Australian Motor Racing Series Latest News

Oran Park Episode Two

The second instalment of coverage from Oran Park has been announced. It is expected to go to air on Fox Sports Inside Speed, 19 February 2008.

Driver Profile & Registration for 2008

Drivers intending to compete in 2008 are requested to complete a Driver Profile & Registration Form.

This information will be passed to TV commentary teams, circuit commentators, print media and will form the basis of some "Featured Driver" articles on this website. The form also doubles as a registration form for the 2008 Championship, and is an opportunity for drivers to request their preferred race number

The form can be found by clicking here. There is also an opportunity at the bottom to attach a headshot of yourself

If you can't submit the form over the internet, please email profiles@amrs.net.au and request a form you can print out. Or, you can visit the website and print it from your browser, and fill it in by hand. Then post to: PO Box 163, WEST KEMPSEY, NSW, 2440. If you can't send an email call 0412 785 486 and request a printed form.

Category Calendars Available for Download

Click the icon to the right to view the 2008 AMRC Category calendars.

Stay tuned for the launch of the brand new AMRC and individual category websites in the near future!

March 1-2 - WAKEFIELD PARK (NSW)
April 25-27 - CALDER PARK (VIC)
May 17-18 - QUEENSLAND RACEWAY
June 14-15 - WINTON RACEWAY (VIC)
July 26-27 - ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY (SA)
August 30-31 - CALDER PARK (VIC)
September 27-28 - QUEENSLAND RACEWAY
November 1-2 - WINTON RACEWAY (VIC)
November 29-30 - WAKEFIELD PARK (NSW)

With a short delay in publishing some of the post-round news, we're making amends with a mega news wrap up on amrs.net.au

Popular Production Touring Car Championship driver Bryan Fitzpatrick has enjoyed a triple whammy over the past week. First off he was round winner of Class B at the final round of the 2007 Series at Oran Park last Sunday, that in turn was enough to confirm him as the PTCC Class B Champion for 2007. And on top of all that, Fitzpatrick was then awarded a V8 Supercar test drive by Garry Willmington in recognition of Bryan's development and skill as a driver.

The test took place during the week, and Fitzpatrick set some impressive laptimes during the session, impressing Willmington with his car control and pace.

The V8 Supercar was the first rear-wheel-drive car Fitzpatrick had driven in over 10 years, and to get to grips (well, we won't mention the single harmless spin during the session) with the 600 horsepower V8 proved how well Fitzpatrick was able to adapt to the car.

"I was amazed by the turn in, the rear grip, the brakes!!! The outright thrust and the noise. I was also amazed by the different turn-in lines that such a powerful, well tyred car could acheive."

"As I eased the beast out of the pits and around turns 1 and 2, the brakes and clutch were both lighter and more communicative than I had imagined, and the gearbox was fairly precise with a positive, if not slightly clunky action."

For now, Fitzpatrick's immediate plans are to defend his Class B PTCC title in 2008. The first round of the 2008 Australian Motor Racing Series is scheduled for 1-2 March at Goulburn's Wakefield Park. Which rounds the PTCC will be attending will be announced shortly.

The Australian Motor Racing Series saw it's final round held at Sydney's Oran Park today, and all championships were decided, with a number going right down to the wire.

A full report and listing of all the winners will be posted soon, but in the meantime, a big congratulations to the following new outright champions:

Stay tuned for a full round report, and a full listing of all Championship results and Class Champions.

The 2008 Australian Motor Racing Series Calendar was also announced at the annual awards dinner, with the planned calendar as follows:

As the Australian Motor Racing Series heads to Oran Park for the Grand Finale of the action packed 2007 season, the series is expecting strong fields at the popular Sydney circuit.

The Series regulars of Australian Touring Car Challenge (including V8 Giants), Thunder Sports, Oz BOSS, Super TT and Production Touring Car Championship will crown their 2007 champions at Oran Park.

The AMRS will also be welcoming two guest categories. The crowd-favourites, the HQ Holdens will be joining the fun at Oran Park, and a strong and competitive field is expected, with over 26 cars entered for the event. The field will include four cars travelling all the way from Western Australia!

The other guest appearance will be by the blindingly fast Superkarts, with a 29-strong field ready to set the track alight.

All the action gets underway with practice and qualifying this Saturday, 24 November, there will also be a selection of races from mid-afternoon Saturday, and the main racing action is scheduled for Sunday, 25 November.

Keep track of all the latest AMRS news and information via the official website: www.amrs.net.au

Please click the link for some important information regarding the end-of-season Presentation Dinner.

The Australian Motor Racing Series will support the National Breast Cancer Foundation at the Grand Finale round for the 2007 season to be held at Oran Park 24-25 November.

The National Breast Cancer Foundation funds research into the prevention and cure of breast cancer. The AMRS will provide exposure to the charity, and also help in the fundraising efforts, with a percentage of admission takings going directly to the Foundation. There will also be plenty of donation points at the circuit where fans and competitors can make donations to the charity.

The final round of the 2007 AMRS will see a number of championships go down to the wire. The Australian Touring Car Challenge will see Darren Saillard and John Vergotis (both driving Falcon Supercars) battle for the title, with just 34 points separating the two. Also in with a mathematical chance of leapfrogging the two is Amin Chahda in his BA XR8 Falcon Future Tourer.

In the new-for-2007 V8 Giants championship, Sam Dale (Ford Mustang Cobra R) will be defending from fast-finishing Gary Leaton (Holden Monaro), with Richard Huer also looking good for a podium.

In the Thunder Sports championship, Tom Drewer has a strong lead in the outright stakes, but he could come under fire from Future Racer-mounted Jeff Davy who has driven well all year, and looks strong in the Future Racer sub-category championship.

For the Oz BOSS title, Ty Hanger has already sewn up the outright honours, but will be looking to make amends after being pipped for round victory by Sam Dale at the last round at Wakefield Park. Hanger also has a chance of taking out TWO sub-category championships - he leads the F3000V6 subcategory from Matthew Fox by 12 points, and is just 4 points adrift of Chris Farrell in the Formula Atlantic subcategory.

