iRace Round 6 - Matt Dwyer Interview from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 6 - RocketSports Highlights from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 6 - Formula Tasman + LeMans Sports Highlights from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 6 - Formula Tasman + LeMans Sports Highlights from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 6 - Alan Walls Interview from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 6 - David Ius Interview from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 6 - Muscle Division Highlights from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

iRace Round 6 - Matt Shylan Interview from Sam Dale on Vimeo.

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!

The TV coverage from SBS Speedweek that screened last weekend is available to watch again on Speedweek's awesome website. Click here to view the episode.

There's also a great interview with Darren Gillis from HDT, he talks about the awesome new Blue Meanie, and his support of the Independent Race Series. Click here to view Darren's interview.

Speedweek coverage will be back for the 2010 iRace season. Round 1 kicks off at Oran Park GP 15-16 Jan.

Kumho Tyres, and John Mills' F Sport have been fantastic supporters of the Independent Race Series throughout 2009. At each round Kumho has awarded a full set of road tyres to a randomly selected volunteer official, and a pair of race tyres to a winner within the Production Racing Cars.

For our final round of 2009, the winners were as follows:

Official - Lance Smith, Chief Scrutineer
Lance wins a set of road tyres

Production Racing Cars - Geoff Kite, Most Improved Driver Over the Season
Geoff wins a pair of race tyres

The Independent Race Series would like to extend sincere thanks on behalf of all competitors and officials to John Mills and Kumho. See you in 2010!

The final round of racing for the 2009 Independent Race Series was held at Oran Park on the weekend, with a number of suprise results, and plenty of action-packed racing.

Formula Tasman and LeMans Sports saw a packed field of open-wheelers in a great boost for the category. The racing was top notch, with Chris Farrell setting the early pace in his Swift Formula Atlantic. Farrell took pole, and the opening race. Sam Dale made a good start in the second race, and led the early laps until a safety car intervened. Farrell took the lead at the restart, while Dale suffered brake failure and contacted the wall at the final corner. Hard-charging Robert Choon went on to finish second, with his father David Choon in third. In the final race it was looking like Chris Farrell would win at a canter, until a lap from the end and his car caught fire. Farrell managed to get out unscathed, and the fire was extinguished, allowing Robert Choon through to take the race, and the round win. Farrell ended up second overall, with David Choon in third. Andrew Wlodek took the honour for top Formula 2, after strong runs all weekend. Vince Evans took the Formula R honours in his debut in the category. Robert Choon was top Formula 3 and Michele Guyer took a well earned win in the Formula 4000 group. Rick Otten had a solid performance to finish top LeMans Sports car.

Formula Tasman Outright:
1. Robert Choon
2. Chris Farrell
3. David Choon

LeMans Sports:
1. Rick Otten

In Muscle Division Terry Denovan and Greg Boyle went into the round as the men to beat. Denovan's Commodore and Boyle's Silvia looked to be evenly matched in qualifying, with Denovan narrowly taking pole. The round result proved the unpredictability of the handicap format though as neither man managed to take the top spot. Boyle dominated Race 1, after he upped his pace from qualifying. Denovan was the top Improved Production/Sports Sedan and second outright. Third place went to Adam Tipping, who was also the leading HDT Cup car. In the first of the handicap races (race two), Adam Tipping took the win. Boyle overcame a 2 lap handicap to come through in second, with Troy Harrison in third. In Race Three, another handicap affair, Boyle this time managed to carve through the field and take the win, second was Adam Tipping, and third went to Michael Duff in his howling HSV Maloo Ute. In the final race, Boyle was unable to compete. Steven Cook took the win, with Adam Tipping in second and Todd Betland third after strong drives all weekend. Category winners were: Classic Muscle Car - Ryan Strode; IP/SS - Steven Berry; V8 Ute - Michael Duff. In the HDT Cup Feature Race, Adam Tipping dominated to take the win from Darren Gillis and Jon Worrell.

Muscle Division Outright:
1. Adam Tipping
2. Greg Boyle
3. Todd Betland

HDT Cup:
OUTRIGHT:
1. Adam Tipping
2. Darren Gillis
3. Jon Worrell

Class A Classic - Adam Tipping
Class A Modern - Jon Worrell
Class B Classic - Troy Harrison

In the Touring Car Challenge, Darren Saillard (BA Falcon Supercar) set the pace in qualifying. Saillard also took the honours in the opening scratch race, ahead of Barry Jameson (Jaguar V8 Giant) and Ben Eggleston (Commodore Supercar). In the first of the handicap races (race two) Darren Saillard took the win again, this time ahead of Steve Ingwersen (Commodore Supercar) and Joe McGinnes (XY GT Falcon). In the third race, Jameson took the win, ahead of Ingwersen and Saillard. Saillard was unable to make the start of the final race, leaving Jameson to take the win ahead of Ingwersen and Eggleston. Category winners for the weekend were: Touring Car - Steve Ingwersen; Muscle Car - Norm Stokes; V8 Giant - Mark Telfer; Group A - Matt Veal.

Touring Car Challenge Outright:
1. Steve Ingwersen
2. Darren Saillard
3. Barry Jameson

In the RocketSports, a small but quality field provided some exciting racing with the winner of Race One only taking the lead on the final lap. Graham Smith took race one. Race Two was taken by Adam Dodd. Graham Smith took the win again in race three, and was again victorious in race four. Graham Smith took the round win.

