div class="image-right"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsillrdimingtocontinue_1.JPG' rel='zoom' title='AW1_6637'img alt='AW1_6637' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/sillrdimingtocontinue_1.jpg" width="200" height="300"//a/divCurrent Australian Touring Car Champion Darren Saillard heads into the third round of the championship this weekend (May 17 and 18) at Queensland Raceway (Ipswich, QLD) looking to continue his 2008 winning ways.br /br /So far in 2008 Saillard has blitzed the field in both rounds, Wakefield Park and Calder Park Raceways, and heads into the third round brimming with confidence in what will be only his second visit to the 3.13km circuit.br /br /Adding to Saillardrsquo;s confidence levels was the fine performance of his ex Ford Performance Racing (FPR) BA Ford Falcon V8 Supercar during its debut at the Calder Park round only a few weeks ago.br /br /During last yearrsquo;s corresponding round of the Australian Touring Car Championship, Saillard made his first appearance in the Garry Willmington owned at the time AU Ford Falcon, which later on was purchased by the Saillard Racing team, and was lucky not to come away with the round victory, but he ended up finishing in third place on the podium at the completion of the weekend.br /br /With the main goal being to continue his winning run in 2008, Saillard is also looking forward to further developing the BA Ford Falcon.br /br /ldquo;The aim for this weekend is to consolidate my lead in the championship, and also get some more track time with my new car,rdquo; Saillard explained.br /br /ldquo;There is still so much to learn about the new car, and that is something Irsquo;m very much looking forward to, especially considering the speed we showed during its debut, we can only improve from here on in.br /br /ldquo;With the goals this year being to contest a few Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series rounds itrsquo;s going to be really exciting to see how my lap times compare around Queensland Raceway as that is a circuit that they compete at.rdquo;br /br /Saillard and his team will arrive at Queensland Raceway on Thursday night, where they plan to get a full day of testing on Friday, followed by official practice and qualifying on Saturday, and the three races on Sunday.br /br /In 2008 Saillard Racing is proudly sponsored by:br /ul class="disc"liHayters Timber Sawmill Productsbr / bull; Abels Smash Repairsbr / bull; Bakerrsquo;s Precision Race Enginesbr / bull; Dent Solutionsbr / bull; Driving Forcebr / bull; RAD Designs /li/ulscript src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoom.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoomHTML.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript type='text/javascript'var zoomImagesURI = 'http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/';setupZoom();/scriptdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-759731535400658805?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div

div class="image-right"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsillrdextendsled_1.JPG' rel='zoom' title='Wilson3'img alt='Wilson3' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/sillrdextendsled_1.jpg" width="180" height="120"//a/divDarren Saillard has extended his championship lead during Round 2 at Calder Park, while Darren Formosa took his first ATCC race win.br /br /Friday evening at Calder Park brought showers, but fine conditions returned on Saturday. Darren Saillard had brought a brand new car with him - an ex-FPR BA Falcon, now bearing Hayters Timbers signage - and was intent on maintaining his championship lead. Darren Formosa was equally intent on neutralising the lead Saillard took away from Round One, and with Calder being his home circuit, the PowerPlus 98-backed Formosa was looking confident.br /br /div class="image-left"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsillrdextendsled_2.JPG' rel='zoom' title='AW1_5458'img alt='AW1_5458' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/sillrdextendsled_2.jpg" width="180" height="120"//a/divThe circuit was a little greasy in the opening practice session, with both Saillard and Formosa just missing out on breaking the 1 minute barrier, and Saillard getting the upper hand by half a second. Just a fraction behind was newcomer Peter McNiven in his stark white VX Commodore ex-Supercar. John English had the Budget Height Access V8 Magna honking to take 4th, ahead of his team mate Gary Leaton in the Elite Fleet Monaro. Rounding out the six was Sean Holmes in his slick-shod, slick looking Subaru WRX STi. Holmes was finding his feet on the newly fitted Kumho slicks, never having run on slicks before, and the swsports.com.au Subaru having had somewhat of a transformation since the previous round.br /br /div class="image-right"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsillrdextendsled_3.JPG' rel='zoom' title='AW1_6051'img