We've just launched a basic line of iRace merchandise, available immediately. There is a nice iRace Polo shirt (and this same embroidered design can be added to other tops including hoodies and jackets if you choose), plus a range of caps - an iRace version and one for each category. You can choose your own sizes and colours, and order directly from the manufacturer, payment via PayPal or credit card.

Check out the products and links below, and feel free to send us your ideas for new products!

The direct link to our storefront is: www.zazzle.com/iracehq

There are regular discounts, so make sure you check this page before you check out to see what the current offers are.

Volunteer official Les Robards, affectionately known as "Bloke", passed away yesterday morning after a battle with cancer.

Bloke was a long-time volunteer official, and one of the hard core who make motorsport possible. Bloke was exceedingly popular, and will be missed by his motorsport family. Bloke also helped out on the race team of Richard Mork from time to time, and Richard posted the photo below to Facebook yesterday.

Farewell, and rest in peace to a fellow racer. Bloke.

The Independent Race Series has recently upgraded email newsletter providers. We are really looking forward to communicating with all of you in 2011, and keeping in touch with timely and informative updates.

We'll also be announcing some information exclusively on the newsletter. If you are a competitor or a potential competitor, now is the time to make sure you are signed up to the mailing list.

If you received our Merry Christmas message you're already on the list. If you didn't receive that message you should sign up.

To make it easy for everyone to sign up, you have a number of options:

1) Click here to visit the regular sign up form, or

2) Use the "Email Signup" tab on our Facebook page, or

3) Fill in your details below and click "Subscribe"

We will never provide your details to anyone else, and will do our very best to only send you quality iRace updates.

The 2011 iRace calendar is now available. The events are as follows:

• Round 1 - Queensland Raceway - 5-6 March
• Round 2 - Eastern Creek - 29 April
• Round 3 - Lakeside - 18-19 June
• Round 4 - Morgan Park - 23-24 July
• Round 5 - Eastern Creek - 19 August
• Round 6 - Eastern Creek - 23 September

Click here to download a PDF poster of the 2011 calendar.
Click here to download a Mac iCal compatible calendar file.
Click here to access as a Google calendar.

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.

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.

Attention competitors! We would like to feature your onboard videos on www.irace.net.au

We know a number of you have your own onboard cameras, and no doubt there's plenty of great footage from Round 1 - the last EVER race meeting at Oran Park. So if you're willing to share it, we'd love to feature it.

If you've already uploaded your video to a video sharing website, we just need the link (send it in here). If you haven't uploaded any video yet, then we're recommending Vimeo. Follow the simple procedure below to add your video to the Independent Race Series group on Vimeo:

1. Create a free Vimeo account (if you already have one, you can skip this step). Just go to www.vimeo.com and select "Join vimeo". Or we've made it easy for you, just click the button below!

2. Go the Independent Race Series Vimeo group page: www.vimeo.com/groups/irace, click on "Join this group".

3. Then on the Independent Race Series group click on the "Upload Video" button. Again, we've made it easy for you, just click on the button below!

4. Click "Choose a file to upload", and then find the video on your hard drive (or you can even upload it straight from your camera if it's plugged in!), and then fill in some information about it. Don't close your browser or leave the Vimeo page until the video has finished uploading. Once it's complete, it will automatically appear in the iRace Vimeo group, and once we see it, we'll embed it on "User Videos".

We selected Vimeo because of the very high quality playback, and the fact that our competitors can upload video for free, and automatically add it to the Independent Race Series group.

We look forward to seeing all your great videos!

If you don't have a camera yet, consider our Official Onboard and Helmet Camera Partner - Launch Helmet Cams.

See below for a selection of the videos uploaded so far! To see the videos in all their high def glory, go to onboard.irace.net.au or check out the Vimeo group by clicking here.

