We have good news for our October 2020 event. We have been successful in changing the dates from the Sunday 18 October to the new date of Sunday 11 October 2020. Our event now does not clash with the new Bathurst 1000 dates. So all the diehard fans can now compete at our event on the 11 October and then the following weekend watch Bathurst. The events page is updated with the event going live within the next day or so. See you on 11 October .
Regards
Greg Woodbridge
To our loyal competitors and officials, your health and safety continues to be vey important to us. After checking all the new Queensland Government advice as of 8am today 22 August 2020, we can confirm that we will be proceeding with our planned event tomorrow 23 August 2020. We will be operating under our Motorsport Australia approved Covid 19 Event and Venue Plan.
Now more that ever social distancing and good hand hygiene are important so please follow them and above all else if you are unwell please stay at home and get tested.
To also assist with reducing the Covid risk tomorrow, we ask that you leave any spectators at home.
Look forward to seeing you tomorrow for another great day of racing.
Regards
Greg Woodbridge.
22 August 2020
To all our loyal motor sport members, competitors and fans, I hope you are all well and looking forward to recommencing racing. We are nearly there. Here are the conditions that our Club will be running our event on 19 July 2020. Please take the time to read these and be aware of the new rules that we must all abide by to be able to run our event. To comply with Government and Motorsport Australia (MA) requirements and ensure health and safety of everyone involved this will be new norm for racing at the moment. By entering our event you agree to abide by these conditions.
- Everyone must abide by, social distancing, hand hygiene, be patient at all times
- If you have been overseas or been in contact with a known Covid person within the 14 days prior to the event or are feeling unwell please stay at home.
- It is highly recommended that you read the MA Return to Race Document on MA website.
- MA highly recommend to download Covid Tracker App on your phone.
- It is an MA requirement to have a ‘Covid 19 Checker’ appointed for each event and whose sole responsibility is to ensure our compliance with Government and MA requirements. Our Covid 19 Checker will be enforcing the rules. If you are observed flouting the rules you will be instructed to leave.
- Online entries only will be accepted and will be closing at 6pm Friday 17 July 2020. No entries will be accepted on the day. If you are having trouble entering please ring Greg Woodbridge ph 0437 301 429
- The max number of entries will be capped at 40. The total number of attendees is to be kept to min ie the driver plus one other per car only. This is to ensure that our total numbers do not exceed the allowed 100 including officials. To give you the best chance of securing your entry, please prepay with your entry submission. This can be done by direct deposit into our Bank Account stating your membership number or phoning Peter Coghlan on ph 0414 895 532 to pay by credit card. If there are over 40 entries the prepaid ones will have preference. The organising committee will then ballot the remainder of the positions. If your entry is balloted out for the 19 July, it will guarantee you a place in our next event on the 2 August 2020.
- Multiple entries per car will be restricted to same household people only.
- MA and Government requirements are for us to record contact details of all attendees and to keep a running record of total numbers in attendance to ensure we do not go over the allowed 100. This will be done as you enter the grounds from Champions Way.
- When parking in the pits please park a min of 3m away from each other to ensure social distancing whilst unloading and parking your car.
- Scrutineering. As per MA Covid requirements, there will be no formal Scrutiny vehicle inspection. Each competitor will need to read and complete a Self-Scrutiny Checklist in conjunction with the MA disclaimer. By completing the Self-Scrutiny checklist, the competitor acknowledges that they are presenting the vehicle in compliance with the Motorsport Australia Manual, including the NCR and all relevant regulations specific to the vehicle and event. This includes any necessary check of all apparel and safety equipment as to be used in that vehicle by each Driver ie ensure your helmet is in good order and complies with AS 1698, and your fire extinguisher is within 3 years of manufacture date. IWMAC will have a Scrutineer available for some visual spot checks and will also be available for any enquiries re equipment/car safety issues.
- The sign on process will be under the awning of the Clubrooms and will be a one way single file with social distancing. It will comprise the disclaimer and self scrutiny checklist completion, MA licence/Club membership check, payment if not already undertaken, by contactless cashless payments only, and Dorians self service. The Dorians will be sanitised and laid out on tables for Drivers to get themselves from the list attached to table. Car numbers will be placed on the vehicles with white chalk pens by IWMAC personnel during the line up for the sighting lap. Please bring your own pen to complete disclaimers and self scrutiny checklists. To assist in the sign on process, if you are able to print and complete the disclaimer and self scrutiny checklist prior to attending it would be appreciated.
