Super Tin Tops Latest News

Category Calendar Available for Download
 
Click the icon to the right to view the 2008 Super TT calendar. Right click and select "save as" to download a copy of the file.

Stay tuned for the launch of the brand new Super TT website that will be at the address: www.supertt.net.au - update your bookmarks now!

New Website for Super TT
 
Heading into the 2008 season, Super TT is set to gain its own website.

The AMRS website (www.amrs.net.au) will continue to function, and will serve as a central meeting point of the categories competing in the 2008 AMRS, and Super TT will now gain it's own site to better reflect it's status. Work on the new site is underway, and it should be released early in the new year.

You can update your bookmarks now though, by pointing them to www.supertt.net.au

Carson Takes Third in Super TT’s

Wollongong Performance Racing’s (WPR Racing) Team Owner, Gary Carson took out 3 rd place in the 2007 Super TT AMRS Championship at Sydney’s Oran Park today.

Carson’s motor racing career began behind the scenes setting up and running the newly established V8 Supercar team, until the start of the this year when he decided he was going to head out on to the track and start having some fun himself. Gary explains “we run in the Fujitsu Series and also in the V8 Utes and we have drivers who drive my cars in those series, but I really wanted to get involved in the action myself. So I looked at a few categories and the AMRS people were really helpful and it seemed like a great option. We had the old BA Ute sitting in the workshop so I decided to race that and I haven’t looked back”.

In his first season out Gary has shown some good speed and has claimed 4 podiums during the season and has now taken 3 rd outright in the Championship. “We had a terrible start to the season with car trouble at round 1 and we missed the whole round which cost us from the championship front, but we have continued to build from there and have been quick and consistent for the rest of the season... To finished 3 rd in my first season out is a big achievement. I think we will need to rearrange the trophy cabinet at the workshop to fit mine in now” says Gary.

WPR Racing is looking forward to another strong 2008 performance in the AMRS Series, after running 3 Utes at the final round at Oran Park. Gary says “hopefully the utes in the Super TT’s will continue to grow, the V8 Utes are changing from the VY’s to the VE’s for 2008 so there will be some of the older models out there for sale, you never know in the future we may even have our own”.

For further information please contact Jaimie Dyer on 02 4272 4644 or email jaimie@wprracing.com.au

AMRS Endurance Championship Announced

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:

• Super TT
• Future Racers
• Supercars
• V8 Giants
• Production Touring Cars
• And many more

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).

Highlights of the event will be televised after the event.

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

General Announcement to www.amrs.net.au Visitors

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.

So, what does all of this mean to you?

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.

All submissions to the site should be sent via email to: webmaster@amrs.net.au

And to everyone else, keep enjoying www.amrs.net.au!

WPR Wakefield Wonderland

With the change of venue from Adelaide International to Wakefield Park, Wollongong Performance Racing was looking forward to another exciting round of AMRS racing.

After a mixed results from the previous round at Winton, WPR driver Gary Carson was looking forward to heading to his home track.

Gary says “we have a pretty busy calendar racing the Fujitsu car, V8 Utes and now my Ute, so the fact that the venue changed to be our home circuit was awesome”.

Wollongong Performance Racing has doubled their AMRS Ute team securing Sydney based driver Merrick Malouf as Carson’s team mate for the Wakefield Park round. Merrick says “I got the call about 1 week ago and I jumped at the chance to drive the Ute, we’ve had a few mechanical issues today with me and the gearboxes but hopefully that’s all behind us now and we can go racing and have a good weekend”.

WPR Racing was contending with the freezing Goulburn temperatures but the action was hotting up out on the circuit for Race 1 of the Super TT. Gary had a great qualifying session and was in 3 rd but an altercation on the start line when Michael Ballantyne stalled lead to Gary losing a couple of spots and then had to fight hard to try and regain the positions. Carson in the Team IMB/Le Mans Karting entry finished in 6 th and Malouf in the Prime Finance Ute rounded out race 1 a few seconds back in 7 th.

Race 2 was another scratch race and the WPR Racing guys were looking for another exciting race. Team IMB’s Gary Carson drove well and jumped up to 5 th position while newcomer Merrick Malouf held his own to finish in 7 th position.