alt='AW1_6051' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/sillrdextendsled_3.jpg" width="180" height="120"//a/divIn the official qualifying session, Saillard and Formosa traded fastest laps throughout the session. Saillard burst through the 1 minute barrier after just three laps, with a 59.7, then followed with a string of quick laps to eventually get down to 58.9s. Formosa was a little slower to hit his stride, not breaking the 1m barrier until his second run, but his first flying lap on that run was a 58.9, which he later improved to a 58.8 to take the top spot from Saillard. Saillard then rejoined the session, and just managed a 58.6 in the dying moments of the session to return to the front of the field. McNiven continually improved his times throughout the session in an impressive debut, ultimately setting a 1m00 time. John English was next up, followed by Gary Leaton and Sean Holmes.br /br /div class="image-left"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsillrdextendsled_4.JPG' rel='zoom' title='Wilson6'img alt='Wilson6' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/sillrdextendsled_4.jpg" width="180" height="120"//a/divThe circuit received another downpour on Saturday night, and was greasy again for the first race on Sunday morning. Sean Holmes got an amazing launch at the start, to be challenging for the lead into the first corner. Saillard and Formosa overpowered Holmes fairly quickly, and John English held out Peter McNiven until the second lap. Holmes was able to hold onto 5th until the fourth lap. At the front, Saillard settled into the lead, with Formosa keeping in touch. The order stayed that way until Saillard came up on Holmes (set to be lapped after a mid-race error). Saillard slipped through at the second last corner, but Formosa made contact sending the Subaru into the wall, and severely damaging the left-front of Formosa's car. The race was red flagged, with the final order: Saillard, Formosa, McNiven, English and Leaton.br /br /div class="image-right"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsillrdextendsled_5.JPG' rel='zoom' title='AW1_6164'img alt='AW1_6164' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/sillrdextendsled_5.jpg" width="180" height="120"//a/divHolmes was taken to the medical centre, and ultimately to hospital. The Subaru that had looked so fantastic at the start of the weekend was also in a bad way. Formosa's car also sustained significant damage, but the PowerPlus 98 team pulled together and got to work on the car. With a fair amount of brute force, and some strategically placed race tape, they managed to get it together in time for the next race!br /br /div class="image-left"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsillrdextendsled_6.JPG' rel='zoom' title='Wilson1'img alt='Wilson1' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/sillrdextendsled_6.jpg" width="180" height="120"//a/divFor the second race Formosa could have been forgiven for being a little conservative, but he had no such intention. Whilst Saillard powered away into the lead, Formosa brought the fight to him, and slipped through to take the number one position. The two battled hard throughout the race, Saillard challenging under brakes a number of times, but Formosa was able to hold on and take the win. Behind them, McNiven drove hard all race, only to be forced to retire with two laps to go. This elevated English and Leaton into 3rd and 4th respectively.br /br /div class="image-right"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsillrdextendsled_7.JPG' rel='zoom' title='AW1_6160'img alt='AW1_6160' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/sillrdextendsled_7.jpg" width="180" height="120"//a/divIn the final race, Saillard made his intentions clear early, by taking the lead, and not offering any opportunity for Formosa to get past. The order was unchanged throughout the race, with Saillard leading Formosa home by just under 10 seconds after 16 laps. English and Leaton again finished 3rd and 4th.br /br /Overall it was Saillard who took the round win, Formosa a delighted second (and with his first ATCC race win), and John English third (also the first of the Division 4 finishers).br /br /The next round of the AASA Australian Touring Car Championship will be held at Ipswich's Queensland Raceway, 17-18 May.script src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoom.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoomHTML.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript type='text/javascript'var zoomImagesURI = 'http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/';setupZoom();/scriptdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-7917286442983316839?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div

