V8 Touring Cars eligible to compete in IRC
A third class is being welcomed to join the Innovation Race Cars category, with old 5-litre V8 Touring Cars invited to compete.
Entries are open to Australian Touring Cars and V8 Supercars from 1993-2012. This spans from the birth of the Aussie 5-litre formula, through to the end of the Project Blueprint era.
Innovation Race Cars (IRC) will compete on the national stage this year as part of the AASA run Hi-Tec Oils Super Series.
This latest announcement comes just a week after IRC announced that older-spec GT3 cars are eligible to compete -www.hi-tecoilssuperseries.au/news/irc-opens-the-door-to-older-spec-gt3-machines.
Innovation Race Cars founder and category manager Danny Stutterd explains, he will need a handful of V8s entered in Round 1 to get the class off the ground.
“After releasing the GT3 invitation, several V8 Touring Car drivers wondered if they could join our field,” he said.
“After consultation with several people, including Matt Stone, we've agreed that it could be a possibility, and we're fielding interest for that. We certainly want to have at least four or five for the start.
“From all indications the V8 Touring Car class will grow dramatically over the year. We are inquiring as to those who may want to come and join us and talk to us about the regulations.”
The V8 Touring Car drivers must qualify within 10s of the outright pole position time, to enable them to compete in the race event.
The Innovation Race Cars/MARC Cars, GT3 cars and V8 Touring Cars will all be competing in separate classes, competing for their own championship.
“What I'm doing is opening it up to the right clientele, the right sort of drivers for our series that want good, clean, and fast racing,” Stutterd said.
“V8 Touring Cars have obviously got a huge following, so why not be inclusive to those who we think have been left out in the wilderness.
“Part of our deal at IRC is to include those cars, but make sure it's all a good parity of racing, so come and join us. If we have four or five entered for Round 1 you will definitely see them on the grid.
“It’ll great to see old V8 touring cars in their original liveries, out there running within a couple of seconds of IRC and older-spec GT3 cars, it’ll be quite a spectacle!”
2025 IRC Calendar
Round 1 – Winton Raceway, 28th Feb – 2nd March
Round 2 – Sydney Motorsport Park, 30th May – 1st June
Round 3 – Queensland Raceway, 27th – 29th June
Round 4 – Queensland Raceway, 15th – 17th August
Round 5 – Mallala Motorsport Park, 26th – 28th September
Round 6 – Winton Raceway, 31st October – 2nd November