WPR woke to another freezing Goulburn day but, the day was to get exciting as it was the first of 2 grouped races. This means the faster cars in the field are given time penalties from the start. Team IMB’s Gary Carson started at the back of the start/finish straight in 22 nd while Malouf was off grid 19. Both drivers got great starts and were soon passing the cars up ahead. Gary drove an amazing race to come through the field to finish in 3 rd position while Malouf who was competing for the first time in the Ute finished in 10 th.

Race 3 was another time penalty race and again the WPR team were at the back of the pack. This time Gary made it up to 5 th in the Team IMB/Le Mans kart racing Ute and Merrick was caught in a lot of traffic and managed to hang onto 14 th position for Prime Finance.

Merrick explains “that was a great weekend of racing, I am absolutely hooked I had a ball and I can’t wait to get behind the Ute again”.

Gary says “I am so happy with how this weekend has gone, to finish 3 rd overall for the weekend is great and it’s also a good swag of points for the championship hunt, I’m just disappointed that I have to wait till September to race again”.

For more information on the AMRS series check out www.amrs.net.au or for more information on Gary & Merrick please contact Jaimie@wprracing.com.au.

Wet Winton for WPR

WPR Racing headed off for Round 3 of the Australian Motor Racing Series at Winton Raceway.

After a successful debut at Calder Park, Gary was looking forward to jumping in his Team IMB Ute for another weekend of racing.

WPR Racing’s weekend got off to a bad start when Gary and crew were on the road to Winton. Gary received a call from the mechanics at the WPR workshop and wase told that the gearbox that had been sent away for repair had arrived back at the workshop but there was still a problem with 1st gear.

The team were then on a mission to try and get another gearbox. After a call to fellow competitor Marcus Zukanovic, WPR Racing was soon heading to the Action Motorsport workshop to pick up one of his spare boxes. WPR headed back to the track and put in the new gearbox.

WPR woke to overcast conditions on Saturday and was ready for a busy day ahead. Gary went out to get to know the track in his only 15 minute practice session. After posting some pleasing times it was then time for the 20 minute qualifying session. Gary was a little disappointed with his 8th position, but was confident that he would be able to make good grounds during the races.

Race.1 was a scratch race and Gary started off 8th. He got off to a great start but was soon under pressure from the horsepower of the GT Falcons and the handling of the Subaru. Gary drove well to finish the 5 lap race in 5th position.

Race.2 and another 5 lap race The Team IMB, Le Mans Kart Racing sponsored Ute was once again on the pace with Gary setting his fastest lap time. He held on to finish in 7th.

The Winton skies opened up on Sunday morning and WPR Racing became the drought breakers. With heavy rain falling, Race 3 was to be Gary’s first ever ‘wet’ race. With a ‘Handicap’ start Gary was starting off grid 17 in the Team IMB Ute.
He got a great start in the slippery conditions and was soon making his was through traffic to claim second position by the end of lap 2. He held onto 2nd for 3 laps but the quick commodore cup cars of Collins and Zukanovic and the Subaru were soon on the charge. Gary did well to hold off the other GT and finished the race in 5th.

With one wet race under his belt, it was soon time to line up for the final race. With a brief shower the track was soon very slippery for the start of Race.4. Gary got off to a good start and was hanging onto 5th position. Collins was then in a dice with Zukanovic and broke late into turn 10 which saw him spear off track and lose control coming back onto the circuit right in front of Gary. Both drivers did well to miss each other but Gary lost a lot of time are slowing down to miss the collision. This lead to the Toyota grabbing a position on Carson, With the Tyres on the Ford Ute ‘going off’, Gary tried to reclaim the position but went into turn 1 too deep and was soon scooting off into the tyre bundle.. Gary says “I was driving hard to try and catch the Toyota but my tyres had gone. We ran more pressure in the tyres as we thought it was going to rain but because it didnt it meant that my tyres went off and I was sliding all over the place and then finished up in the tyres. To finish the weekend in 7th is still a big achievement and I think I’m 3rd now in the championship which is awesome after missing the first round”.

WPR will head to round 4 of the series at Adelaide International on the 14th-15th July.

Strong Debut for Carson at Calder

WPR Racing arrived at the Calder Park circuit in Melbourne to Wet & Windy conditions. Not the ideal weather that you would hope for as you race for the very first time. But this didn’t stop WPR Racings Team Owner Gary Carson who jumped into the teams Ford AU Ute to make his racing debut.

