IMPROVED PRODUCTION TO RUN AT BATHURST AND PHILLIP ISLAND
Autosport Bathurst Cup at Easter; YOKOHAMA IPRA Nationals at Phillip Island in November
FEBRUARY 25, 2025 – Improved Production, which remains Australia’s strongest and most varied grassroots racing category, will return to Mount Panorama at Easter for the Autosport Bathurst Cup.
The return to Bathurst will feature a national field of around 50 cars and will be a strong indicator of form before the IPRA Nationals at Phillip Island on November 21-23.
IPRA Aus National Administrator Brett Watters said Improved Production had proven to be a resilient category in the face of significantly lower grid numbers in all racing events around Australia.
“Economic headwinds of the past year or so have obviously taken their toll on grassroots race meetings in every State,” Watters said. “Our numbers have also been down but we’ve been able to maintain solid grids because of our variety of cars and build costs. It is a category in which our competitors can spend as much or as little as their budgets dictate, so in tough times we remain buoyant as a category.
“This year we have attracted fresh support from Autosport at Bathurst and at a State level, and we continue to have the firm backing of Yokohama as our tyre supplier. Our competitors have the choice of racing State championships or marquee events interstate and nationally.
“We’re all about giving our competitors options that work for them and for their budget.”
With Bathurst likely to produce a grid with every configuration of IPRA car – rotaries, turbos, V8s, straight sixes and under 2 litre cars – anticipation was building for a huge Nationals at Phillip Island.
“The last Phillip Island Nationals was one of the biggest single-category events in Australian motorsport history,” Watters said. “This year we will be the feature category at the prestigious Island Magic event, where IPRA will have two grids and a maximum of 100 competitors.”
Expressions of Interest for the Nationals will open at the start of March and will be sent to competitors through IPRA’s State committees.
IMPROVED PRODUCTION CONFIRMED TO RUN AT BATHURST EASTER 2024
Big year ahead with Yokohama Nationals to follow at Hidden Valley in July
October 6, 2023 – Australia’s strongest grassroots production car racing category, Improved Production, will return to Bathurst at Easter next year.
The Improved Production Racing Association of Australia (IPRA Aus) has accepted an invitation from the Bathurst Hi-Tec Oils 6 Hour promoter, Australian Racing Group, to enter a full grid of 55 cars for the event.
Improved Production last raced at Bathurst in 2019 when the category fielded a full grid as a popular support category for the 6 Hour.
The promise of a Bathurst event sets up Improved Production for a big year. A few months later - tentatively July 19-21 the Yokohama IPRA Nationals return to Hidden Valley in the Northern Territory. Plans are being finalised for a low-cost entry to the Nationals, as well as tow money being on offer to interstate competitors. Further details and Expressions of Interest for the Nationals will be released soon.
Announcing the Bathurst event, IPRA Aus National Administrator Brett Watters said Improved Production’s return to Mount Panorama was recognition of the popularity of the diverse grassroots category.
“Like all racers, our members love The Mountain and we can’t wait to get back there,” Watters said. “We thank the Australian Racing Group for the opportunity to run again.
“Our popularity stems from the fact we run just about every configuration of mass-produced car. From under 2 litre early model cars to rotaries to big cube V8s to modern turbos and everything in between. Front wheel drive, rear wheel drive and all-wheel drive. You name it and you’ll probably see it on the grid at Bathurst next Easter.”
Watters said details were yet to be confirmed but that Expressions of Interest would open early November. With plans to air all the action of the weekend live, IPRA Aus is seeking a naming rights sponsor for the prestigious event and Watters invited potential sponsors to contact him or State IPRA officials.
All the details on the 2024 Yokohama Nationals and the Bathurst 6 Hour will be available in the coming weeks on the IPRA Aus website and through IPRA’s State committees.
AMRC NON-COMPLIANT BLOCK APPLICATION
The AMRC have considered three applications that have been forwarded to Motorsport Australia from the IPRAA. The AMRC considered the application on the basis that there is a limited supply of Windsor/Cleveland blocks available, and the prices are rising for a good, useable block. The AMRC then considered if there were any other engines that would fit in the vehicles being applied for. The Coyote engine, which is still available new from Ford, is the engine that is commonly considered as a new engine that could be used by Improved Production competitors with a car that originally came with a pushrod Ford V8 engine. The AMRC researched this and found in the cases on the EB and XE Falcon that there was no evidence to prove with absolute certainty that the Coyote engine could fit in the engine bay. Therefore, the EB and XE Falcon have been approved to use the Ford Boss engine. These engines are required to have a 6750 rpm rev limit to bring the performance of the Boss block in line with that of a genuine road car based 6 litre Windsor or Cleveland V8 pushrod engine.
On the Fox body Mustang application, the AMRC found examples of the Coyote block being installed. On that basis the AMRC advised “Given that there is a Ford engine that is still available new from Ford that fits into the Fox bodied Mustang (Coyote engine) without needing modifications not permitted by the 3J rules, the AMRC has not approved that use of a Ford Boss engine in this vehicle.
NEW 3 YEAR TYRE DEAL SIGNED
Australia’s leading Motorsport Category, Improved Production Racing has signed a record breaking supply agreement with its tyre supplier Yokohama, to continue the joint success the category and brand have developed for more than two decades.
Improved Production Racing operates in all states, and is the true backbone of club level Motorsport in Australia. Yokohama’s commitment to the category as official tyre supplier and sponsor has been in place since the late 1990’s. The new 3 year deal confirms the success the category has had with the brand and this will help forge the growth and development over this new term of supply.
Boasting over 200 regular competitors Australia wide each year, Improved Production continues to grow in interest to both entry level competitors coming new into Motorsport and also other competitors seeing the advantage of getting involved in the categories events.
With over 40 state based race events planned for this year, and our annual Nationals scheduled for Queensland later this year, we are looking forward to a bright future over the coming years. To help celebrate the renewal of agreement Improved Production is continuing its offer to newcomers to the Category to “Come & Try” racing with us and save $400.00 on you first event.
The “Come & Try” offer provides financial assistance on both your first entry cost and your first tyre set cost to ensure all new competitors get a true taste of the best racing category in Australia and all it has to offer.
Form further information contact any Improved Production State club either online or via Facebook.