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.

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.

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 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 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!

TV coverage of the latest round of the Independent Race Series from Morgan Park will screen on SBS Speedweek Sunday 4 April. The iRace segment will start at around 2pm, but as always, check your local TV guide to confirm.

The coverage will also appear on Fox Sports InsideSpeed, Wednesday 7 April.

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

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!

We're hosting another competition for those running at Round 2 at Morgan Park on our Facebook page.

To enter the competition, you need to:

• Visit the Launch Helmet Cams website (link on the front page of the iRace site).
• Find out the price of the VHoldR ContourHD.
• Post the price in the comments to competition post on the iRace Facebook page.

We will randomly select one of the correct entries to carry the Launch Helmet Cams VHoldR ContourHD at Morgan Park, with the footage featured on onboard.irace.net.au and possibly on Speedweek!

Additional conditions: the winner must be entered for Round 2, they must be a Facebook fan of iRace (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Independent-Race-Series/217908244004 ) and a member of the Launch Helmet Cams Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96569660724 ). Good luck!

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.

It's here, and it's totally free: iRacer, the iRace iPhone application.

Compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch, the application is available in the App Store now, completely free. The app allows you to keep up to date on the latest News, Results, Features, Photos and Classifieds from your compatible device.

Click the image on the right, or the button below to check it out on the App Store, or you can search for iRacer on the iTunes store.



For a little more info, you can check out the iRace App microsite at: app.irace.net.au

Thanks to our sponsors, supporters and competitors for making our ongoing innovation possible.