Luke Searle is looking strong in the Production Touring Car Championship, in his BMW 130i, but could come under fire from XR8 Falcon-mounted Natalie Willmington. The Class Championships are also set to be decided at Oran Park, with Class C in particular going right down to the wire, with the two leading cars separated by just 1 point heading to the final round.

All the action kicks off with Qualifying on Saturday 24 November, and Racing on Sunday 25 November. Keep up to date with all the latest AMRS info via the official website: www.amrs.net.au

For more information on the National Breast Cancer Foundation, visit their website: www.nbcf.org.au

InterAction Motorsport is a new team for 2008, and will be unveiling their two new cars at Oran Park, Saturday 24 November. The team are proud supporters of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and will be raising awareness and money for the charity at the event.

The team invites everyone to come along, support the AMRS, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and to see the two new racecars, and have your photo taken with the team or in one of the new cars. The wildest lady dressed in pink will win a hotlap in one of the new racecars, and there will be daily giveaways to spectators dressed in pink to show their support.

The 9th and final round of the 2007 Australian Motor Racing Series heads to Sydney's Oran Park 24-25 November. Catch all the Qualifying action Sat 24th, and all the racing Sun 25th.

Round 6, from Winton Raceway will screen on SBS Speedweek, Sunday 2 December at 12 noon.

Round 7, from Calder Park, will be shown on FoxSports Inside Speed, over two episodes. The first will feature Thunder Sports, Australian Touring Car Challenge and Super TT, and will screen Tuesday 30 October. The second episode will screen a week later, on Tuesday 6 November, and will feature the Production Touring Car Championship and Australian Sports & GT InterMarque Championship.

The latest round of the Australian Motor Racing Series was held at Goulburn's Wakefield Park over the weekend - check back soon for a full round report, and broadcast dates for the action from that meeting.

The next round of the AMRS, and the final round for 2007, will be held at Sydney's Oran Park, 24 - 25 November.

Click here to view the gallery. Caution the page features thumbnails for 248 photos, so make take a little while to load if you are on a slower internet connection.

The first half of the gallery features photos provided by PHOTOPOWER - these images may be purchased via the PHOTOPOWER website, and part of the profit from the photos is fed back into the Australian Motor Racing Series - support the company that is supporting you, and consider ordering some of the fantastic prints today!

We've received a massive update of photos from Round 7 at Calder Park, and are just waiting on a web storage upgrade to allow us to include the photos on the site. We've reached capacity, and are in the process of negotiating more space. Check back soon, as there are some great shots!

Natalie Willmington enjoyed a stellar debut season on board her front wheel drive Mitsubishi Magna in the 2006 Production Touring Car Championship. For 2007, she stepped up to the rear wheel drive BA XR8 Falcon, trading outright fastest times with the 2006 Championship winning BMW 130s of Luke Searle and Peter Kelly.

In two weeks time, Natalie will be doing double duty, and driving both cars! Not at the same time though - she'll be driving the XR8 Falcon in the PTCC races, and she'll make her return to the Magna for the 300km Endurance race.

Natalie's last competitive outing in the Magna was at the same event 12 months ago, in the AMRS 500. The Magna suffered some minor issues that time out, and has since been in a major bingle at Winton Raceway (earlier this year). The car has undergone major surgery, and all the damage has been repaired, and the reliability issues from last year's enduro have been eradicated.

Natalie will be teaming up with Kevin Gilkinson - the Toyo man - and they should be a formidable team around their home circuit.

Regulations for the AMRS Endurance Series are now available on the website. Click here to access the regs, or visit the "Downloads" page.

The entry form for the Enduro is also available on the Downloads page, or access it directly by clicking here.

The AMRS Endurance Series will be a 300km race incorporated in Round 8 of the 2007 Series, at Goulburn's Wakefield Park, and will feature cars from a variety of AMRS categories, including:

The event will take place 27-28 October. Meanwhile, this weekend, the AMRS heads to Melbourne's Calder Park Raceway for Round 7. Check back for a full report after the event!

The AMRS Photo Gallery has received a massive update, with over ONE HUNDRED great photos taken by Andrew Wilson at Round 6 at Winton.

Click here to visit the gallery. All the photos are available to purchase through Andrew's website (check our links page).

The AMRS Endurance Championship has been officially announced, and will take place at Goulburn's Wakefield Park, 27-28 October.

The event will be a gruelling 300km around the technical Wakefield Park circuit, and will feature cars from a variety of AMRS categories, including:

Each car will have at least one driver change during the event, and may be driven by up to three drivers over the course of the 300km. Subclasses within the event will be established for cars based on the refuelling method used, with classes for timed fuel stops (where cars must pit for a fixed period of time) and classes for churned fuel stops (where cars pit for as long as it takes to fuel the car).

Further details will be announced soon. To find out now if your car is eligible, contact the AMRS: rod@amrs.net.au or garry@amrs.net.au

The AMRS enjoyed an action packed round at Winton Raceway last weekend. To read all the latest news stories, follow the links below:

Since January 2007, the Australian Motor Racing Series website has had over 4 million hits. 226,000 pages on the AMRS site have been viewed in that period. Over 40 gigabytes of data have been downloaded from the site in that time.

There is a new and improved look planned for the site in the near future, but the thing that keeps visitors coming back is content. And largely, www.amrs.net.au relies on you for that content.

Results, championship standings, event details and entry forms are taken care of internally, we upload photos when they are available, but with just under 200 competitors having taken part in the AMRS so far in 2007, it is simply not possible for www.amrs.net.au to write stories on each and every competitor.

For the competitors, it means that we're relying on you to provide press releases or content you would like included on the site. To get your message across to the plentiful visitors to the site, you need to supply information and photos to the site - you have the opportunity to get additional exposure for your sponsors, and potentially catch the eye of new sponsors who might be visiting the site.