There's been plenty of action for the Independent Race Series in the past few weeks, as everyone gets ready for the new season. In case you missed it, here is a summary of what's been happening (click any of these to read the relevant article):

• Super Hoist Plus became the naming rights sponsor of Production Racing Cars
• HDT became the naming rights sponsor of Muscle Division and HDT Cup
• McHitch Uniglide Trailer Couplings became the naming rights sponsor of the Touring Car Challenge
• Launch Helmet Cams became the Official Onboard and Helmet Camera Partner
• Toranas are now eligible for HDT Cup
• Super Hoist Plus now features a dedicated class for V8s
• Our 2009 Presentation Night was held at Marulan Driver Training Centre
• A new section was added to the website to showcase onboard camera footage
• We learned how to make our racecars a little safer
• We offered up some New Years Resolutions for racers
• Updated category regulations are now available

2010 is going to be a busy year! Strap in for an exciting ride...

Round 1 is just a week away. If you haven't gotten your entry in yet, don't delay - head to the entry form now, and don't miss your last chance to race with iRace at Oran Park!

The Independent Race Series team would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Have a great time, and if you're on the roads, please be careful and look out for each other.

See you all in 2010!

2009 is not quite finished yet, but the iRace season is over, and preparations for the 2010 season are already underway. A quick look at some numbers from the 2009 season as we look ahead to next year:

• 4
  awesome circuits visited in 2009


• 26
  tyres presented by Kumho


• 85
  races held in the 2009 season


• 152
  cars raced during 2009


• 1,444
  photos uploaded to the iRace galleries


• 1,679
  laps hosted by iRace in 2009


• 4,020
  points scored in the Super Hoist Plus trophy


• 18,075
  laps completed by our competitors in 2009


• 339,197
  pages viewed on iRace.net.au during 2009


• 3,011,662
  total hits on iRace.net.au in 2009

Already 2010 is looking even stronger! Don't miss it!

The 2010 model iRace website has plenty of useful features. Hopefully you're getting to know them already. But to help out, we're posting regular tips on getting the most out of the site.

To get the most out of the site, head over to the "Website Features" page (click here) and read some of the 'Did You Know?' articles. We'll be adding to these regularly.

For example, did you know you can connect with iRace on Facebook by joining our group? And that you can follow iRace updates on Twitter? You can do both of these things from every page on the site - the links are at the very top of the page.

If you have any queries about the site, feedback, or something you would like explained, please get in touch here.

The Independent Race Series has launched its brand new 2010-model website today.

The new site aligns with the philosophy of the Independent Race Series of providing accessible, exciting and fun racing. Much hammering, grinding and polishing has gone into making sure the site is accessible, and provides a fun and exciting portal into the series.

It's now easier than ever to access the most popular sections of the site. Every page features links to: enter the next round, subscribe to the mailing list, or interact with iRace through social media like Twitter and Facebook. If these aren't your cup of tea, the site still has plenty to offer, with easy access to photos, videos, results and loads of other information.

Check out the new site now! www.irace.net.au

We're still bedding in the brakes, and running the engine in, so if there are a couple of glitches over the next few days, please bear with us - it will be worth it!

And check back in a couple of days for a short video highlighting many of the easily overlooked features of the new site. This will help even those on their internet P-plates access the best features of the site.

Round 1 of the 2010 Independent Race Series kicks off at Oran Park GP circuit, 15-16 Jan 2010.

We've had a section of the iRace website that has laid dormant since the site was launched last year - the "Features" section. Other things have always seemed to take priority over getting a feature article online.

Not anymore though. We've now published our first feature article, and hopefully these become a more regular occurrence.

The first article is on how to be interviewed, and is mostly aimed at competitors. To check out the Features page, click here, or use the link in the navigation bar on the left.

The first installment of photos from Round Two of the Independent Race Series has been posted, with photos from a selection of categories.

Check out the new gallery by clicking here.



More photos will be added over the coming days.

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.

The Independent Race Series is always working to serve our competitors and fans in the most effective way possible. We try to innovate and capitalise on useful advances in technology that can make everyone's lives a little more streamlined.

When the site launched, we offered our news as a RSS Feed (click here for more information on how you can have every articled delivered to your email program or other RSS reader).

We've started a mailing list and send regular updates to all our subscribers (subscribe here if you haven't been receiving the emails).

We've launched a fully featured Online Entry System that makes it easier for competitors to submit their entries, and makes life a little easier at our end by automatically putting all the entry information into a handy spreadsheet.