The Production Racing Cars put on some fantastic racing. Since the last round, Anthony Soole had upgraded his Lotus Exige to add a supercharger, with a significant power increase, to take the fight to Frank Donniaux in his WRX. In the opening race, Donniaux used the 4WD to get a better launch and take the lead, but Soole managed to take the lead when Donniaux spun nearing the finish. Daniel Flanagan was close behind, and first Class A. Class B went to the returning Bryan Fitzpatrick and C to John Willmington. In the second race, the results were very similar to the first, despite a reverse grid start - in fact, Donniuax managed to get from the rear of the grid to first place by the second corner! The third race saw the same class winners. The finale was a dramatic affair, with Geoff Kite taking the outright win (and Class A), Richard Mork in second and Anthony Soole in third.

Production Racing Cars Class Winners:
Class X - Anthony Soole
Class A - Daniel Flanagan
Class B - Bryan Fitzpatrick
Class C - John Willmington

The event culminated in the iRace One Hour Enduro. In hot conditions, the key was always going to be consistency and tyre and car conservation. It seems nobody told this to Steve Ingwersen though, as he set a cracking pace right from the start, leading all but the first lap of the race to take a dominant win. Finishing in second, Anthony Soole had read the script, and used a combination of relentless pace, with economy to beat the Eggleston/Lewis V8 Supercar home, the latter requiring an extra pitstop, which relinquished second place to Soole.

iRace Enduro:
1. Steve Ingwersen
2. Anthony Soole
3. Ben Eggleston/Daniel Lewis

Touring Car - Steve Ingwersen
Production Racing Car - Anthony Soole
Muscle Division - S. Berry/G. Boyle

The Independent Race Series returns to Oran Park for the first even in the 2010 season. The series will compete on the GP circuit 15-16 January. The series will also host a combination Family/Christmas/2009 Presentation day at Marulan Driver Training Centre on 12 December. Details on the day will be released soon, as will the 2010 calendar, and a brand new iRace website. So even though the racing for 2009 has finished, stay tuned to www.irace.net.au for all the new developments!

The Independent Race Series will host its final race meeting for 2009 this weekend, at the popular Oran Park South Circuit. The series has enjoyed strong growth throughout 2009, and solid entry lists for the 2009 finale set a solid foundation for 2010.

The largest field for this weekends event will be Muscle Division, incorporating the exciting HDT Cup category, with 27 cars entered for this event. Greg Boyle is expected to give a strong showing in the outright stakes, in his Nissan Silvia. Merrick Malouf always puts on a good show in his V8 Falcon Ute, and with the handicap format, victory could really go to anyone. The HDT Cup is a close fought category, the class honours went to Harrison, Macklyn, Tipping and Lloyd last time out, but there will be plenty looking to tip them from their perch this weekend.

Strong fields are also expected for Production Racing Cars and Formula Tasman & LM Sports, with close to 20 cars entered for each. Anthony Soole will be looking to regain the upper hand in Production Class X, while there are still a number of class championships to be settled. In Formula Tasman, Chris Farrell took the win last round, but Sam Dale was absent. Dale is back this weekend, and the action will be hot, with a number of Formula 2 cars joining the fun.

Look for quality racing in the RocketSports and Touring Car Challenge fields. Darren Saillard will be looking to make amends for a string of DNFs at the last round, but Andy Cantrell will ensure he doesn't have the Touring Car Challenge all his own way. Steve Ingwersen, Norm Stokes and Ben Eggleston will also be spicing things up.

The climax of the event will be the 1 hour iRace enduro, scheduled for Sunday afternoon, with 23 cars entered for the race, which will incorporate a compulsory pitstop. As with all endurance races, strategy plays a big part, and consistency is the key.

Unofficial practice gets underway Friday (13 Nov) morning, with Practice and Qualifying on Saturday (14 Nov) morning. Racing commences Saturday afternoon, with a full day of racing action on Sunday (15 Nov).

Check out the full schedule by clicking here.

Admission for spectators is free!

The Supplementary Regulations and Meeting Schedule for Round 6 are now available.

Click here to access the Regulations

Click here for the Meeting Schedule

See you all at Oran Park!

Round 6 entries are now officially open, and we can now reveal that the event will feature two endurance races.

Round 6 will be held on the popular Oran Park South Circuit 13-15 November, and will feature all the favourite iRace categories. In additional to the normal program of races, the meeting will also feature a 1 hour endurance race for MX5 Challenge cars on Saturday afternoon, and another 1 hour endurance race for iRace Sedan cars from Touring Car Challenge, Muscle Division (including HDT Cup) and Production Racing Cars on Sunday afternoon.

Both endurance races will include a compulsory timed pitstop for all cars. A second driver is allowed, but driver changes are not compulsory, the stationary time will be the same whether a driver change takes place or not.

Competitors are encouraged to get their entries in early. All races will be subject to maximum grid density, and we're expecting the enduros in particular to fill up quite quickly.

Entry fee for the normal events at the meeting is $395. Competitors who are entered for the normal meeting can enter one of the enduros for only $100 more. Competing only in one of the enduros is also permitted, the entry fee is $395.

Access the online entry form by clicking here.

Access the printable PDF by clicking here.