div class="image-left"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGfirstrcewinforpowerplus_1.JPG' rel='zoom' title='AW1_5498'img alt='AW1_5498' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/firstrcewinforpowerplus_1.jpg" width="240" height="160"//a/divCalder Park Raceway welcomed round 2 of the AASA Australian Touring Car Challenge on the 26th - 27th of April. For Power Plus 98 Racing, returning to Calder brought high hopes of a good result with a home track advantage on their side.br /br /Friday began the weekend with three private practice sessions spread throughout the day. Session one was used as a warm-up to make-sure all parts that had been modified since round 1 at Wakefield Park were all in running order for the forthcoming weekend.br /br /With all parts tested, Darren Formosa used the remainder of Friday to tune the car into race-ready mode, though soon it would become clear for the crew back in pit-lane the car was struggling with the bumps over Jane Hill, which were unsettling the rear of the car making it want to go into wheel spin. At the end of the session the crew set to work, hoping to iron out the issue with the rear suspension.br /br /Slightly overcast conditions met the 6 ATCC entries for the weekend, with rain in the distance looking like it could arrive at any moment. While it may have been cold it never hampered the result for Formosa, finishing the day with the quickest time with the only main issue still being the wheel spin that was causing Darren to lose time over the back of the circuit.br /br /div class="image-right"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGfirstrcewinforpowerplus_2.JPG' rel='zoom' title='AW1_6150'img alt='AW1_6150' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/firstrcewinforpowerplus_2.jpg" width="240" height="160"//a/divSaturday saw the first day of serious hard-hitting action with official practice and qualifying for the weekend taking place.br /br /Practice got underway with the skies once again looking like rain could come down at a momentrsquo;s notice, plus wind was also going to be a challenge. From the start of the session Darren Saillard in his new BA Falcon looked strong and setting quick times, and while they came close, neither Saillard nor Formosa could crack the 1:00.0000 barrier around the circuit. An off at turn 1 caused by a slight brake issue broke the front left panel on the Power Plus 98 Holden Commodore left the crew with some work to do in the lead-up to qualifying.br /br /Could qualifying produce the all important pole position for Sunday's race 1 for Power Plus 98 Racing? The 20 minute session would soon tell. In the first few minutes of the session, the opening laps were spent getting tyres up to pressure and ready for some hard fast laps, but before that could happen the brake issue that had been hampering the weekendrsquo;s progress sparked up again, with Darren having to pull into the pits. Five minutes later he returned to the track to push the changes to the maximum and that he did, setting a 58.9772 at the outset, and then bettering his time just three laps later with a 58.8081. Meanwhile Darren Saillard was also setting quick times, sneaking into 1st place by 0.00.1167 with a 58.6914, oil on the track from Gary Leaton's car ended any late runs of quick times.br /br /div class="image-left"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGfirstrcewinforpowerplus_3.JPG' rel='zoom' title='Wilson6'img alt='Wilson6' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/firstrcewinforpowerplus_3.jpg" width="240" height="160"//a/divTwo days worth of setting up the car would be pushed to its limit come Sunday morning, with race 1 setting up a battle between Saillard and Formosa into turn 1. A surprise when the lights went green was Sean Holmes getting the jump from 6th position battling for the lead heading into turn one, but the power of the Subaru WRX would soon be overpowered by the speed of the two V8 Supercars by the end of lap 1. By that time Saillard had the lead and looked in no hurry to give it away but Formosa stayed in touch. After a hard fought battle, disaster would strike near the end of the race, resulting in the race being red flagged. As Saillard passed Holmes at the second last corner with Formosa closely behind, Holmes would come to a sudden halt leaving the Power Plus 98 Racing car with nowhere to go. Formosa's left side clipped the Subaru at 90km/h sending it into a sideways motion, for Holmes the weekend would end there, hitting the tyre barrier and coming to rest along the pit-lane entry.br /br /Returning to the pits after the race was red flagged, the Power Plus 98 Racing Crew set to work with major damage to the front of the car; a new front splitter, right and left guards damaged and a few rails needing some repair work. At one stage hopes of starting race 2 looked slim, but the crew worked hard and with race tape used to the maximum, a sore and sorry Holden Commodore was pushed out of the garage with the crew getting a very big loud applause from all the supporters on hand for the start of race 2.br /br /div class="image-right"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGfirstrcewinforpowerplus_4.JPG' rel='zoom' title='AW1_6058'img