iRace Round 5 - Production Racing Cars + RocketSports + Formula Tasman Highlights from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

As it has for the past few years, the Independent Race Series will again host an end-of-season Christmas Party at Blue Hills Farm Retreat, Saturday 30th November with a dinner and presentation night at the relaxed venue in Hartley Vale.

Anyone interested in attending should contact Corey Gurney - 0427 417 048 - to register their interest.

We look forward to seeing you there!

iRace Round 2 - PRC and RocketSports Highlights from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 1 - PRC and RocketSports Highlights from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 5 - Production Racing Cars Highlights from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 4 - Production Racing Cars Highlights from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 3 - Richard Mork Interview from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 3 - Rob Oshlack Interview from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 3 - Production Racing Cars Montage from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia

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.

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.

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.