Accompanied by his best mate Damien White who just happens to be 2 times V8 Ute Champion, Gary was able to get some good advice on how to steer his Ford Ute around the circuit.

Damien says “it is so weird to have the role reversal this weekend and I’m so excited about it. Gary and I have been best mates for years and to be able to be here to watch his first race and be the spanner guy for him is just awesome.

Race 1 got underway and Gary made a good start but the Ford Ute just didn’t have the speed of the Cortina, GT or the Commodore Cup cars but finished a pleasing 6th position. Gary says “that was awesome, my first ever race and everything went really well. The Ute feels good, it is down on speed compared to the other cars in the Super TT but hopefully when the races become handicapped it will help us”.

Race 2 was similar to race 1 with Gary getting another blinding start; however down the long Calder straight the280 horsepower of the Ute compared to the 650 horsepower of his competitors meant Gary was left behind but finished again in 6th.

Race 3, the first of the handicapped races saw Gary start 20 seconds before some of the faster cars. Gary having never done a handicapped start before missed his marker and was soon playing catch up. Gary drove well passing all the HQ’s and finished the 12 lap race in 5th position.

The final race for the round was again another handicapped start and this time Gary wasn’t about to miss it. He was on a charge down the Calder straight and wasn’t about to give in to the quick GT. Gary held his own through the first 2 turns and made the big but fast GT work hard to get past him. The GT was then suffering himself and Gary pounced to grab back the spot. He also held out the Commodore Cup car down the back straight and received his first race hit. The small hit didn’t stop him as he drove hard to finish the race in 4th position.

With the strong weekend, Gary took out 3rd for the Super TT class and also won the Ute section of the class.

Gary says “it was a great way to start my racing career. The AMRS series was heaps of fun and all the drivers are really good guys, I’m looking forward to my next round at Winton”.

Catch Gary in the AMRS round on TV on Sunday 8th April on SBS’s Inside Speed.

Media Awareness Seminar to be held at Round Two

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.

New Sponsor joins the AMRS

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.

To Race or Not Race that is the Question:

One driver that will have a lot more on his mind than racing at the opening round of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway on February 24 – 25 is Super TT competitor Robert East who has his wife Melissa expecting the birth of their child on the same weekend.

This has left East is two minds, does he race or does he not, and the decision has been made, with the full support of his wife, to compete in the Super TT class, and plans have already been put in place for him to make the dash back to Nowra District Hospital at any moment to be by his wife’s side.

“Melissa has given me permission to enter the opening round of the AMRS and I have already planned if she goes into labor whilst I am competing, so if my team radios through whilst I am out on the track, I’m going to be making a very unscheduled pit stop, believe me,” East commented.

“As much as I’d like to say I’ll be concentrating on my racing 100% the fact of the matter is that I won’t be, as much of my train of thought will be with my wife Melissa and unborn child.

“If she goes into labor during the weekend, I plan to be in my car [road registered car that is] and straight down to the hospital to by my wife’s side.”

In what will only be his second outing in the Super TT driving his EA Falcon Saloon Car, his first being November last year for the final round of the AMRS at Wakefield Park, East is hoping to contest the entire series in 2007.

“The whole AMRS is a wonderful concept and I’m very happy to be a part of its growth, and the racing is always of a friendly nature, which makes it enjoyable,” he said.

“Contesting the entire series is all going to depend on sponsorship, and with a baby on the way, it’s going to make racing that little bit harder so funding is of real importance if I want to make a fair fist of things this year in the Super TT class.”

East would like to say a big thanks to Complete Exhausts – South Nowra, Terry Kiggins Smash Repairs – Nowra, and OBR Automotive – Dapto for all their ongoing support.

New Edition: 2007 AMRS Season Booklet In Distribution

The Australian Motor Racing Series is all about making racing exciting, affordable and accessible. To simplify the paperwork and documentation procedures associated with racing the AMRS introduced the Season Booklet for the 2006 season. Now the new and improved Season Booklet for the 2007 season has left the printers and is on it's way to competitors.