- Spectators or additional family members (sadly) will not be allowed as per MA requirements. This is to help ensure our total numbers do not exceed 100.
- Hand sanitisation stations will be placed around the grounds so please use them as required.
- A drivers briefing at 8:30 am will be held in the open area out the front of the Clubrooms where social distancing can and will be maintained.
- We will have a Staging Marshall allocated who will be ensuring cars are ready for racing and in line with drivers adhering to social distancing.
- As racing progresses through the day, results will be hopefully posted on the Club Facebook page only. The results computer at the base of the control tower will not be on for viewing.
- A drivers debriefing with results being advised verbally will be given at the completion of the day and will be held in the open area out the front of the Clubrooms where social distancing can and will be maintained but there will be no trophy presentation.
We will be opening up the web page event entry for the 19 July 2020 within the next 48hrs so stayed tuned. All the relevant forms and Sup Regs will be available on the Event Entry page. Please be aware that the Sup Regs at this point state entries close 12pm 18 July 2020. This is incorrect, entries close 6pm 17 July 2020. The Sup Regs will be updated in the near future.
Stay safe
Regards
Greg Woodbridge
President IWMAC
To all our loyal motor sport members, competitors and fans, I hope you are all well and looking forward to recommencing racing.
I would like to give you a bit of an update to where the IWMAC Club is up to regarding recommencing racing. The Organising Committee has compiled our required procedures for recommencement of racing taking into account the necessary and required Covid safety conditions including but not limited to 1.5m social distancing, hand hygiene, stay home if unwell, and the maximum of 100 people control. We have submitted paperwork to the Ipswich City Council and have been given approval to recommence racing activities for the 19 July 2020. We have also recently submitted our Covid Venue Plan to Motorsport Australia with our Permit application. We are now awaiting on Government Approval to have up to 100 people and Motorsport Australia approval for our event on 19 July 2020.
Now a bit about what the Executive Committee is planning for the remainder of the year’s racing. At this point we have decided that all the remaining events until the end of November will be the 4 lap Open Sprints. By doing this we will be able to have a revised Club Championship competition. Currently we will only be having Sunday racing with no planned Come and Try or Driver Training events. There are substantial additional health and safety control measures that we must all comply with, hence we want to concentrate on Racing Events first.
Our wonderful Track Maintenance Crew with Ipswich City Council approval have done a great job of getting the track ready for use and it is looking pretty good.
There is a number of additional roles that we must undertake at our events so we are looking for a number of volunteers to assist on the day. Some of these roles will include crowd control during sign on and drivers briefing, attendance detail recorder (recording everyone who attends contact details etc.) Please contact me if you are able to help out with any or some assistance with these roles.
We are well on the way to being able to recommence our racing. I will keep you updated over the next few weeks as we progress towards the 19 July 2020.
Stay safe
Cheers
Greg Woodbridge
President IWMAC
14 June 2020
To Our Loyal Motorsport Enthusiasts
The health and safety of all of our members and their families, other competitors, and Motorsport Australia Officials is of utmost importance to us. Hence we wish to advise you all that with the ongoing Corona Virus Pandemic daily changing situation, that as of today the IWMAC has made the decision to postpone all events until further notice.
We have been in regular contact with Motorsport Australia and the Ipswich City Council over the last couple of weeks. I know that you will understand that we have not taken this decision lightly but your health and the health of all others is more important than running an event at this stage of the pandemic.
Safe Social Distancing is more important now than a few days ago.
We will advise you in the future once we know when it is safe to start racing again. In the mean time keep working on those cars.
Stay safe, healthy and strong.
Kind Regards
Greg Woodbridge
24 March 2020
Hi Motorsport Enthusiasts,
Here's the latest update for our upcoming events,
As of this morning we have confirmed with Motorsport Australia (CAMS) that our race days 28-29 March can go ahead with extra precautions, being less than 500 people and that we supply extra hand sanitizer and antibacterial hand wash and also keep suitable social distance.
Of course if you are unwell please stay at home.
So if you haven't done so already please register through our web page for all or your choice of events.
If any of this changes we will let you know as soon as possible
Greg Woodbridge
Welcome to the new
IWMAC website. If you had a log in to the old IWMAC website, then your login details will have changed.