And now, in the leadup to Round One, we're ready to launch something else new. Live Updates. The iRace website has always been kept pretty well up-to-date, but race weekends are always a challenge to get new information on the site. This is a problem, because race weekends are what we are all about. Well, now we've introduced two ways to overcome this.

We now feature a live "photostream" on the front page of the site. There is only one photo there now, but that will change once the round gets underway. The most recent photos from the current round will appear in this section. And to view all the photos from the current round, go via the Multimedia page to the round in question and select the Live Photo Feed. The link for Round 1 is here.

We'll also be adding short live news updates to the front page. We can send these in from a mobile phone, so trackside news should appear fairly regularly. The most recent items will appear on the front page, and to view them all, you can check out this link. If you already have a Twitter account, you can 'follow' iraceupdates and receive the news in your 'tweets'.

Bottom of site front page

And if all this sounds like too much for you, you can relax, because all the regular news and updates will still happen. Round reports, and post-event news items will be available in the normal way.

So, get ready for the year ahead. And if there's anything else you'd like to see on iRace.net.au, you can always provide feedback through the Contact Us page, or in the Suggestion Box.

The event schedule for Round One of the Independent Race Series is now available to download. The schedule (as well as a range of other administrative documents) is available from the "Admin" page of the site. Or you can access the schedule directly by clicking here.

Round One of the 2008 Independent Race Series will be held at Sydney's Oran Park, Saturday 11 October 2008.

Hot on the heels of the announcement of two events for 2008 for the Independent Race Series, the important documentation and forms are now available.

The Admin section of the Independent Race Series website is the official access point for all documentation. Direct links to the new forms and documents are listed below:

• Entry Form - Round 1 - Oran Park Sat 11 Oct 08
• Entry Form - Round 2 - Morgan Park 15-16 Nov 08
• Supplementary Regulations - Round 1 - Oran Park Sat 11 Oct 08
• Licence Application Form
• Licence Medical Examination Form
• Logbook Application Form
• Driver Profile Submission Form

Please note that many of the forms are in Adobe Acrobat format, and will require the Adobe Acrobat Viewer to view them. The Adobe Acrobat Viewer is a free download, available from THIS SITE.

The internet is a hectic place. New websites spring up every day, and it can be hard to sort the wheat from the chaff. Most internet users have a collection of sites they visit regularly, but no way of knowing in advance if each of their favourite sites has been updated since they last visited. It can be time consuming to open up all your favourites only to find they haven't changed since the last time you looked.

What if there was a way to have any news items delivered automatically to your computer whenever you connected to the internet? Well, there is a way. And the Independent Race Series website (www.irace.net.au) has incorporated the technology in its design. The technology is called RSS (Really Simple Syndication), and it allows you to subscribe to a News "Feed", either through a program you may already be using (usually an email program or web browser), or through a dedicated program. Each time you connect to the internet, the program checks the status of the feed, and if there is a new article it can be automatically downloaded. For a full rundown on how it all works, and how you can subscribe, click HERE.

If you already know how to subscribe, the link you are looking for is: http://www.irace.net.au/news/files/blogRSS.php

There are a number of other little innovations incorporated in this website, and we'll bring you more information on how to get the most out of it soon.

The Independent Race Series is all about offering a better alternative for competitors, fans and teams. The more people that contribute to make the series great, the greater the series will be. If you have a suggestion, an idea, a proposal, a way we can do things better, we want to hear from you. To that end, we have opened a suggestion box, and hope that if you see something that could be improved you will let us know. Click the box on the right to head straight to the suggestion box.

Production Racing Cars competitor John Willmington has gotten the ball rolling, by suggesting the Suggestion Box. Thank you John. Now, let's hear from the rest of you!

The official website of the Independent Race Series has been officially launched.

The website will be the central point for disseminating information relating to the brand new series, and will contain information on the calendar, each of the categories, as well as news, results, photos and video, plus feature articles, and of course access to all the paperwork and administration for the series.

The site relies on input from the competitors, and you the reader, so if you have anything you would like to see, please head to the Contact Us page, and let us know. We'll be providing some extra information soon on how you can really get involved, but until then we're always open to great ideas and submissions!