The 2007 Season Booklet contains:

• Registration Forms
• Licence Application / Renewal Forms
• Licence Medical Forms
• Round Entry Forms
• Round Information, and useful information for each circuit - including accommodation and services
• Calendars
• Contact information for series management personnel
• Advertisements from businesses offering specialised products or services to AMRS competitors

Look out for your copy in the post this week. If you have not received a copy by the end of the week, or if you have not been in touch with the AMRS previously to supply your postal details, request a copy by contacting AMRS management via email by clicking here.

If you'd like an electronic version of the booklet, you can download it by clicking here. (It is 60 pages, and an 8mb download so recommended only for high speed internet connections.) The electronic version will remain available via the brand new "Downloads" page accessible via the main menu on the left of the screen.

Entries open tomorrow (15 January) for Round One of the 2007 Australian Motor Racing Series to be held at Wakefield Park, 24-25 February.

The AMRS Lowering the Cost of Racing

As the start of the 2007 Australian Motor Racing Series approaches, the AMRS management have delivered some great New Years news to competitors - Entry and Series registration fees have been lowered by 6% for 2007.

Competitors who register for the entire 2007 series, or for the total number of rounds they wish to compete at in 2007 will be eligible for the discounted rate.

AMRS directors Garry Willmington and Rod Dale say it is all a part of their ongoing plan to reduce costs to competitors and encourage exciting, accessible and AFFORDABLE racing.

In addition to the discounted fees, registered competitors receive product discounts from a number of suppliers, guaranteed entry and are eligible for points and other incentives in their respective category.

The AMRS is set for a big year in 2007, with 11 categories competing at up to 9 rounds at 6 different venues. To read more about the 2007 Australian Motor Racing Series, visit www.amrs.net.au - Australian Motor Racing Series. Racing the way it's meant to be. Exciting. Affordable. Accessible.

Coming hot on the heels of the AMRS Expo is the announcement of the Category Calendars for the 2007 Australian Motor Racing Series. The 2007 AMRS Calendar was finalised some months ago, but the distribution of rounds to the various categories has just recently been completed, and with the announcement of several new categories for the 2007 AMRS comes the calendar for each category.

The Super TT Calendar for 2007 is as follows:

Click here to download a printable version of this calendar.

Australian Motor Racing Series Expo - A Future in Motorsport

The 2006 Australian Motor Racing Series Expo is set to provide an excellent introduction to the Motorsport scene for new competitors in the lead up to the 2007 season.

A Future in Motorsport: The Expo, to be held at the Wakefield Park circuit 17 December, will provide a wealth of information and displays to interested visitors. There are over 30 confirmed displays, with more to be finalised over the next two weeks. Amongst the displays, visitors to the AMRS Expo will find drivers, teams and category representatives, who will all be extremely approachable, and eager to pass on information. This is the perfect opportunity for anyone considering competing or participating in motorsport to have an up close look at the cars involved and to get the inside information on participating. The presentations will also offer experienced competitors the chance to expand their racing knowledge in the lead up to 2007.

Something for Everyone: Everybody is welcome, and those who prefer to remain spectators will be catered for too, with Speed Off the Streets open practice sessions where they can get a taste of racing by taking their road car around Wakefield Park, there will also be Hot Laps where visitors can take a ride in a race car with an experienced driver. The displays will also give spectators a chance to see race cars in all their detail.

Displays: The displays at the Expo will include:

• Race car constructors - Diasio Sports Cars, Saker Sports Cars, Redback Motorsport
• Race teams - Mumbo Racing, Team Sydney, Fox Motorsport, Redback Motorsport, Hocking Race Shop, all with cars available for lease in 2007 on display
• Race Preparation Services - Hocking Race Shop, with racing components, services and lease vehicles
• AMRS Categories - Oz BOSS, Australian Touring Car Challenge, Thunder Sports, Production Touring Car Championship, Super TT, X Challenge powered by Lotus, 3.3 Litre Holdens, Formula Kent
• Tyre and Component Suppliers - F-Sport, AiM Sportsystems, data logging and electronic instrumentation
• Racing Simulation - CyberKart
• Motorsport Promotions - Sports Management
  

Presentations: The Expo will also feature the following presentations:

• Racing licencing, administration and race weekend procedures - Judy Ellacott
• Race driving techniques / instruction - Andrew Miedecke, Sam Dale, Shelton Loughrey, Adam Proctor
• Tech sessions on brakes, suspension and more
  

On Track: The range of on track activities will include:

• Open practice sessions for Street Cars, Race Cars and Open Wheelers
• Driver Instruction sessions
• Hot Laps in race cars and more
  

The Australian Motor Racing Series Expo - Wakefield Park, 17 December. Admission is free. A $5 lunch special (sausage sandwich and cold drink) will be available at the track. Fees apply for Open Practice sessions (see www.wakefieldpark.com.au), Driver Instruction sessions ($200 in your car, $300 otherwise) and Hot Laps ($300 for 5 laps).

