changed by one week. The date shown above is the revised date.

Round 3 TV

TV coverage of the latest round of the Independent Race Series from Eastern Creek will screen on SBS Speedweek Sunday 6 June from 1pm onwards. As always, check your local TV guide to confirm.

The coverage will also appear on Fox Sports InsideSpeed, Wednesday 9 June.

Put it in your diary to make sure you don't miss any of the action!

UPDATE: Please note that due to a scheduling change with SBS (as a result of their cycling coverage), the telecast dates have changed by one week. The dates shown above are the revised dates.

Round 3: Winning Formula

Round Three of the Independent Race Series was held at Eastern Creek on Friday 9 April.

The event was the first time iRace has hosted a one-day format on a Friday, and it proved to be a big hit with the competitors, with plenty of track time for everyone, and a full weekend left to recover, rejoice or reconstitute.

Qualifying was held in the morning, with two sessions for each category. Despite threatening clouds over the circuit on the Thursday evening as many teams unloaded their cars, Friday morning brought clear skies and warm temperatures, which would remain in place for the whole day.

Once qualifying was out of the way, the racing action came thick and fast, with eleven races between noon and 4.20pm.

The Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars saw another very strong grid do battle, with Anthony Soole setting the pace in qualifying, his nimble Lotus Exige a full two seconds clear on pole position. In the racing, Soole was equally quick, but a DNF in Race Two cost him the Class X round win, that honour going to Franck Donniaux in his Subaru WRX STi. In the V8 Class, Steve Briffa impressed everyone with his immaculately turned out VE HSV Clubsport. Briffa never finished outside the top three outright, and won the V8 Class convincingly. In Class A, Clark Stott took a well deserved round win. Class B was hotly contested, with the popular Bryan Fitzpatrick returning to the category getting the upper hand to take the round win. Class C went to John Willmington in his very fast Pulsar SSS. Save of the day goes jointly to Steve Briffa and Mal Smith, the pair doing a synchronised spin in the high speed turn one (photos here, video here).

Formula Tasman and LeMans Sports were combined, with Chris Farrell running very strongly in his Swift Formula Atlantic, and dominating all sessions. Sam Dale had hoped to offer more of a challenge to Farrell, but a slipping clutch saw him limp home in both races. Geoff Rands performed well to take out the LeMans Sports honours.

RocketSports saw a solid field of Future Racers do battle with the Holden Roadsters. Father and son duo, Rodney and Jade Barnes turned out a pair of immaculate Future Racers, and were split in Qualifying by the Canberra Milk-liveried Future Racer of Steve Dascarolis. Jade Barnes went on to take the outright round win, winning two races, while the other race was won by his father Rodney. In the Holden Roadster stakes, Graham Smith took the honours.

HDT Muscle Division and McHitch Touring Car Challenge were combined for this round, and the action was fantastic. Norm Stokes and Joel Knott were split by just a hundredth of a second in Qualifying, with Stokes taking the pole. In the opening scratch race, Stokes took the outright win, with Knott best of the Muscle Division cars. Adam Lloyd and Adam Tipping pushed each other all the way, and were the leading HDT Cup runners. In the first of the handicap races, Race Two, newcomer Michael Nordsvan took the win, with a number of battles right throughout the field. In the final race (another handicap affair), 4 cars jumped the start, but the racing didn't suffer at all. Joe McGinnes wretched day (he'd already suffered two DNFs) came to a heartbreaking end with just one lap to go, and after he'd driven an epic race to take the lead at the beginning of the final lap. Joe's right front tyre let go, and he was out of the running. It then looked as if Michael Nordsvan would take another race win, but he was one of the jump starters, and received a 30 second penalty, handing the race and round win to another newcomer, Tim Miller in his fire-breathing Mazda RX7. Rod Gurney drove solid races to take out the Improved Production/Sports Sedan honours, with Adam Lloyd best of the HDT Cup. Norm Stokes took out the McHitch Touring Car Challenge.

All in all, a fantastic day's racing, and there were plenty of smiling faces at the trophy presentation at the conclusion of the event. A huge thank you to all the volunteers and officials who made the event possible, and for those of you who missed this one, make sure you come along to our next one-day event at Eastern Creek, 9 July. Before that though, the Independent Race Series heads to the fantastic Lakeside circuit in Queensland, 12-13 June. Entry forms will be available soon, so watch this space!

Round 3 Approaching Fast!

Round Three of the 2010 Independent Race Series is rapidly approaching, with just under three weeks until action gets underway.

iRace will visit the fast Eastern Creek layout for the first time on Friday 9 April. The event is an action packed one-day schedule, with qualifying and three races for all categories except Formula Tasman/LeMans Sports (which will have two longer races). The full schedule and supplementary regulations are available by clicking here, or use the buttons below.

The circuit will be available to unload cars/trailers on the afternoon immediately preceding the event (Thu 8 Apr) at a time to be confirmed, ensuring the action can get underway straight away on Friday morning.

Entries are now open, so head over to either the online entry system, or the printable form, to get your entry in now!