The first TV installment for the 2009 Independent Race Series was screened on SBS yesterday, and it generated a LOT of interest. Over 700 new visitors came to the site in the space of a couple of hours following the screening. These new visitors viewed over 15,000 pages, for a grand total of 110,000 "hits". This is the most intensive viewing period the site has ever seen!

So, to our new visitors we say: Welcome! We hope you keep coming back, and we hope that some of you join us on the grid of a future iRace event.

With the influx of new visitors, we realised it was time the "Get Involved" pages had a bit of a spruce up, and that has been completed today. The "Get Involved" section of the site now features information on what is required to become a part of the series, either as a competitor, a volunteer official, a volunteer mechanic, or any other capacity. Head over to the Get Involved section if this is the kind of information that interests you.

If you missed the show, you could try clicking here, and here, or tune into Fox Sports Wednesday 29 April.

A big thank you to the Marulan Driver Training Centre (www.mdtc.com.au) for helping to make the TV possible.

The next round of the Independent Race Series will take place at Oran Park, 15-16 May 2009. If you are a competitor, remember to get your entry in asap, either via the online system, or download the form and send it in.

Darin Mandy of Digital Realism has posted some great photos from Morgan Park over on his website.

Click here to visit the gallery. There are links to purchase images at the top of the gallery page.

Darren offers prints in various sizes, as well as the popular images on CD option.

UPDATE: Darren has now finished uploading the photos for this gallery - check out the links above, and if you find some photos you like, support Darren by making a purchase!

The opening round of the 2009 Independent Race Series has been run and won at Queensland's Morgan Park circuit.

The meeting took place under clear skies and warm weather, and was for many competitors (and the iRace Series) their first visit to the technical circuit.

Friday saw unofficial practice, and the first chance for the competitors to get to know the layout. There were no major occurrences during the day, other than an oil line coming lose on Robert Townsend's Minetti, leading to a fire, and Robert's unfortunate retirement from the meeting.

Saturday morning saw official practice, again held in fine conditions. Darren Saillard was the early pacesetter in the Touring Car Challenge field, lapping in 1m04s. Quickest in the RocketSports field was Robert Free (1m10s). Sam Dale was the sole Formula Tasman entrant, lapping in 1m04s. The Production Racing Cars boasted the most competitive field, led by Anthony Soole in his Class X Lotus Exige (1m12s), but the middle part of the field spread by just a couple of seconds.

In qualifying, the leaders remained unchanged - Saillard took pole for the Touring Car Challenge, Soole for Production Racing Cars, Dale for Formula Tasman/Le Mans Sports and Robert Free in the RocketSports. In each case the midfield groups were tightly grouped, promising some great racing come Sunday.

Sunday morning was again fine, and the first event was the RocketSports, featuring Future Cars. Robert Free led from pole, with John Biddlecombe settling into second place. It was the Holden Roadsters of Graham Smith and Clive O'Connor in third and fourth respectively.

For the second RocketSports race, Robert Free led from start to finish again, but John Biddlecombe succumbed to a fuel problem, and was forced to retire from the rest of the meeting. Smith again got the better of O'Connor in the Holden Roadsters.

In the third RocketSports event, Graham Smith delivered a wakeup call to Robert Free, taking the lead at the start. The two tussled for a couple of laps before Free used the nimble handling of the Future Racer to open up a gap. Smith came home in second, with O'Connor third.

In the RocketSports finale, Robert Free led all the way, but O'Connor managed to get the better of Smith in the early stages, running in second place. Smith got the upperhand at half-distance, and held second to the finish.

Robert Free took the overall win for the round, and Smith took the Holden Roadster honours.

In the Formula Tasman and Le Mans Sports category, Sam Dale was the sole survivor come Sunday, with the other cars not making it to the first race. Dale used the event as a test session, and was clearly not content to slow down, improving his laptime with each session.