You can then login and edit your profile. You can change the username and password to suit your self and update your details as required.
Please ensure you have updated your vehicle and CAMS licenece details before registering for an event.
NOTE: You must use the email address that we have on record for this to work.
If you have any issues call Adrian 0429 910 339
The Ipswich West Moreton Auto Club inc (IWMAC) caters for club-level motor sport including Autocross, Sprints, & Short Circuit Touring Car Racing, on a dirt track at Willowbank Park, Champions Way, Willowbank. We also Cater for the Car Enthusiest with Car Club Runs, Cruises, Registration and Social and Community Events. The club is particularly dedicated to providing support to Junior competitors.
The track consists of two circuits : The Autocross track is 1km in length, 6m wide and has 8 corners of varying tightness. The Sprint track is 1.3km long, 8m wide and has 7 corners. The track surface is a decomposed granite construction, that gets grippier as they day runs. During the year, two championships are run, one for Autocross and one for Sprints, where drivers compete individually against the clock in a variety of classes.
For an aerial view, click this fb link, starts on the back straight and comes back around to the start finish, courtesy member Marc Wilson of the blue/white MkII Escort that adorns this site:)
Notice to all. This weekends events, 18th January Come and Try has been cancelled due to the rain received at the track during the night. This event will be rescheduled. updates will be on the web page calendar ASAP.
Also due to the rain and the current forecast for rain over the next 24hours Sundays Open Event is cancelled for Sunday the 19th and will be rescheduled. Apology for the wet track but the rain is welcome. Cheers Kevin
A lovely Queensland Sunday saw 41 entries take to the well pepared Ipswich West Moreton Auto Club track at Willowbank.
A class saw a weekend high of 10 entries with Juniors showing great support with 7, and other classes fairly even at 4-6 each.
Overall, times started out pretty quick with E class into the 1:36s, and Kevin Parkes best of the 2WDs in the 1600 Pulsar behind 3 E class cars in Moffitt, Linning and Wienert, respectively. Quickest junior was 14 yr old Jordyn Rieck in a credible 15th OR on run 1. Notably the Pulsar (shared by Bond and Parkes) saw a scant 0.19 separating them.
Run 2 and the times dropped a second or two for most runners, but keeping the track good was requiring a lot of water which of course can effect those immediately after it. Never the less Moffitt dropped 2 seconds to a 1:34.9 to continue to lead from Linning and Weinart, with Bond reversing the trend by putting 0.2 on Parkes. B Class saw Barry (BMW) just under 2 secs up on Ric Ganderton's Excel (with FX 2 litre power). Jordyn was again quickest Junior, although Eddie Gough had a shocker with 2 penatlties.
Run 3 had times generally dropping again with Moffitt lowering the benchmark to 1:33.75. Andrew Pearce was coing to grips with the Focus XR5 to be heading D Class (1:40.8), Ganderton (1:40.0) heading B class, Lloyd Robertson putting in his usual smooth (I've been doing this for a million years) class act heading C Class in the BMW M135 Hatch with a 1:45.6, Stephanie Muston a 1:46 to head the ladies and Jordyn Rieck was quick with a 1:42.92.
Last run before lunch saw Eddie Gough turn the tables a little in the Juniors, with a 1:45 to best Jordyn by 1.5 secs, but he had two witches hats to make up for yet. Barry Clark put in a great 1:36.99 (lets call it a 37 flat) to be fastest 2WD and third in the run. Maddy Dyba pulled a quick one out a little unexpectedly to head the ladies by 0.5 over Chloe Cullen, who is still coming to grips with the RWD BMW after a couple of years in the FWD Fiesta.
After lunch saw the E Class cars front the track after the water truck, as the club changed the order each run to give all a turn at the head of the field. This was exactly what the 2WDs were waiting for and Barry Clark and Paul Bond took advantage laying down 1:38.44 and 1:39.91 to be better than most of the AWDs, although Craig Morrison bucked the trend a little with a second best 1:38.73.There were 3 cars, in 3 clases, separated by 0.47 secs. These three the only ones to crack 1:40 this run. Leigh Randles did a good run to head C Class (1:45.5), Greg Woodbridge headed the big cars in the VR V8 with a 1:47 and Jordyn Rieck heade the Juniors, with a 1:48.2 to just head Stephanie Muston (Ladies) with a 1:48.8.