alt='AW1_6058' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/firstrcewinforpowerplus_4.jpg" width="240" height="160"//a/divLining up on the grid in second position for the second race of the day was going to be a challenge for Formosa, after the incident in race 1 the car was not in the best shape it had been all weekend. As the lights went green, any thinking that Saillard would drive away with another race win was put to rest with Formosa taking the lead, much to the delight of most of the grandstand. Saillard and Formosa would go head to head for the opening laps, with Saillard trying to find a opening on the inside of Formosa heading into turn 1 after getting a good run onto the front straight, but Formosa held his ground managing to break away from Sailllard. His break lasted only a short time before Saillard once again got close, with one of his strong points being how good his BA was in the braking points of each turn. Gary Leaton would get lapped as the leaders got quicker and quicker, this time it would be a clean pass for both on the lapped car, with Leaton giving room for both heading into turn 1.br /br /With two laps to go it looked as though anyone could win, Formosa was pushing his car to his limit trying to hold onto the lead to score his first ever win. With two laps remaining Saillard tried one last move down the inside into the second last turn but could not find a way past. Crossing the finish line in first position broke the long awaited race win drought for Darren Formosa and Power Plus 98 Racing, after long nights and days and close results. A car that had suffered damage, survived major repair jobs and even triumphed over damage earlier in the day, managed to get up and win against a brand new BA Falcon, shocking a lot of people but made one team the happiest they have ever been.br /br /div class="image-left"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGfirstrcewinforpowerplus_5.jpg' rel='zoom' title='Power Plus 98 First Win -1'img alt='Power Plus 98 First Win -1' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/firstrcewinforpowerplus_5.jpg" width="256" height="192"//a/divReturning to the pits to celebrate the race win and get ready for the final race, minimum changes were done to the car, with the tyres being rotated so that the best rubber was on the car for the final race of the day.br /br /Race 3 would see a slightly smaller field, with only 4 cars starting the race. Overcast conditions would also change conditions with the track cooling down. Saillard would get the jump from the start and holding onto the lead for the remainder of the race, while Formosa was good under brakes it was not enough to get past Saillard who would take the lead out to 5 seconds at one point. With the rear bumper on his Holden Commodore flapping Formosa did not want to risk any further damage to his car and settled for second position.br /br /Overall for the round, Darren Saillard won finishing on 88 points, Formosa in 2nd with 86 and John English a surprise 3rd with 76.br /br /Another surprise win for Power Plus 98 Racing was winning the best presented team for the weekend.br /br /Round 3 of the AASA Australian Touring Car Challenge Series gets underway at Queensland Raceway from the 18th to 19th of May. script src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoom.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoomHTML.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript type='text/javascript'var zoomImagesURI = 'http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/';setupZoom();/scriptdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-3175443265422152982?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div

div class="image-right"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGholmesformosa.jpg.JPG' rel='zoom' title='Wilson6'img alt='Wilson6' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/holmesformosa.jpg" width="240" height="160"//a/divWe at www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au would like to extend our best wishes to Giant Killers driver Sean Holmes.br /br /Sean suffered an impact with the wall in his Subaru Impreza WRX Giant Killer, after contact with the V8 Giant of Darren Formosa.br /br /Sean has received treatment at hospital, and has said he expects to be back at full strength in around a month. His WRX should just be ready in time for his comeback, as his fantastic crew have put the estimate for repairs at around a month.br /br /Before the accident, Sean was enjoying his strongest performance in the AASA Australian Touring Car Championship to date, with a range of improvements to the WRX paying off. It was a premature end to this performance, but we look forward to welcoming Sean back in the near future.br /br /Get well soon Sean!script src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoom.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoomHTML.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript type='text/javascript'var zoomImagesURI = 'http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/';setupZoom();/scriptdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-2770239571377311179?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div