The Production Racing Cars proved to be highly competitive, with some very close racing. Anthony Soole dominated, in his Class X Lotus Exige. Behind Soole was a mix of Class A, B and C cars.

In the first of the Production Racing Cars races, it was Clark Stott second overall, and first of the Class A cars. Behind him it was Richard Mork, in his Class A Honda Integra. John Willmington was punching above his weight, first of the Class C cars, and fourth overall! Best of Class B was Malcolm Rea.

Production Racing Cars Race Two saw a reverse grid start shakeup the order a little, Soole needing to push his way through from the rear. He managed it fairly comfortably, taking the lead on the seventh lap (of 10). Nick Chambers took second place, top of the Class A cars. Hans Riehs led much of the race, but a slip saw him drop back to third at the finish. John Willmington again topped the Class C cars, finishing 6th outright, and ahead of ALL the Class B cars. Debutante Carly Black was the first Class B car home, in 8th outright.

The third Production Racing Cars race reverted to a normal grid, and Anthony Soole took another win. Again it was Nick Chambers putting in a strong performance in Class A, taking the class win and second outright. John Willmington was top Class C, 6th outright, and Neil Byers won Class B in his first finish for the weekend.

For the final Production Racing Cars race, Anthony Soole elected to start rear-of-grid, and drove an epic race to come through for the win. Clark Stott took second outright, and top spot in Class A. John Willmington did it again in Class C (6th outright), and Neil Byers took Class B.

In the final standings for Production Racing Cars, Anthony Soole took the Class X victory, young-gun Nick Chambers won Class A, James Flanagan was victorious in Class B and John Willmington was dominant in Class C.

Darren Saillard dominated qualifying for the Touring Car Challenge, but he gave his pole position away for the opening scratch race - electing to start from the rear-of-grid. He made up places quickly though, making his way halfway through the field by the first corner. He picked off the rest by the second lap, and led for the remainder. Behind Saillard the action was hot, with a number of battles evolving. Dave Gardner retired with throttle problems, and Gary Leaton with driveline issues. Richard Mork and Phil Groeneveld had an epic, racelong battle, Mork ultimately getting the upper hand and taking second overall. Joe McGinnes (XY Falcon Muscle Division car) and local-boy Matthew Clift (Mazda RX2) also had a nail-biting battle - the two swapping places a number of times, with McGinnes leading at the flag. Merrick Malouf (BA Falcon V8 Ute) and Paul Bruce (Mazda RX2) also enjoyed a racelong battle, with Bruce coming out on top.

Race Two of Touring Car Challenge was a handicap affair, and Darren Saillard tried his heart out to take the win. He didn't quite make it though. Local driver Matthew Clift pedaled his Mazda RX2 to a handy lead and held it to the finish. Saillard make quick progress through the field, but found a wide Commodore at the hands of Richard Mork, and had his progressed delayed just enough to hand Clift the win. Merrick Malouf drove a strong race to third place.

In the third race - another handicap, Saillard again did his level best to make up the deficit, but this time he was beaten by Dave Gardner. Gardner had suffered a terrible run of luck - alternating between a throttle stuck wide open, and no throttle at all! It all turned around for him in this race though, he took a popular win. Merrick Malouf again took a strong third place.

In the final, Darren Saillard turned the tables, and took a dominant victory. Gardner took second place, with local driver Matthew Clift in third.

Overall results saw Saillard take the outright victory, ahead of Merrick Malouf and Dave Gardner. Saillard took the V8 Supercar honours, Phil Groeneveld the V8 Giants honours and Merrick Malouf took out Muscle Division.

A solid weekend of racing at Morgan Park revealed what a great driver's circuit it is. The challenging layout proved popular amongst competitors, and is expected to draw larger fields at the next event held at the track in June.

The next round of the Independent Race Series will be held at Sydney's Oran Park, 15-16 May, when they host the SuperTrucks for their farewell from Oran Park. All the details are available on the official website: www.irace.net.au

Round Two entries are now open.