For the fans, if you have a story you'd like to share about your experience at an Australian Motor Racing Series round, send it in, and we'll include suitable stories on the site. If you have photos you'd like to see on the site, send them too, and if you have your own online photo album you'd like us to link to we can add it to the links page.

For everyone, if you have suggestions for the site, or something new you would like to see included, send it through. Now is the time for innovations to be incorporated into the next generation of www.amrs.net.au

To all those competitors who have been supplying content for the site, we thank you, and look forward to receiving more. To those planning to submit more content to the site, thank you.

Ian McLean wound up his most successful weekend (July 14 – 15) of racing at round five of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) after taking his first HQ Holden race win in the annual Hopwood 100 event at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway.

Having already taken the overall HQ Holden class win in the 3.3 Litre Holdens that day, McLean was even more confident heading into the one hour event which he went on to dominate. Despite losing the lead on the first lap, McLean safely built a strong buffer over the rest of the field while conserving tyres and preserving his car to last the distance, and was elated that his mental strength was on par with his winning on-track performance.

“I think the longest sprint race I’ve competed in is around the 15-minute mark so to be out there for a whole hour was a real test of mental strength,” admitted an elated McLean.

“We’re just so rapt to have scored our first race win in an event like this. We kept the car steady and conserved our package to make sure our car wouldn’t overheat and the buffer we built certainly helped us get away and stay in the lead. What a win!”

Earlier in the weekend, McLean had already proved the dominant steerer by taking his # 96 Gatorz Precision Eyewear supported car to victory lane with his first class win of the season. With both Super TT and 3.3 Litre Holdens combined for racing events, McLean was resilient when put to the test with stronger and faster cars around him.

Despite an early alternator failure in practice, McLean was fastest qualifier however slightly missed out on a race one win but for jamming gears that relegated him to third across the finish line. A race two victory soon followed, but despite retiring to the pits in the third 10-lap race, McLean stormed through the field in the final race to take the class race win and round trophy.

“The car was really strong, except for a few niggling issues that crept up,” said McLean.

“But to still be competitively in the top 10 outright when there are the other powerful Super TT class cars around you is a great sign that we have our package right. It certainly gives us plenty of confidence heading into our next event.

“I would like to thank my dad (Bob) and my fiancée (Melanie) for all their help this weekend too; it’s an awesome feat to share these victories with them.”

The annual Hopwood 100, in memory of the late Peter Hopwood, is one of most prestigious events on the Wakefield Park Raceway calendar, and Mclean is honoured to have captured the event at his very first attempt.

McLean will next contest the NSW State Championship this weekend (July 21-22) at Oran Park Raceway (Narellan, NSW) in the HQ Holden class, and would like to thank Gatorz Precision Eyewear www.gatorzracing.com.au for their continued support in 2007.

In an editorial error, the TV schedule from Round 5 has until now not been announced - please accept our apologies here at amrs.net.au, but there's still time to put it in your diary!

The action from the Australian Touring Car Challenge, including V8 Giants, will screen this coming weekend, with another special appearance on Channel 9's program Speed Machine, Saturday 28 July at 11.30am.

The Thunder Sports, Production Touring Car Championship, Super TT and 3.3 Litre Holdens will be shown on SBS Speedweek Sunday 2nd September, in the usual timeslot of 12 noon.

Details of when the Hopwood 100 will air will be announced as soon as they are available.

In his second appearance of the year, Scott Loadsman came home the headline winner having taken victory of the Australian Touring Car Challenge (ATCC) last weekend (July 14-15) that was run with round five of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway.

Despite just one race win after initially qualifying on pole, Loadsman’s subsequent second and fourth placings in the two handicapped races were enough help Loadsman bag a majority points haul and a V8 Supercar class win behind the wheel of his ex-Lansvale Racing VY Holden Commodore. In fact, it was the second ATCC round win in succession for Loadsman.

Second overall and first of the Group A class cars was David Gardner in the # 29 VK Holden Commodore, while Paul Leabeater in his Hyundai Super Tourer was third for the weekend and first home in the Super Tourers. Other overall class winners within the ATCC category were Shane Hunt (V8 Giants) and Amin Chahda (Future Tourers). Darren Saillard (EL Ford Falcon V8 Supercar) managed to scrape home three top 10 places after suffering some bad luck, but he still maintains a hold of his ATCC championship lead.

Production Touring Cars – With Luke Searle qualifying on pole in the BMW just ahead of Natalie Willmington in the XR8 and then Peter Kelly (BMW), the Class A championship has hotted up. Luke Seale won the day and Natalie Willmington second but still leading the championship by two points. Matt “The Kangaroo Kid” Coulter won Class B in his Mitsubishi Magna while Daniel Flanagan (Hyundai Sonata) was the Class C victor.

In the Thunder Sports, Tom Drewer stamped his authority against a competitive field as expected. After topping the time sheets in qualifying and claiming the race one win, Drewer battled strongly with fellow West WR1000 steerer Graeme Cook, who took the second 10-lap race, but third race honours and the round win were handed back to Drewer by weekend’s end. Best of the Future Racer drivers were Jeff Davy, Keeran Dal-Maso, Jade Barnes, and Tim Monte.

With Super TT and 3.3 Litre Holdens racing combined events, Derek Hocking (Holden SS Commodore V8 Ute) emerged overall winner by taking his maiden Super TT round win of the season. Best of the Kingswoods and second overall home was Mark Nottage, while Amin Chahda in his XR6 Ford Falcon filled the final place on the podium.

Gatorz Racing’s Ian McLean was the best finisher of the HQ Holdens for the weekend, but it was in the one-hour enduro event, the annual Peter Hopwood 100, that he scored his top victory, taking the race victory ahead of Simon Latchford and Nottage in third.

The next major event on the Wakefield Park Raceway calendar will be the fifth and penultimate round of the NSW State Motor Racing Championship on the weekend of August 11 – 12.