Runs 6 and 7 saw the main runners doing the same, with Moffitt throwing an impressive 1:31.06 in run 7 to remove any doubt of the fastest lap and outright winner (after losing a heap of time with a wet run 5). Alan Wienert did a 1:33.9 to best Matthew Linnings 1:34.4, but ultimately settled for 3rd by 1.7 secs over the 6 timed runs (of 7). A class headed by Bond with a final 1:37.4 against Parkes 1:37.8 to secure the win with Jared Predo in the Excel taking third. Barry Clark had a good 6th run with a 1:37.42 to secure the B class win, and also scored a best 2wd time in run 4 of 1:36.99. Ric Ganderton improved to a final run 1:38.28 and dropped 7 secs over the day for 2nd, with Josh Newson overcoming some cooling issues in the BMW to end up third after a troublesome day.
C Class saw Graeme Haynes (Beetle) pull out a good final "best in class" time of 1:43.66, but had to settle for 2nd behind LLoyd Robertson with Leigh Randles picking up third. Notably Leigh picked up nearly 8 secs, Mark Davies picked up 10 and Mark Gowley also picked up 10 over the day.
D Class saw Andrew Pearce get across with the win in the Focus from Wilhelm Link, who set the best class time in run 6 of 1:47.1, and Ritchie Ray in the V8 Red Bull Commodore, but Greg Woodbridge set the fastest last run of 1:45.2.
Juniors put on a great show again with Alex Hatje and William Harris improving by 15 secs over the day, and Taylah Gough and Tristan Newson also putting in good performances, but ultimately Hayden Duffield was 3rd with Eddie Gough 2nd, setting the best time of 1:42.69 to best Jordyn Rieks 1:42.97 on the last run, but lost out by just 3 secs to Jordyn who had a consistent, fast run with no hats.
The four ladies also put on a good show with Stepanie Muston besting Chloe Cullen and Maddy Dyba for the trophies. Notably Eva Hatje improved by 19 secs, and Maddy Dyba also dropped 10 secs from their runs over the day.
There were a few spins over the day, and a couple of people, Michael Suhr and the Newsons, had car trouble but perceivered and had running cars at the end of the day.
Thanks to Sam for stepping in to run the canteen (note we need a canteen operator), Donny and Coggo for the excellent track prep and Kevin and Adrian for fixing the loops and computers.
There wer a couple of errors noted post event, detailed on the results. C and D class affected, so see us at the next meet to correct the trophies.
With the passing of John Connell, it seems prudent to load the office bearers that have graced the club since its' inception in 1954.
For those that have been around the club a long time (Donny Power for example), there are many names/memories since that time.
It is worth noting that John was the longest serving President of the club, holding office between 2002 and 2017, and in that same period Jan Connell was Treasurer. In the time since Ron Nielsen, Nev Thompson and David McDonald held the Pres, Sec and Treas positions, the club has been fortunate to have a no of people serve multiple terms, although none as long as John and Jan:
Errol Bognuda held one of the key positions for 8 years,
Graham Burrows also 8 (and went on to serve many years with the Ipswich Kart Club)
Agnes Byrne contributed 10 years,
Tom Gillespie and Allan Ransome gave 5,
Robyn Slattery 9,
and current Treasurer Peter has done a couple of stints over the years.
Note that the above does not take into account other position/work carried out for the club and just an example of some peoples efforts for the club.
I started in the club in 2002 (maybe late 2001) and John and Jan welcomed myself and the family into the club with open arms (as did all the club), and some of my memories include Jan, Betty Wedding and (my wife) Sue sitting in the tower with stop watches for the timing:). Competing at many eveents around SE QLD, John was always promoting the club, was keen to mix with other IWMAC members at the meetings and would always offer advice if asked (and sometimes if not), and has always been keen on assisting the younger members. He and Jan also started motorsort in the days when you could rally a Monaro, when people like Peter Brock and Colin Bond were youngsters. He had some very intersting stories to tell.
Below is the current version of a presentation from the 50th Anniversary showing the key positions over the years. Of course it does leave some long term workers off, like Donny and Kevin Parkes (VP for I don't remember how long), so please take these comments as just the tip of the iceberg in the clubs history.
Paul Bond