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.

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.

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 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!

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!

In another exciting announcement for the Independent Race Series, it can now be revealed that Blackberry Store has signed on as the Official Communications Partner for the iRace series in 2010.

Blackberry Store (www.blackberrystore.com.au) is the premium source for Blackberry Phones / PDAs including the new Blackberry Bold and an extensive range of Blackberry Accessories. Blackberry Store is based at North Ryde, in Sydney, but serves the whole of Australia through it's extensive online store. They offer the very best in phones and PDAs, and also offer comprehensive support, training and accessories.

The partnership will see Blackberry devices awarded to two Class winners in the Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars at each round. The prize will rotate between the different classes. To be in the running, Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars competitors will display Blackberry Store stickers either on the sides or front of their vehicle.

The Super Hoist Plus Production Racing Cars showcases a huge variety of production cars in action packed racing. The cars have only limited modifications from standard (most to enhance safety), but this only serves to make the action more fierce, as drivers in evenly matched machines battle it out for class honours. This new partnership will mean there is even more reward for taking the top spot.

The next round of the Independent Race Series will be held at Morgan Park, 20-21 March. Visit www.irace.net.au for more information.

Head to blackberrystore.com.au to see their great range of phones, PDAs and accessories on offer, and support the company that is supporting our series.