For further information about Wakefield Park Raceway visit their official website: www.wakefieldpark.com.au

The Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) is set to invade Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway this weekend (July 14-15) for yet another action packed weekend where a vast number of classes will compete in the fifth round of their respective class championships.

As one of the fastest growing series’ in Australia, the AMRS provides a mixed bag of motorsport, promising to be an event not to be missed to any motorsport enthusiast.

The event will be headlined by the Australian Touring Car Challenge, including the V8 Giants, where leading contenders Darren Saillard (EL Ford Falcon V8 Supercar) and John Vergotis (AU Ford Falcon V8 Supercar) will continue their battle for championship glory. Aside from V8 Supercars, the Australian Touring Car Challenge comprise of Super Tourers, Future Tourers, V8 Giants and Group A, and both race two and three are set under a unique handicapping format, which is bound to bring plenty of closely fought racing.

In the Production Touring Cars category, frontrunners Luke Searle and Peter Kelly, both driving BMW 130s, will challenge the Ford Falcon XR8 driving Natalie Willmington for round success in both outright and class A honours. In addition, both class B and C honours will be closely fought between the likes of Neil Byers, Bryan Fitzpatrick, Peter Erler, and Darrin Harris.

Tom Drewer (West WR 1000), Tim Monte (Future Racer) and Jeff Davey (Future Racer) are amongst the front runners that will take to the 2.2km circuit in contest for victory in the Thunder Sports class.

Other events will include Super TT, as well as the Hopwood 100, a one-hour endurance challenge held in memory of the late Peter Hopwood. The event is specifically for HQ Holden’s and Kingswood’s.

The event, which was originally scheduled at Adelaide International raceway, was forced to switch to the Wakefield Park Raceway circuit due to the Adelaide venues, major works not being completed in time.

Saturday afternoon will see practise and qualifying commence, as well as some racing.

Entry for all adult spectators on Saturday will be $15. Racing will begin at 9am on Sunday and entry for adults will be $30. A weekend pass is priced at $40. Entry for kids under 15 years will be free of charge on both days, providing they are accompanied by a paying adult.

You will be able to view and hear all the action from the comfort of your own car.

Wakefield Park Raceway is located 10km South of Goulburn on the Braidwood Road two hours from Sydney and less than one hour from Canberra.

For further details contact the Wakefield Park Raceway office on 0248 222811 during business hours, or visit the official website: www.wakefieldpark.com.au.

Local racing drivers Tim Monte and Bryan Fitzpatrick will be leading the local contingent of competitors and taking charge towards top results as round five of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) gets underway this weekend (July 15-16) at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway.

Currently leading the overall Thunder Sports championship, Monte has proven to be the dominant steerer in 2007 having already claimed two round wins out of four contested so far in his David Ratcliffe-owned Future Racer. While also comfortably leading the Future Racer class in points, Monte is looking to continue his strong run of success including a repeat of results from the season-opening round at Wakefield Park where he came home as the inaugural round victor of the year.

“Getting the clean sweep of wins at round one at Goulburn earlier this year was not only the best start to the year but hopefully it’s a good sign of things to come this weekend,” said Monte.

“It’s our home circuit and I’m comfortable racing the Future Racers around the circuit so fingers crossed we qualify strong and get a clean start and it should be a great weekend results-wise come Sunday.”

Meanwhile, Bryan Fitzpatrick of Braddon will be back for the latest round of the Production Touring Car Championship, firmly focussed on achieving his first class win. Celebrating his birthday this Sunday (July 16), the local Canberra businessman will grid up in his Renault Clio for class B with added confidence to go after solid results on what is hoped to be a momentous weekend.

“I hope it will be a good birthday to remember with good results and not the other way around!” joked Fitzpatrick.

“Our aim for the season was to finish in the top three in our class and we’ve been steadily improving our race package, car setup and its handling. The plan will be to qualify as best we can and make steady improvements through the three races. We’re not the fastest car out there but we will certainly be racing our hardest to get those vital points.”

Wakefield Park, in conjunction with the AMRS, are pleased to announce the inclusion of the prestigious "Hopwood 100" event in their upcoming July 14/15 round 5 program.

The "Hopwood 100" celebrates the life and great contribution to motorsport by the late Peter Hopwood.

The one hour event is for HQ Holdens/ Kingswoods and will be run in addition to the normal 4 race program for 3.3 litre Holdens already a feature of the Australian Motor Racing Series.

Television coverage will be given to both the "Hopwood 100" as well as the 3.3 Litre Holden races.

Wakefield Park manager Garry Willmington stated that he was pleased to have the annual Wakefield Park event included in the AMRS round and delighted with the TV coverage it will receive.

The Australian Motor Racing Series put on some of its best racing to date at Queensland Raceway for Round 4 last weekend. Stay tuned to the AMRS website for full reports of all the action.

In the meantime, there are two great image galleries from the event, click the links below to view the galleries:

All the action from Queensland Raceway will screen on SBS Speeweek over two episodes. The action from the Australian Touring Car Challenge, Sidecars and Thunder Sports will air Sunday 24 June. The InterMarque Championship, Production Touring Cars and Oz BOSS will screen Sunday 15 July. As always, check your local guides for full details.

With the change of venue for Round 5 of the 2007 Australian Motor Racing Series, a revised entry form is now available from the AMRS website. For a direct link to the file, click here. The new version has replaced the old version, and can be downloaded from the "Downloads" page, or the individual category "Competitor Info" pages.

Competitors, please note that all entries for Round 5 are to be sent directly to Wakefield Park - the address is included on the new entry form. Entry payments are also payable to Wakefield Park.

Round 5 of the Australian Motor Racing Series is now to be held at the popular NSW circuit of Wakefield Park instead of as originally planned at Adelaide International Raceway.

The reason being that the ongoing track improvement program at AIR has unfinished work that may not have been completed in the time available.