There are still limited slots available for displays, so if you are part of a team or business interested in showing your wares, get in touch today: rod@amrs.net.au

If you are a driver keen to join the list of those offering Hot Laps, you will need to contact the AMRS for conditions: rod@amrs.net.au

Australian Motor Racing Series. Racing the way it's meant to be. Exciting. Affordable. Accessible.

Round Seven Video Preview

With Calder Park's Round Seven fast approaching, amrs.net.au is proud to present a video preview for the penultimate round of the 2006 Australian Motor Racing Series. The video features highlights from the 2006 Series so far, and is recommended for broadband users due to the file size (15mb). To watch the video, click here, or visit the brand new AMRS Videos page by clicking here. The video will only be available for a limited time, so if you want to keep a copy, make sure you download it to your computer.

If any competitors have video they would like to see included on the AMRS Videos page, please contact the webmaster via email. Due to storage constraints, videos cannot be hosted by amrs.net.au, but we can link directly to videos stored on your own website, or stored free at YouTube.

Round Seven of the 2006 Australian Motor Racing Series heads to Calder Park 28-29 October. Click here for more details.

Budget Racing in Super TT

Following the recent announcement of the Super TT category within the Australian Motor Racing Series, interest in the category has been very high. In fact, the last two rounds of the AMRS have featured trial events for Super TT cars, and they have raced with great success. The category is growing all the time, and if you are interested in becoming a competitor, but don't yet have a race car, it has never been more affordable to get into Motor Racing - check out the Classifieds now to learn about the cars available from less than $3,000 that are eligible for Super TT with some minor safety modifications.

If you're looking for more information on the Super TT category, or you have a car and you would like to race, visit the Competitor Information page.

The next round of the Australian Motor Racing Series will be held at Victoria's Winton Raceway in around 7 weeks, August 26-27.

Super Announcement from AMRS

Australian Motor Racing Series director Rod Dale today announced the launch of a new category to add to AMRS's growing list of cost effective national motorsport championships.

The new category, known as Super Tin Tops (or Super TT), caters for cars previously eligible to run as Saloon Cars, Improved Production, Sports Sedans and Commodore Cup cars.

"Super TT will provide a racing home for a diverse range of machinery with nowhere else to race under current regulations," Dale said.

"There'll also be a class for Japanese turbo and non-turbo charged cars. That would allow the likes of Nissan Skyline GTRs, WRXs and the like to run in Super TT."

The success of the Touring Car Challenge was a major influence driving the AMRS's decision to launch Super TT racing.

"There will be similarities in that the point score configuration and the format of the racing will be similar to the TCC."

That system, which has proved highly popular with fans and competitors alike, will see the Super TT cars race three times over a weekend with the second and third races run as handicap events.

The introduction of Australia's newest national motor racing championship comes ahead of round 4 of the AMRS at Queensland Raceway on June 3 and 4, and Dale is hopeful of enough interest for the Super TT championship to make it's debut in the Sunshine State.

"We would like to kick off then, depending on entry numbers. If not, it will be in Adelaide for the following round on July 8 and 9. We really want to have three or four sprint rounds for these cars before the big Christmas 500 at the end of the season at Wakefield Park."

Although aimed at former Saloons, Commodore Cup and Improved Production cars, other cars will be welcome.

Organisers are keen to hear from any competitors who may have cars they believe may be eligible to run in Super TT and they can be contacted via email: mumbo@midcoast.com.au

More Super TT information will be available soon on the AMRS website. Entry forms for Super TT and all categories are coming in at a steady rate for Round 4. Early indications are that AMRS fans can expect to see the strongest field of Formula 4000 cars seen in Australia for many years along with the largest ever Thunder Sports entry at Queensland Raceway for Round 4 on June 3 and 4.

© AMRS 2005