div class="image-right"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsaillardba1.jpg.jpg' rel='zoom' title='DarrenSaillard1'img alt='DarrenSaillard1' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/saillardba1.jpg" width="320" height="213"//a/divHe may have been making his debut aboard a new BA Ford Falcon V8 Supercar, but it certainly didnrsquo;t prevent Darren Saillard from continuing his dominance of the 2008 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) when the second round took place at Melbournersquo;s Calder Park Raceway in Victoria last weekend. br /br /Although he didnrsquo;t take a clean sweep of the ATCC round like he did back in the opening round, Saillard managed to qualify on pole position and take a victory in both race one and three, and finished second behind Darren Formosa during the second race despite being the quickest car out on the track.br /br /Saillardrsquo;s second place finish during the second race was the only spoiler of the perfect weekend, but it was also a very promising debut in the ex Ford Performance Racing (FPR) BA Ford Falcon V8 Supercar.br /br /With a new car and a fresh engine Saillard was certainly able to show his skill as a driver and the raw potential of the car itself over the course of the weekend.br / ldquo;I had an absolute ball out there with the new car and with the more time I spent in the car, the more comfortable I felt with it and the faster we became,rdquo; said Saillard, who had set a new lap record in both qualifying and then again in both race one and three. br / br /div class="image-left"a href='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/BIGsaillardba2.jpg.jpg' rel='zoom' title='DarrenSaillard2'img alt='DarrenSaillard2' class='imageStyle' src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/saillardba2.jpg" width="320" height="213"//a/divldquo;Irsquo;m confident to say that there are still plenty of gains to be made with both the car and myself as a driver, and if that is the case then we are certainly looking good heading into the next round.rdquo;br /br /In total Saillard has now taken two pole positions and five from six race wins after two completed rounds of the ATCC, and now holds down a comfortable lead in the ATCC point standings.br /br /The third round of the ATCC is to be held at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich QLD on the weekend May 17 to 18.br /br /In 2008 Saillard Racing is proudly sponsored by:br /- Hayters Timber Sawmill Productsbr /- Abels Smash Repairsbr /- Bakerrsquo;s Precision Race Enginesbr /- Dent Solutionsbr /- Driving Forcebr /- RAD Designs br /script src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoom.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript src='http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/FancyZoomHTML.js' type='text/javascript'/scriptscript type='text/javascript'var zoomImagesURI = 'http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/';setupZoom();/scriptdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-2413203461778490986?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div

div class="image-right"a href="http://www.superhoistplus.com" rel="self"img class="imageStyle" alt="image-1" src="http://www.amrc.net.au/news/amrc/files/superhoistlogo" width="283" height="69"//a/divThe presentation of teams racing in the 2008 Australian Motor Racing Championships is set to be raised to a new level, with support and prizes from strongSuper Hoist Plus/strong.br /br /The presentation of the cars and teams will be judged by scrutineers at each race weekend. The best three cars will be announced at each event, and will then gain points that will be added to a tally to determine the top three cars at the end of the year. The top three cars in the final tally will be eligible for the following fantastic prizes:br /br /div class="image-left"a href="http://www.amrc.net.au/news/amrc/assets/Tyre Changer 821[4].pdf" rel="self"img class="imageStyle" alt="Tyre Changer[4]" src="http://www.amrc.net.au/news/amrc/files/tyrechanger.jpg" width="48" height="90"//aa href="http://www.amrc.net.au/news/amrc/assets/Wheel Balancer 251 With Hood[4].pdf" rel="self"img class="imageStyle" alt="Wheel Balancer 251[4]" src="http://www.amrc.net.au/news/amrc/files/wheelbalancer.jpg" width="68" height="91"//a/divstrongFirst Place: Tyre Changer and Wheel Balancer Package/strong. The fantastic NHT-821 Tyre Changer makes changing tyres a breeze. Adjustable for wheel diameters from 12" to 23", and widths upto 13", with a bead breaker force of 2500kg, this tyre changer makes a welcome addition to any workshop. And it is complemented perfectly by the NHT-251 Wheel Balancer. Suitable for wheel diameters from 10" to 