Adelaide International Raceway owner Bob Jane and AMRS directors Garry Willmington and Rod Dale felt it would be in the best interest of the competitors to make the change now in order to have ample time for teams to plan for the event

Both parties are keen for Adelaide to be included in the 2008 calendar at what promises to be a first class venue.

The AMRS website will be updated to reflect this information over the coming days.

Australian Motor Racing Series – Round 4 – Queensland Raceway 16-17 June 2007

As the Australian Motor Racing Series heads to Queensland Raceway, the categories in the series have shifted up a gear, building on the momentum seen at Winton Raceway for Round 3.

The Australian Touring Car Challenge, incorporating the newly-formed V8 Giants sees former champion Garry Willmington back in action, in his AU Falcon V8 Giant. Willmington heads the largest field of ‘Giants’ yet, with Shelton Loughrey joining him in an EL Falcon, Richard Huer in a V8-powered Mitsubishi Magna, Neil Byers in the Ford Mustang Cobra R previously driven by Sam Dale. The are also a number of Holden V8 Giants in the wings, with details expected to be available shortly. There are also some exciting additions under construction, with the names BMW and Monaro being at the top of the list. Front runners in the Touring Car Challenge are expected to include: Darren Saillard (EL Falcon Supercar), Darren Formosa (VX Commodore Supercar), John Vergotis (AU Falcon Supercar), Ryan McLeod as well as many others.

In the Oz BOSS ranks, Ty Hanger (Reynard 94D) is expected to have his stranglehold challenged, as Chris Gilmour joins the field in his late model Formula 3 (Dallara F304). Bob Muir’s V8 Lexus-powered Reynard is bound to be strong on the long straights of QR, and no doubt Chris Farrell will be looking to build on the excellent debut performance of his new, late-model Swift Formula Atlantic (2001 014.a). Bob Rieschl and Matthew Fox will also be contenders in the FUEL2RACE Fox Motorsport team. The field looks set to be the biggest so far for 2007, with 13 entries confirmed, and another 7 likely to be confirmed in the coming week. Formula R (control engine F2 & F3 chassis) join the field for the first time, and debut with a strong field of cars.

The Australian Sports & GT InterMarque Championship (IMC) showcased some excellent racing at Winton, and this is set to continue at Queensland Raceway, with another large quality field set to take the grid for the 1 hour endurance race. With makes like Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, Honda and many more represented, the racing is bound to be action packed and high drama.

Thunder Sports is another rapidly growing category, and always offers action packed racing. The WEST of Tom Drewer has dominated in outright terms since its debut in 2006. Now though, Drewer’s WEST will be joined by three more identical models, and the battle can only intensify. One of the cars will be driven by Bruce Burchet, and the other two will be campaigned by Graeme Cook’s Container Solutions team (with the second driver to be announced). Despite the outright pace of the prototype cars, it is a Future Racer leading the championship heading to Queensland, with Tim Monte holding onto the top spot, from prototype-mounted Dennis Holland.

Other categories on show will include the X Challenge powered by Lotus presented by Federal Tyres, with an improved field following the category’s debut at Winton, the ever-growing Production Touring Car Championship, and for the first time with the Australian Motor Racing Series, Sidecars. These truly awesome machines, and the equally amazing riders and passengers will add plenty of excitement to the lineup.

All the action takes place over two days – Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 June. Visit the official AMRS website: www.amrs.net.au for all the latest information.

2005 Australian Touring Car Challenge champion, Garry Willmington, is set to return to the highly competitive field, this time in the category he helped to create - V8 Giants.

Willmington's latest acquisition, an AU Falcon V8 Giant, powered by a 5-litre pushrod V8 and weighing in at 1300kg, has been piloted previously by young guns Brad Lowe and George Miedecke. Lowe took outright honours in the car at Round One, and Miedecke performed extremely well, in his first outing in such a high-calibre machine. And now Garry has decided to take the wheel himself. Despite having tested the car, Willmington is yet to race it, and Round 4 of the Australian Touring Car Challenge will be his first race for over 12 months, his last outing was in the ATCC in an older model EL Falcon for Round One of the 2006 Championship.

The inclusion of Willmington comes as the V8 Giants category is starting to take off, with its biggest field yet set to take the grid at Queensland Raceway. Willmington will be joined by the EL Falcon of Shelton Loughrey, the V8-powered Mitsubishi Magna of Richard Huer, plus the 4.6 litre Ford Mustang Cobra R vacated by Sam Dale (now on overseas duties) set to be taken over by former Super Touring competitor Neil Byers. There are also a couple of Holden V8 Giants set to join the bulging fields - the details of these cars will be announced in the coming weeks.

There are also some very exciting cars being built for the category, with the names BMW and Monaro being whispered around the paddock. Stay tuned for more news on these cars.

Round Four of the Australian Motor Racing Series heads to Queensland Raceway 16-17 June. The V8 Giants and Touring Car Challenge will be joined by a diverse range of other categories - head to the official AMRS website for all the info: www.amrs.net.au

The Gold Coast sports car manufacturer, founded by Mark Williams in 2003 has new owners and will be re-locating to the NSW Central Coast.

The Team of current AMRS and NSW Clubman Challenge regulars, Dennis Holland and Scott Bingham has acquired the Business and will continue to manufacture the cars at their West Gosford premises.

The new owners are currently putting the finishing touches to their own Bike Engined Clubman style race car, and the acquisition of Minetti will fit in perfectly along side it.

For more information please contact either: Dennis 0418 284658 or Scott 0425 368255

Also available from the "Downloads" page, with more wallpapers to be added soon.

The AMRS has kicked off it's range of official wallpapers with a selection of four cars in the first release. Fans of the AMRS can now have the Ford Mustang V8 Giant, the AU Falcon V8 Giant, a Reynard 94D Oz BOSS or the Mitsubishi 380 Production Touring Car on their computer desktop. Previews of the wallpapers are shown below. Keep an eye on the "Downloads" page as more wallpapers will be added soon.

