Interclub Series

About

Supersprinting is a track driving competition which is against the clock and is an ideal way of developing track driving skills in a much safer environment than door to door motor racing. Most competitors aim for achieving “Personal Best” times, others like to compete with vehicles in similar Classes. The Interclub Series is an ideal way for drivers to enter into timed events either in a competitive way or for simply having fun on the track by trying to beat your own best lap times.

The Interclub Series is conducted by three Motorsport Australia Sporting Car Club’s:
Impreza WRX Club
Southern Sporting Car Club
Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club NSW

This Series offers quality timed competition for competitors wishing to compete at a Club level with most events being held in conjunction with the NSW State Supersprint Championships.

The benefit of these combined events is that entry costs can be better kept under control due to better track utilisation and that there is a pathway to a higher level of competition if the competitor wants it.

Vehicles

The requirements for vehicles are not as onerous in the Interclub Series as they are in the NSW State Championships. Whereas in the State Championships vehicles that are not road registered must have a Motorsport Australia log book, a log book is not a requirement for unregistered vehicles in the Interclub Series. Similarly, safety cages are not required in vehicles without road registration (other than single seat racing cars) competing in the Interclub Series whereas they are required in vehicles competing in the State Championship. (Schedule J 3.2)

How to Join

Competitors may compete in the Interclub Series by (1) becoming a member of a Motorsport Australia Sporting Car Club; (2) obtaining a Motorsport Australia Speed licence (or higher) and (3) contacting the Interclub Series Registrar to have a competition number issued. That number will remain yours to use as long as you remain an active competitor.

You may also enter an Interclub event as a Privateer if you comply with (1) & (2) above but don’t have an Interclub competition number.

Scrutineering

Vehicles competing must all comply to Motorsport Australia safety requirements. Apart from being in good mechanical condition there are several additional requirements that, for example, a road registered vehicle must comply with. References below are to the Motorsport Australia manual schedules:
Competition numbers on both sides of the vehicle (Supplementary Regulations & Schedule K)
Competition “dayglo” number on top passenger side of windscreen (Supplementary Regulations & Schedule K)
Blue triangle (150mm sides) showing battery location (Schedule B q)
Fire extinguisher solidly mounted within reach of the driver less than 3 years old (Schedule H)
Any forward facing glass lenses are to be covered with adhesive material (not red) (Schedule B p)
Front and rear tow points with their location clearly marked. OEM acceptable on road registered vehicles (Supplementary Regulations & Schedule B)

All Privateer vehicles will undergo a scrutiny safety check in the Scrutineering Bay prior to competition. Other vehicles will be subject to an audit program that will check each vehicle on average every four events. Vehicles due for a scrutineering check will receive an “Audit Required” scrutineering sticker at Registration and are to take their vehicle to the Scrutineering bay for a scrutineering check and self extraction test at a time of their choice between 9:30am and 1:00pm. Vehicles with an “Audit Required” sticker will not be permitted on the track after 1:00pm.

It is a Motorsport Australia requirement that competitors can exit their vehicles in 10 seconds or less in an emergency. A self-extraction test is to be carried out at least every 12 months and together with the vehicle scrutineering results, the test result will be recorded in the Interclub competitor data base.

Vehicles with a Motorsport Australia log book will be included in the Target Audit program.

Apparel

If your car has a Race, Rally/Road or Off Road log book a FHR system and Level A helmet, otherwise a Level B helmet with no additions or modifications unless approved by the manufacturer (Schedule D)
Ankles to neck to wrist outerwear, no flammable synthetics, no exposed ankles (Schedule D)
Footwear, closed shoes with non synthetic uppers (Schedule D)

Other Scrutiny Check Items

Check Item	Check Description	Manual Reference
Aerodynamic aids	Solidly mounted, leading edges at front not sharp.	Sch F 1
Battery	Firmly clamped, live terminal insulated.	Supp Regs
Bonnet fastening	2 fasteners on front opening except road registered.	Sch B a Supp Regs
Braking system	Brake lights, fluid level & brake pedal. Dual system.	Sch B h
Cameras (removable)	Tethering required if not mechanically mounted.	Supp Regs
Car appearance	Presented clean and tidy with no loose items.	Supp Regs
Exhaust system	Rear not to project more than 50mm body plan view.	Sch B j, Supp Regs
Firewall	Suitable to prevent passage of flame into cabin.	Sch A b
Fluid leaks	No oil and other fluid leakage.	Supp Regs
Fuel	Commercial fuel only.	Supp Regs, Sch G
Fuel tank & fillers	Vented externally to bodywork.	Sch A f
Oil catch can	If vented to atmosphere, min. capacity is 2 litres for engines up to 2000cc and 3 litres above 2000cc.	Sch B n
Rear bulkhead	Flame & liquid proof to seal cabin if non OEM fuel tank.	Sch B k
Reverse gear	Must be fitted and driver operable.	Sch B i
Safety harness	Not to be used after the latest date of FIA 8853/98 or/2016 – 5 years from expiry date or SFI 16.1 – Mfr date plus 2 yrs. Check mounts & fabric wear.	Sch I
Steering wheel	Check for play, not to include any wood unless OEM	Sch B m
Throttle return	Mechanism to close in event of linkage failure.	Sch B g
Tyres & Wheels	Tread in excess of indicators save on shoulders, valve caps fitted, Road or Prod’n tyre list except for slicks.	Sch B d, Sch E

Competition

The field is divided into 6 or 7 groups depending on the overall number of entries.

Each competitor has a “Ranking Time” based on actual Natsoft lap times or a calculation of a Ranking Time based on an actual best lap time if the competitor hasn’t recorded a lap time on the circuit before.

Groups are carefully structured to try and always have a slightly faster car in front of each competitor to minimise the likelihood of being overtaken, or having to overtake – both of which are nor conducive to a good lap time. Because of this structure, each group is started from the Marshalling Area in a line without any timed space between vehicles. This gets a session underway quicker and over the full day provides more track time to competitors.

One group is comprised of open wheel race cars and other very fast vehicles that are safe to compete with open wheel vehicles. Another group is made up of large, powerful, generally V8 powered vehicles. These have different handling characteristics to nimbler smaller and mid-size vehicles which are then spread over the remainder of the field.

Groups are not let out onto the track in fastest to slowest sequence. Once the V8’s and race cars have been allocated to their two groups, the remainder of the field is sorted from fastest to slowest Ranking Times and depending on the rank of the group (Rank 1 = fastest of the remaining 4 or 5 groups), Groups are then numbered as per the table below and are subsequently let out onto the track in the same sequence as their group numbering.

There are several reasons for this. The main reason is that a double entered vehicle (one vehicle with two competitors) whose lap times are not very different between it’s two drivers can be placed in a group with a similar lap time range but with another group in between. The other reason is that race cars usually require more preparation and running in the last session of each rotation provides this preparation time, especially in the first session of the day.

When groups are combined at the end of the day as entries thin out, they are combined based on their “Rank” and not on their Group number.