We're expecting this to be our biggest round yet, and the first competitor to get their entry in will receive half price entry at the following round. Dave Gardner won this prize by getting his Round One entry in first, and will be eligible for entry to Round Two at half price. Get your entry in now to be eligible for the discount for Round Three.

And just to allay some fears about making payments over the internet - we DO NOT take your credit card details via the internet. If you wish to complete your entry via the online system, we ask you to either fax, post or phone your credit card details through. With your agreement, we can keep your credit card details on file for the year, and process your payment for each round as you submit your online entry. The other electronic payment option is PayPal - this is the safest system on the internet. PayPal invest massive funds to ensure their system is secure.

To access the online entry form, please click here.

To access the printable pdf version of the form, please click here.

The first round of the 2009 Independent Race Series from Morgan Park will go to air in April 2009.

The program will be broadcast via two channels:

SBS Speedweek - Sunday 12 April at 1pm

Fox Sports - Wednesday 29 April

As always, check your local guides for details.

The TV coverage for this round is supported by Marulan Driver Training Centre - visit the official website: www.mdtc.com.au

Anthony Soole - Lotus Exige - Production Racing Cars


Dave Gardner - VS Commodore - Touring Car Challenge

Kumho Tyres are supporting competitors and officials associated with the Independent Race Series. Competitors are in the running to win a pair of Kumho race tyres, and one volunteer official per round will win a set of four Kumho road tyres.

At Round One, the winners were as follows:

Marulan Driver Training Centre Production Racing Cars - Class C: John Willmington

RocketSports - Future Car Division: Robert Free

Marulan Driver Training Centre Touring Car Challenge - V8 Giants Division: Phil Groeneveld

Volunteer Official: Rex Jolly, Scrutineer

The prize awarded to the racing categories will rotate between subcategories at each round. For Round One, the prize went to Class C for Production Racing Cars, Future Cars for RocketSports and V8 Giants for Touring Car Challenge. The next round will see the prize awarded to a driver from a different subcategory.

As announced previously, our friends at Super Hoist Plus are supplying prizes for the overall Series Champion and Series runner up at the end of 2009.

As the Independent Race Series is a very diverse series, with a wide range of categories competing, and different race formats depending on the category, the best way to decide a "Series Champion" has proved to be a significant challenge.

We have arrived at a formula that is intended to be fair and equitable for everybody, and at the same time manageable. The system will work as follows:

Competitors will be awarded points for their position in their subcategory for each race. First place will receive 4 points, second place 3 points, third place 2 points, and fourth through to last receives 1 point. Competitors will also be awarded a point for each of the other cars in their subcategory that they defeat (for the purposes of this, the number of cars in each subcategory will count every car that attempts a race over the course of a race meeting). For categories that have less than four races over the weekend, points will be divided by the number of races, and then multiplied by four to achieve an equivalent allocation of points as the categories that do have four races. In the event that none of the subcategories within a category have at least three cars, then all cars will be considered as one category for the purposes of Series points calculation.

This does all sound a little complicated, but it is the fairest method we can devise for the purposes of determining a Series Champion.

The standings after Round One are as follows:

Robert Free - 28
John Willmington - 24
Nick Chambers - 22
Darren Saillard - 22
Graham Smith - 19
Merrick Malouf - 19
James Flanagan - 18
Carly Black - 18
Sam Dale - 16
Anthony Soole - 16
Matthew Clift - 16
Clark Stott - 15
Mal Rea - 15
Paul Bruce - 15
Richard Mork (Production) - 14
Neil Byers - 14
Dave Gardner - 14
Josh Riehs - 13
Clive O'Connor - 10
Candace Shafell - 10
Phil Groeneveld - 10
Hans Riehs - 8
Joe McGinnes - 7
John Biddlecombe - 5
Richard Mork (Touring Car) - 4
Gary Leaton - 0