Note for competitors: If you would like your car featured in an official AMRS wallpaper, please email sam@amrs.net.au, include a suitable high resolution photograph of your car, and the specifications of your car, as well as any sponsor logos you would like incorporated. Competitors who supply these items will also be supplied (via email) a print quality image file suitable for printing as a poster or swap card.

The third round of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) last weekend (April 28 – 29) ventured to Winton Motor Raceway (Benalla, VIC) and drivers were greeted with a mixture of wet and dry weather conditions that certainly put them to the test.

After dry weather conditions throughout Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions, Sunday morning brought wet conditions and the result was plenty of thrills and spills, and some new faces in the winners circle at the completion of the weekend.

In the Australian Touring Car Challenge, which brings together V8 Supercars, Super Tourers, V8 Giants, Future Tourers and Group A cars, saw Future Tourer entrant Amin Chahda upset the form guide by taking out his maiden round victory when he finished ahead of V8 Supercar drivers John Vergotis and current championship leader Darren Saillard on the podium. After qualifying on pole position Ryan McLeod (VY Holden Commodore V8 Supercar) looked strong in race one but was handed a 15 second penalty for jumping the start and Vergotis took the victory. The two handicap races (7 and 9 laps) were captured by Philip Groeneveld (VS Holden Commodore Future Tourer) under damp conditions and McLeod in the dry. Class wins were shared between Vergotis (V8 Supercars), Daniel Natoli (Super Tourers), Chahda (Future Tourers), Richard Huer (V8 Giants) and David Gardner (Group A).

Ty Hanger (Reynard 95D F3000V6) continued his dominance in the Oz BOSS championship by taking out both POWRgard Mouthgards Oz BOSS race wins (12 and 15 laps respectively) and therefore extending his comfortable lead in the point standings. Hanger defeated Les Crampton (Reynard 97D Oz BOSS) and Sam Dale (Reynard 94D F3000V6) in a drenched race one, whilst Hanger completed a perfect weekend by downing Robert Muir (Reynard 94D Oz BOSS) and Crampton in race two. Dale suffered a throttle problem in the second race and failed to finish.

In the Production Touring Car Championship, Class B runner George Miedecke (Hyundai Tiburon) defeated the pre-race favourite and reigning champion Luke Searle (BMW 130 Class A) in the wet race one, but as the track dried Searle claimed the victory spoils in race two and three and claimed the round victory. Miedecke’s race one winsaw him finish ahead of Searle and Peter Kelly (BMW 130 Class A), and in race two and three Searle downed Kelly, with Miedecke and Natalie Willmington (XR8 Ford Falcon) placing third respectively in race two and three. Searle (Class A), Miedecke (Class B), Peter Erler (Class C) and Kosi Kalaitzidis (Class D) were the overall winners of their respective classes.

The West WR1000 driven by Tom Drewer claimed two out of the three races in the Thunder Sports class and took out the round victory. Drewer topped the time sheets in qualifying, scored victory in race two and three, and finished third in the opening race of the weekend to take the round honours ahead of race one winner Luke Doidge (Dungy Lancia) and the Future Racer driver Tim Monte. Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series runner Luke Youlden made a cameo appearance in the Thunder Sports and performed strongly despite suffering a non finish in the second race, finishing fourth and third respectively in race one and three.

Peter Fitzgerald and Kane Rose battled it out in the Intermarque Challenge with Fitzgerald victorious in race one, but it was Rose who gained the upper hand over Fitzgerald in both race two and three. Rod Wilson placed third in race one, and Ross Lilley placed third behind Rose and Fitzgerald in both race two and three.

In the UBuild.com.au Super TT / 3.3 Litre Holdens, Peter McNiven emerged the most consistent over the four races, whilst Kevin Stoopman was too quick in the 3.3 Litre Holdens. The debut of the Federal Tyres X Challenge powered by Lotus saw John Pagonas post the very first victory in the AMRS’ newest class.

Queensland Raceway ( Ipswich, QLD) is the venue for the fourth round of the AMRS which is to be held on June 16 – 17.

The action from Winton Raceway will screen on SBS Speedweek over two episodes. Tune in Sunday 20 May to catch Super TT / 3.3 Litre Holdens, Thunder Sports and PTCC. The Touring Car Challenge / V8 Giants, InterMarque Championship and Oz BOSS will screen Sunday 27 May. Speedweek airs at 12 noon, but as always, check your local TV guide for details.

Photos from Round 3 are coming soon, in the meantime, visit Chris Noyes' website and click the AMRS button for a sneak preview.

The Australian Motor Racing Series’ largest fields to date, including two high-profile V8 Supercar steerers will make the trek to Winton Motor Raceway this weekend (April 28-29), to not only challenge for round three honours but undoubtedly raise the bar of competition in this country’s fastest-growing cost effective series.

Luke Youlden and Brett Hobson, who currently contest the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, will race in Thunder Sports and the Australian Touring Car Challenge respectively. While weather unpredictability always throws a spanner in the works at the 3km circuit, the established order in most categories looks set to be shaken up in what is expected to be the most exciting AMRS round so far this season.

Hobson will have his first Australian Touring Car Challenge run in a Matthew Hunt owned VS Commodore V8 Supercar and he is aiming to challenge current ATCC series leader and outstanding newcomer Darren Saillard in the EL Falcon V8 Supercar. Also making his first appearance this weekend is successful HQ Holden driver Shane Hunt from Queensland in an AU Falcon V8 Supercar. The competitive field will also be joined by another debutante, James Henderson, driving the ex- Peter Vicary EL Falcon Supercar.

Luke Youlden’s first taste of Thunder Sports will be in a Subaru WRX engine powered Saker which should give Tom Drewer in the West WR1000 something to think about in what will be the categories biggest field to date. Other quick drivers to watch in the 20-car grid are Luke Doidge in a Dungy Wanga while top contenders for the Future Racers class will be Jeff Davy, Tim Monte and Keeran Dal-Maso.