24", and widths up to 20", and with an amazing accuracy of +/- 1g, the tyre changer will help you totally eliminate vibrations.br /br /div class="image-left"a href="http://www.amrc.net.au/news/amrc/assets/YSJ-3000 spec sheet low res.pdf" rel="self"img class="imageStyle" alt="YSJ-3000 clipped[4]" src="http://www.amrc.net.au/news/amrc/files/twoposthoist.jpg" width="71" height="66"//a/divstrongSecond Place: Two Post Hoist/strong. The Super Hoist Plus YSJ-3000 is the perfect two post hoist for any workshop. With a lifting capacity of 3000kg, and capable of lifting to a height of 1.8 metres, this two post hoist will help the second best presented competitor to be even better presented and prepared.br /br /div class="image-left"a href="http://www.amrc.net.au/news/amrc/assets/YYJ-2800 low res.pdf" rel="self"img class="imageStyle" alt="YYJ-2800[4]" src="http://www.amrc.net.au/news/amrc/files/moveablehoist.jpg" width="87" height="70"//a/divstrongThird Place: Moveable Hoist/strong. The Super Hoist Plus YYJ-2800 is the ideal solution for lifting cars where space or installation is limited. The moveable hoist can be used on any flat (and hard) surface, and has a lifting capacity of 2800kg, and can lift to a height of 1.2 metres. This hoist will be awarded to third placegetter in the Super Hoist Plus Best Presented competition.br /br /A fantastic prize pool from the terrific guys at Super Hoist Plus, valued at over $10,000, this provides even more incentive to turn out a well presented car and team.br /br /In addition, Super Hoist Plus are offering a strong10% discount to all AMRC competitors/strong. Just quote this article when discussing your purchase.br /br /Super Hoist Plus P/L is a national company with distributors in all states of Australia. They offer a great range of top quality, Australian Standards compliant workshop equipment at very competitive prices. For more information on the company, check out their website: a href="http://www.superhoistplus.com" rel="self"www.superhoistplus.com/abr /br /The Super Hoist Plus Best Presented Competition will be judged at each round of the Australian Motor Racing Championships, with the scrutineers nominating the top three cars at each event. Judging criteria will include the presentation and preparation of the car, as well as the preparation of the team. First place at each round will be awarded 10 points. Second place will be awarded 5 points, and Third will be awarded 3 points.br /br /The next round of the Australian Motor Racing Championships will be held at Melbourne's Calder Park, 26-27 April. Keep track of all the latest news via the official website: a href="http://www.amrc.net.au" rel="self"www.amrc.net.au/adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-7715946592116888501?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div

Melbourne's Calder Park Raceway will host the second round of the Bob Jane T-Marts Australian Motor Racing Championships (AMRC) on April 26 and 27.br /br /Calder Park has thrown in a couple of major competitor incentives to further promote the fact that the AMRC has been designed to provide low cost, highly enjoyable motor racing competition for all entrants.br /br /Calder Park will provide FREE private practice for all AMRC round entered competitors on Friday April 25 and in an added value incentive, the popular Melbourne motor racing complex will also supply pit garages (until all available garages are allocated on a first in, first served basis) to all AMRC competitors at no further cost throughout the weekend of April 26 and 27.br /br /The venue will also host a free barbecue for all entrants and officials on Saturday evening, April 26 to further enhance the social interaction that is enjoyed at all AMRC rounds.br /br /According to Calder Park Raceway CEO Bryan Nokes, "The main aim of the Australian Motorsport Club and the AMRC is to provide an affordable and enjoyable national motor racing alternative for everyone from the grass roots levels of the sport to the professional competitor. By providing free private practice and garage use until they are all taken up, we are delivering on our promise to make the 2008 Bob Jane T-Marts AMRC the most affordable and enjoyable national motor racing series in the country. We are expecting a bumper number of entries for our first Victorian round of the year."br /br /Calder Park's AMRC round on April 25 and 26 is the first of two AMRC rounds to be held at Melbourne's traditional home of motorsport. Categories that will be competing over the weekend include:br /br /AASA Australian Touring Car Championship - highly competitive racing with fields containing V8 Giants (V8-powered sedans from all major manufacturers, with older 5 litre V8 Supercar specification cars, 4-litre, quad-cam cars, all the way up to 7-litre pushrod engines, plus the newly introduced 3 litre turbo Giant Killer class.br /br /AASA Production Touring Car Championship - any street legal sedan, fitted with roll-over protection, fire extinguisher and racing seat belt is eligible.br /br /OzBoss ("Big Open Single Seaters") such as F4000, F3000, F/Atlantic and ANF2 cars, plus Prototype Sports Cars - with makes such as Saker (NZ), Minetti, Radicals and West in these fields this year.br /br /Thundersports - Motorcycle engined cars with a fiberglass body, super-fast high power to weight designed cars that allow for extremely low cost racing.br /br /Super TT - Utes, Commodore Cup, Sports Sedans and 3.3 Litre Holdens - popular old classic Touring Cars, also including HQ Holdens.br /br /Of course, the all new 2008 Pirelli Gran Turismo Championship returns to Calder Park at Round 2, with a number of exotic Maserati, Porsche and Dodge sportscars taking part.