So, everything is very close after the first round, and a reminder of what is on offer:

Series Champion - Two Post YSJ-3000 Hoist

Series Runner Up - Resto Roller

The Independent Race Series first visit to Morgan Park has come to a close, and some great racing took place over the course of the day. A full round report will follow, but the results from the round were as follows:

Touring Car Challenge & Muscle Division

1. Darren Saillard - BA Falcon V8 Supercar
2. Merrick Malouf - BA Falcon V8 Ute
3. Dave Gardner - VS Commodore V8 Supercar

V8 Supercar - Darren Saillard
V8 Giant - Philip Groeneveld
Muscle Division - Merrick Malouf

Production Racing Cars

Class X - Anthony Soole

Class A
1. Nicholas Chambers - Mini Cooper S
2. Clark Stott - Mazda 3 MPS
3. Richard Mork - Honda Integra

Class B
1. James Flanagan - Hyundai Sonata
2. Carly Black - Peugeot 206
3. Malcolm Rea - Toyota Celica

Class C
1. John Willmington - Nissan Pulsar
2. Candace Shafell - Toyota Corolla
3. Joshua Riehs - Proton GTi

RocketSports & Future Racers

Future Racer - Robert Free

Holden Roadster - Graham Smith

Formula Tasman & Le Mans Sports

1. Sam Dale - Reynard 94D

Conditions at Morgan Park were ideal for most of Saturday for Independent Race Series practice and qualifying. A little bit of wind and a few drops of rain made way for fine conditions in the afternoon.

The action on the circuit was mixed. The Formula Tasman and Le Mans Sports field was quite small, and Sam Dale set the fastest time in his Reynard 94D, with a 1m04.9s lap. John Biddlecombe in his Saker clocked a 1m13.4s lap.

In the RocketSports and Future Racers, local star Robert Free set the pace, with a 1m10.4s lap, holding out the Holden Roadster-mounted Graham Smith. Biddlecombe in the Saker was next fastest, with Clive O'Connor taking fourth in another Holden Roadster (1m16.6s).

The categories with the greatest amount of jostling were Production Racing Cars and Touring Car Challenge.

In the Production Racing Cars, most of the field is covered by just 6 seconds, and there are 8 cars covered by just 3 seconds - the action should be hot on Sunday! Anthony Soole took pole in his Lotus Elise (1m12.4s), Hans Riehs got his Mini Cooper S really moving to take second (1m14.1s), just edging out Clark Stott in his Mazda 3 MPS (1m14.9s). Richard Mork took 4th, John Willmington 5th, Neil Byers 6th, newcomer Josh Riehs 7th, Malcolm Rea 8th, James Flanagan 9th, Nick Chambers 10th, and newcomers Carly Black and Candace Shafell filled 11th and 12th.

In the Touring Car Challenge and Muscle Division, Darren Saillard set the fastest time, but it almost didn't happen - Saillard was fighting a gearbox problem which forced him to drive with one hand while he used the other to hold the car in gear! Saillard still managed a blistering 1m04.4s lap. Richard Mork was next quickest, with a 1m08.0s lap, Gary Leaton in 3rd, Phil Groeneveld 4th, and a relieved David Gardner in 5th. Gardner had his throttle jam wide open at the end of the straight, and his quick reactions saw him pull up just short of contact with the tyre barrier. Next up was the two-wheeling Joe McGinnes in his XY Falcon, followed by Merrick Malouf in his V8 Falcon Ute.

Onboard video from Dave Gardner's V8 Supercar will be available shortly on the iRace Blip TV page - click here to view.

A live gallery of photos from the event is available. Visit the iRace gallery here. Or you can access the images directly through the iRace Flickr gallery, where you can download the full resolution versions for printing or reproduction.

The weather looks good again for tomorrow, when all the action is scheduled to happen at the exciting Morgan Park circuit.