The leading battle for Production Touring Cars will once again hot up between the BMW 130s of Peter Kelly and reigning champion Luke Searle, with Natalie Willmington and Rick Otten expected to mount strong challenges. Class B standout and 2006 class champion George Miedecke will return to the category in his Hyundai Tiburon to challenge Darren Best in the Ford Focus, while the Proton Satria of Darren Harris and round one victor Peter Erler will go head to head in Class C.

OZ Boss series leader Ty Hanger returns to defend his title lead in the Reynard 95D against the consistent Sam Dale, while Chris Farrell will debut his late-model 2002 Toyota-powered Swift Formula Atlantic and Andrew McCarthy will drive a proven RT-4 model and will no doubt prove a threat. Others in the strong field include Matt Fox, and new teammate Bob Rieschl in the FUEL2RACE Fox Motorsport outfit, Les Crampton with a modified Alloytec engine to take the battle to Bob Muir’s Lexus V8 powered machine. And the first competitor to race a Formula 3 car in the

category will be Chris Shearer running a Dallara F396.

The Australian Sports & GT InterMarque Championship has grown rapidly from its inception in February this year. The category boasts a bumper entry list for Winton, and includes such exotic supercars as Porsche 993RSR, 996GT2, 911RSR, Ferrari 360GT, Maserati Trofeo, and joining the field for the first time will be John Kaias’ 2006 British GT Championship winning Aston Martin DBSR9 with an amazing V12 powerplant. The action in the InterMarque Championship is set to be hot as the cars are raced as they were intended to – flat out.

Other categories on the exciting billing are the 3.3 Litre Holdens / Super TT, and the debut of X Challenge powered by Lotus, with a 50 minute endurance race.

Saturday entry will be $10 for adults and children 13 and under free. Sunday entry will be $20 for adults and children aged 13 and under are free. Entry to the pit and paddock area is no extra charge, and gives fans the chance to get up close to the race cars and drivers.

For further details please contact the Winton Motor Raceway office on 0357 664235 during business hours, or visit their official website: www.WintonRaceway.com.au

In a special arrangement, Round Two of the Australian Touring Car Challenge will be screened on Channel Nine's SPEED MACHINE program, this Saturday, 21 April at 12 noon.

In a recent agreement between the AMRS and the show, the Touring Car Challenge and V8 Giants will be exposed to a new audience through the Speed Machine program. All the action from Calder Park will be shown, in this one off arrangement, and coverage will return to its usual slot on SBS Speedweek from Round 3 onwards. Please note that Round 2 will NOT be shown on Speedweek, as previously advised.

Check your local guides to make sure you don't miss a second of the action this Saturday, 21 April on Channel Nine.

Hover your mouse over each category logo to view approximate lease prices for each category - hover over the left of the logo for a starting price, and over the right for upper range of deals available. Note, costs are approximate, and intended only as a guide. Every lease deal varies, in terms of car status, options included, and level of assistance. For more information, please contact AMRS Director, Rod Dale - rod@amrs.net.au or 0412 785 486.

The second round of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) put on one of the closest weekends of competition last weekend (March 24 – 25) at Victoria’s Calder Park Raceway.

The headlining Australian Touring Car Challenge was won by Darren Saillard in his #25 EL Ford Falcon V8 Supercar, going one better than his opening-round second place to make it onto the top step of the round podium. Now leading the ATCC driver point’s ladder, despite a hard-fought battle with gearbox issues all weekend, Saillard took home V8 Supercar class and outright honours, while Sam Dale won it for V8 Giants in his Ford Mustang, Philip Groeneveld (Future Tourers), David Gardner (Group A), and Daniel Natoli for the Super Tourers aboard the Mumbo Racing Ford Mondeo. After qualifying on pole position John Vergotis (AU Falcon V8 Supercar) won race one and three, whilst race two was taken out by Saillard.

Thunder Sports favourite Tom Drewer qualified fastest in his West WR1000 and despite a race one DNF went on to win the final two races and secured the overall round victory.

In the Australian Sports car/GT Intermarque Championship, the outright dominance of Paul Whitmarsh in the Porsche GT2 was the talking point of the meeting after taking out the first qualifying session and all three races. Darcy Russell in the Dodge Viper and Rod Wilson in Maserati Trofeo battled closely for second and third place respectively.

Another tight challenge emerged in U-Built Homes sponsored Super TT class where Keith Linnell in the Ford Cortina and Michael Ballentyne in the VS Holden Commodore battled out for supremacy. Ballentyne did manage a race one win ahead of Linnell but winning roles reversed for the remaining three races with Linnell’s Ford Cortina beating the outpaced Holden Commodore to the chequered flag on each occasion.

The U-Built Homes supported 3.3 Litre Holdens class had a mixed bag of winners with Simon Latchford and Brendan Niclasen fighting hard all weekend. Latchford was the consistent performer with one race win, one second and two thirds to come out on top of the point’s ladder. Niclasen was fastest in qualifying but only managed a race one win, a DNF putting him

out of round winning contention while Greg Niclasen, despite two race wins, suffered dramas in race three causing a non finish but still managed to muster up third place overall.

After clean-sweeping the OZ Boss Championship (including F3000 V6), Ty Hanger topped the score card with another overall win driving his Reynard 95D, and Canberra based Tim Monte took out another Future Racers events narrowly ahead of Jeff Davey.

The third round of the AMRS is to be staged at Winton Motor Raceway (Benalla Victoria) on the weekend of April 28 – 29.

Further information about the AMRS can be found at their official website: www.amrs.net.au

George Miedecke is a young driver on the move. He made his circuit racing debut in 2006, in the Production Touring Car Championship, driving a Hyundai Tiburon. Miedecke was on the pace right from the start, and despite missing a round, managed to clinch the Class B title at the final round at Wakefield Park. Pleased with his initial performance, Miedecke set about finding backing for 2007, eventually landing support from Lubrimaxx to compete in the 2007 V8 Utes Championship. George's year has gotten off to a mixed start, with mechanical maladies at the opening round at the Clipsal 500, followed by a great run at the non-championship event at the Australian Grand Prix, where he finished 11th, 9th and 12th across the three races.

