Those of you who are eagle eyed or subscribe to our newsletter (or both) will already know about the 2012 iRace calendar. Six rounds at Queensland Raceway, Eastern Creek and Morgan Park between March and November.

The 2012 Independent Race Series calendar is now available to download in two convenient formats:

• Click here to download and print a PDF calendar
• Click here to subscribe to the iCal format calendar

Entries for Round 1 will open very soon. Competitors, please note that Round 1 is open to Production Racing Cars, Touring Car Challenge and Muscle Division only. All other rounds will be open to all categories.

Those of you who have an action or onboard camera will already know the benefits:

• Driver development: you can see how different lines work, and use the footage as a tool to improve your driving
• Bragging Rights: you can show your friends, family and fans how awesome you are, and let them see some of the action that previously only you got to see
• Sponsor Appreciation: you can share videos with your sponsors to show them how their support has made a difference
• Other Uses: there are plenty of other benefits too - taking photos, taking a video of a complicated procedure so you can remember how to put that gearbox back together and so on

If you don't have an onboard camera yet, now is the time! Christmas is nearly here, and these make an awesome gift.

The DRIFT guys have been fantastic supporters of iRace, and actually gave away three Drift HD 170 Stealths to our competitors, plus they make some of the best cams on the market.

The latest and greatest is the Drift HD - all the awesome features and amazing video images in a super compact package. The Drift HD is available for $399.

If you're after a slightly cheaper option, the Drift HD170 Stealth is an amazing deal at $269.

Both these cams offer great video, and the signature Drift features of a rotatable lens and inbuilt LCD screen, allowing you to make sure you get the perfect shot, and to allow you to review your footage on the camera itself.

If you're after an excellent mount, we recommend the Ultra Clamp - $45 and easily positioned wherever you want.

So, whether it's for yourself, or your favourite racer, the Drift line of action cameras is perfect this Christmas!

The one night package for two at the "Comet Inn" was won by Mitch Lennard from Race Control at Round 5.  A huge thank you to all the officials who helped make the event happen - in the rain and cold! Thank you also to Rod Gurney Racing and Comet Inn.

Our volunteer officials help make iRace the great series it is. We have an awesome group of people who are always ready to lend a hand, and make our race meetings possible.

We work hard to give something back to the officials, and a team who have helped us do that over and over again are Rod Gurney Racing. The Gurney family have helped us say thank you to the officials on many occasions.

And they've done it again. This time, a one night package for two at the historic "Comet Inn" at Hartley Vale in the Blue Mountains is on offer.

The "Comet Inn" was built in 1879 and has been lovingly restored by it's owners Greg and Kathy Knoble. You can find more information on the Comet Inn here.

The prize includes meals and accommodation for 2 and is valued at over $300.

A huge thank you to our awesome officials, and thank you to Comet Inn and the Gurneys.

We've put together three full race videos for each of the West End Mazda Production Racing Cars races held at Lakeside for Round 3. The videos are shot from onboard three of the category cars - Richard Mork, Paul Leabeater and Neil Byers. Hopefully they give an idea of what it's like to race in the Production Racing Cars category.

We've embedded the videos below, or you can view them (and a host of other videos) on our Vimeo page.

Enjoy.

Round Two of the Independent Race Series was held at Sydney’s Eastern Creek 29 April. The one-day format saw the action coming thick and fast, with wet and changeable conditions thrown in to boot.

Photos from the round can be viewed here. Thanks to John Smith and Ezanee Cooper for providing the terrific photos.

Round results are available here. Congratulations to all our round winners.

In Acuform Muscle Division, it was John Bright who took overall honours in his Nissan Skyline. Second went to Joe Wolvey and third to Michael Hiscoe. John Bright also took out the Japanese Turbo class, with Hans Riehs taking the honours in Improved Production/Sports Sedan, Paul Boschert in HDT Cup and Rod Gurney in Classic Tourer.

K-Mac Touring Car Challenge saw some great battles between the Oz Trucks and V8 Supercars, with the trucks taking the honours in the changeable conditions. Steve Coulter was overall round winner, and class winner for Oz Truck. Michael Coulter placed second overall, with Graham Struber third. In the V8 Supercars, Stuart Inwood took the class win.

West End Mazda Production Racing Cars was the scene of some fast and furious action, with Daniel Flanagan crossing the line first in all three races, and taking out the V8 Class. Class X went to Adam Dodd, fresh from Targa. Class A was won by Clark Stott, Class B by newcomer Jayson Darke and Class C by the windblown James Flanagan (he lost his windscreen early in the day!).

Austbrokers Coast to Coast Formula Tasman saw both races held in wet conditions, making the open-wheeled beasts particularly twitchy to drive. The win went to Sam Dale, with Guido Belgiorno-Nettis taking second. LeMans Sports saw some very spirited drives by the Radical racers, Michael Shaw won both races to win the round, and second was Greg Smith, third for the round was Simon Haggarty.

In the RocketSports, the Future Racers were able to make the most of the tricky conditions, and they filled the top three outright placings. First was Nathan Jess, second Robert Free, and third was Matthew Dyer. In the Holden Roadsters Graham Smith took the class win.

Congratulations also to our Smartest Racer winner, Daniel Flanagan – who is no doubt working towards going even quicker at the next round, using some of the knowledge from the great book “Think Fast”.

Some onboard video from the round is available here. Thanks to Launch Helmet Cams for providing some great cameras.

A big thank you as always to our great volunteer officials. At this round, thanks to Gurney Racing and Karcher, iRace was able to express our gratitude to the officials by presenting Garry Oliver with a Karcher pressure washer. If you know anyone who may want to help out by officiating at one of our events, put them in touch here.

TV coverage from the round will screen on Fox InsideSpeed in the near future, and when its available, it will also be online here.

Round Three of the Independent Race Series will be held at Lakeside Raceway, 18-19 June. Entries are now open for that round.

This Friday night at 8.30pm a special show will go to air on Fox InsideSpeed. The Motorsport panel show will feature three hardcore iRacers - Rod Moynahan, dedicated competitor in the Rocket Sports category, Greg Smith, mover and shaker in the LeMans Sports category driving a Radical, and the popular Adam Dodd, driver in, and supporter of West End Mazda Production Racing Cars (as well as a variety of other machinery). All three drivers were kind enough to give their time to be on the show and promote our sport, so tune in Friday night to see what they had to say.

Coverage from Round 2 at Eastern Creek will screen on InsideSpeed in the near future, we'll post details as soon as we have them.

Entries for Round 3 at Lakeside (18-19 June) are now open. Click here to get your entry in now.