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-8187613442997263656?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div

div class="image-right"img class="imageStyle" alt="iMovie HD" src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/clapper" width="128" height="128"//divThe first round of the 2008 AASA Australian Touring Car Championship will be aired on SBS Speedweek this Sunday.br /br /The episode will also feature the first round of the Pirelli Gran Turismo Championship.br /br /Speedweek is due to air at 1pm Sunday 9 March. As always, check your a href="http://www.yourtv.com.au/guide/index.cfm" rel="self"local guide/a for details.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-1557878489659744178?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div

div class="image-right"a href="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/multimedia/2008gallery/round1/files/08ATCCR1_55.jpg" rel="self"img class="imageStyle" alt="08ATCCR1_55" src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/saill_verg_01.jpg" width="210" height="140"//a/divCanberra driver Darren Saillard has powered his EL Falcon V8 Giant to victory at Goulburn's Wakefield Park circuit at the weekend.br /br /Saillard dominated from the outset, setting the fastest time in both practice sessions and going on to set a scorching pole time of 1m00.7s. John Vergotis was close behind with a 1m01.3, and Darren Formosa overcame earlier adversity to set a 1m01.5. In Division 4, Philip Groeneveld had the upper hand over Gary Leaton. Sean Holmes was the sole Giant Killer.br /br /div class="image-left"a href="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/multimedia/2008gallery/round1/files/08ATCCR1_59.jpg" rel="self"img class="imageStyle" alt="08ATCCR1_59" src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/groen_leat_1.jpg" width="210" height="140"//a/divFor Race One, Sean Holmes missed the start, and Darren Formosa was into the pits after the warmup lap, with a faulty distributor cap. This gave Saillard clear air, and he was able to dominate proceedings from the front, setting a new lap record as he did so (1m00.8s). The Division 4 battle was intense, with Groeneveld and Leaton duking it out, and the latter ultimately gaining the upper hand. John Vergotis pushed hard, but a broken gearbox saw him spin to div class="image-right"a href="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/multimedia/2008gallery/round1/files/08ATCCR1_7.jpg" rel="self"img class="imageStyle" alt="08ATCCR1_6" src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/formosa_1.jpg" width="210" height="140"//a/divretirement and out for the weekend.br /br /For the 17 lap Race Two, Saillard pushed hard early on. Formosa did a good job of staying with him in the PowerPlus 98 Commodore, but wasn't able to apply enough pressure to take the lead. It was Groeneveld in Division 4 this time after Leaton completed a lurid spin late in the race. Holmes made the grid this time, and took the Giant Killers honours.br /br /div class="image-left"a href="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/multimedia/2008gallery/round1/files/08ATCCR1_14.jpg" rel="self"img class="imageStyle" alt="08ATCCR1_14" src="http://www.australiantouringcarchampionship.net.au/news/files/sillrdreignssupreme_4.jpg" width="210" height="140"//a/divThe finale was almost a carbon-copy of the previous race, with Saillard leading all the way, from Formosa, Groeneveld, Leaton and Holmes.br /br /With three wins, Saillard took the outright round victory, followed by Formosa, Groeneveld, Leaton and Holmes. V8 Giants Division 3 winner was Saillard, with Groeneveld winning Division 4. Holmes won Giant Killers.br /br /The next round of the AASA Australian Touring Car Championship heads to Melbournes Calder Park 26-27 April.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-858721795129323506?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div

Darren Saillard has won the opening round of the 2008 AASA Australian Touring Car Championship on a fine day at Goulburn's Wakefield Park.br /br /Check back tomorrow for a full report, and the full results.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1561293938574082865-9015219199450948745?l=amrc-atcc.blogspot.com'//div