Shortly after he won the PTCC Class B Championship for 2006, Miedecke was judged by AMRS Director Garry Willmington to be the most promising young driver in the 2006 PTCC, and was awarded a test drive in Garry's V8 Supercar (at the time, an EL Falcon V8 Supercar). Since the announcement was made, George has been busy preparing for the 2007 V8 Utes Championship and despite being VERY eager to sample the V8 Supercar, he hadn't been able to find the time until today. In the meantime Garry has been busy too - busy acquiring a later model car, and converting it to V8 Giants spec. Garry's new car is an ex-V8 Supercar AU Falcon, and in the hands of Brad Lowe at Round 1 of the 2007 AMRS took out the win in the Australian Touring Car Challenge and V8 Giants. And this is the car George test drove today. The test was a big success - so successful in fact, that Garry has decided to step aside for Round 2 of the AMRS this weekend at Calder Park, and hand the drive over to George.

Round Two of the Australian Motor Racing Series will be held at Calder Park this weekend, 24-25 March, and will be Miedecke's first appearance in the V8 Giants sub-category of the Australian Touring Car Challenge, proving how successful the AMRS Driver Development Program - just another reason to get involved in the AMRS.

Hot on the heels of this announcement, Garry Willmington has confirmed that the V8 Giants test will be repeated at the end of the 2007 Production Touring Car Championship. The test drive is awarded to the driver who demonstrates the most promise during the year. The award is judged solely by Garry Willmington, and takes into account car control, speed, race discipline, enthusiasm, and many other characteristics. For more information on how to get involved in the AMRS, visit the official website: www.amrs.net.au

One part of racing that many drivers don't enjoy is interviews. It's easy to get nervous, or forget what you wanted to say (or which sponsors you wanted to mention), or give less than eloquent responses to some of the interviewer's questions. But if you can get it right, an interview will mean better exposure for you as a driver, for your team and for your sponsors. As many drivers in the top echelons of motorsport will attest, training in how to deal with the media is an important and valuable process.

As part of the Australian Motor Racing Series' ongoing committment to driver development, there will be a Media Awareness Seminar held at Round Two at Calder Park. Attendance at the seminar is not compulsory (although encouraged), and is free to all competitors (and team members) for the round. Simon Latchford, AMRS competitor and accomplished public speaker will deliver his thoughts on dealing with the media - how to plan for an interview, what to do during an interview, and how to keep the media on-side and assist you with promotion of yourself and your sponsors.

This is an outstanding opportunity for competitors to develop their professional knowledge and skills and an excellent selling point for future sponsors ("I have completed media awareness training to ensure I present your company in the best possible light.") The seminar will be conducted at Calder Park, 1630 Saturday afternoon.

Round Two of the Australian Motor Racing Series will be held at Calder Park, 24-25 March.

A new sponsor has joined the Australian Motor Racing Series for Round Two. Keen to maximise their exposure trackside and via the outstanding television coverage, Port Macquarie-based UBuild has come on board to support the Super TT and 3.3 Litre Holdens categories. All cars in the categories will wear a UBuild.com.au windscreen banner, and information on the products available from UBuild will be available from the AMRS Merchandise tent.

UBuild Homes has been developed by award winning builders and engineers to assist the owner builder with all aspects of their project. UBuild supply Materials to Lockup Stage on the customers slab or footings, Plans, Design Services, Council Submissions, Specifications, Quantity Surveying, Occupational Health & Safety procedures, and much more in the way of services for Owner Building a New Home, Extension or Addition.

UBuild Homes offer not only get top quality materials, but also a comprehensive manual and education to assist you with your construction. A training day is provided to ensure customers understand how to implement the system being purchased. UBuild Homes representatives with their 40 years residential construction experience are available for customers to ask questions right through the construction phase.

The second round of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) will shift up a gear this weekend (March 24 and 25) when it heads to Victoria’s Calder Park Raceway.

After a thrilling opening round at Wakefield Park Raceway last month, the fast-growing, cost effective series will once again feature the competitive Australian Touring Car Challenge (ATCC) and Oz Boss (including the F3000 V6) categories as event headliners.

ATCC round one winner Brad Lowe will not take the grid at Calder, instead Garry Willmington returns in his # 2 AU Falcon V8 Supercar with experienced racer Darren Saillard expected

to be his nearest rival in the EL Falcon V8 Supercar. Luke Searle’s BMW 120i Super Tourer is ready to bounce back after a tough series opener, taking the fight to Peter Kelly (BMW 318i Super Tourer) who claimed third in round one and overall Super Tourer honours.

After clean-sweeping the OZ Boss Championship, Ty Hanger tops the contender list in his Reynard 95D followed by category newcomer Adam Proctor, the consistent Sam Dale and new team owner Matthew Fox are looking to return to form after a frustrating first outing.

Thunder Sports will herald the biggest field of the weekend with 20 plus cars gridding up. The quick drivers to watch will be Tom Drewer in his West WR1000 and opening round winner Phil Whishaw in the Prosports Mulsanne. Bringing light to Future Racers will be Jeff Davy, Tim Monte and Chris Clearihan.

While the HQs and Kingswoods in 3.3 Litre Holdens will chase a close battle between John Predl, Vince Evans and Pedro Marusic amongst others.

Other categories on the mixed grille of racing this weekend will be Super TT and the Australian Sports and GT Inter Marque Championship.

Saturday entry will be $10 for adults and children 13 and under are free. Entry for Sunday is $25 and children aged 15 and under are free of charge. Parking (security parking also available at a small cost), grandstand and pit paddock entry is also at no cost.

For further AMRS information visit their official website: www.amrs.net.au or the official Calder Park Raceway