Dear IHRA Australia Racer,

IHRA Australia has always been cognisant of the competitor and the costs associated with going Drag Racing and has always had the best interest of the racer at heart helping to keep the costs of racing as low as possible. To this extent we haven’t raised membership fees in over 5 years and its important for us to be able to continue to grow as well and continue to provide the services to the sport.

With that we have had to make the decision to increase Licence costs which will take effect on 1^st December 2024. Now is the chance to save some dollars if your licence is due around this date or not long after it.

Effective 1^st December 2024 the Following Rates will apply:        

Junor Dragster / Drag Bike                  $75.00  inc GST

Real Street / Roll Racing                       $95.00  inc GST

Super Street                                         $150.00  inc GST

Sportsman                                            $300.00  inc GST

Professional                                          $450.00  inc GST

In an exciting announcement today, IHRA Australia has launched a brand-new racing series for the iconic IHRA established brackets, Real Street and Extreme bike.

The series will travel to all the major facilities on the east coast, from Cairns to Calder Park.

Real Street will enjoy 9 rounds of competition, and the two-wheel brigade will also enjoy 9 rounds of competition.

Gold and Silver Christmas Trees, along with the Point Score System, will be handled by IHRA Australia in the background, and both categories will also enjoy rounds at the NDRC Championship events that will see both Top Fuel and Nitro Funny cars present.

Both categories will run of at the Prestigious 55^th Gulf Western Oils Winternationals to crown the National Champion.

Competitors will be required to compete at their local track twice throughout the season (where scheduled), with at least one Interstate round compulsory, attracting bonus points to be completed prior to the running of the Winternationals. Competitors will also be capped at 300 points.

CEO Maurice Allen was extremely excited about the support from the major tracks and also NDRC allowing these categories to compete at some of their events as well as providing that big race feel for these two classes in front of major crowds and fan appeal. There's no doubt the pressure will be high for these racers to put on a great show, Allen said. This is an exciting announcement as IHRA Australia heads into its 10^th year in 2025, which we are all extremely proud of.

One of Australia’s most iconic and longest-running drag venues, Calder Park Raceway, Victoria, is the latest track to join the IHRA member track program.

Drag Racing and Roll Racing events will now race under the auspices of IHRA Australia.

“The newly formed partnership will herald in a new relationship between racers and the track, bring some uniformity for East Coast racers, as well as provide positive benefits for our entry-level competitors that support our regular off-street events,” according to Calder Park Raceway promoter Peter Pisalidis. “This will also bring about a more modern and adaptive approach to the sport we all love and provide direct benefits to all stakeholders.”

IHRA Australia CEO Maurice Allen mirrored Peter Pisalidis comments in extending the IHRA Network into Victoria as a positive boost for the sport.

According to Allen, “The presence of Calder Park Drag Racing is a really important element in helping grow racing activities at all levels and provide more uniformity on the East Coast. The alliance will also provide a great opportunity for Victorian racers to continue utilising their IHRA licences in their home state and grow the track options they have around the country. Stay tuned as we have some exciting news about to be released on a National Real Street Series.”

IHRA Australia, in conjunction with Nitro Funny Car, has moved to mandate racing to the 1000-foot mark for competition, effective immediately. This will see the Awesome Nitro Funny Cars now competing at the next round of their NDRC Championship at the Majestic Sydney Dragway, which will be the first time in Australian Drag Racing history in a long time to have both the Nitro Funny Car and Top Fuel Dragster competing at the same event, which will undoubtedly be a spectacle not to be missed.

IHRA Australia CEO Maurice Allen said in a statement that this will certainly show the US counterparts just how professional and motivated the Australian Funny Car scene is in throwing down international standard elapsed times in these spectacularly wild and crazy cars. And with the race to be the first into the IHRA Australia 1000-foot record books, another race from the teams eager to stamp their name on that achievement, Allen stated.

IHRA Australia

IHRA Australia is pleased to confirm that insurance has been procured through the Lloyds of London channels and can now confirm it has a fit-for-purpose public property and liability policy to the value of $50 million.

This fit-for-purpose policy has been put together by the AON Insurance Company, and we can’t thank Blake McMillan enough for his tireless effort and persistence in getting this organized. We are looking forward to a long relationship with AON.

We would also like to thank Stephen Whyte and his team from AASA for being fantastic in offering event-by-event support to IHRA Australia.

So, what does this mean? Well, the policy will be made public on our website in the upcoming days. This is a fully inclusive policy from Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars right through to Junior Drag Bike.

This also includes a return for our two-wheel counterparts, who we are aware are itching to hit some of the fastest drag strips in the country. With the inclusion of “The Bend” in next year's portfolio of IHRA sanctioned facilities and Willowbank Raceway set to open in January pending final track works and sign-off, 2024 is set to be a cracker for all of our IHRA Australia license holders and sanctioned facilities.

We look forward to seeing you all at the track!!

To confirm, IHRA Australia has put in place insurance coverage on an event-by-event basis for its facilities. The cover is for 50 million dollars and will assist IHRA Australia facilities to continue to operate until the full 12-month policy is placed. Unfortunately, the current provider cannot facilitate coverage for motorcycles, and we apologize for this and are working feverishly to rectify this. This issue has arisen after a major motorsport underwriter pulled out of the market this month. Please understand that the PA driver/rider policy was not affected by this decision as it is placed with a seperate underwriter. We will continue to provide our members with updates as they become available.

IHRA Australia

In relation to a series of events over the last 12 month that have occurred on Australian drag strips with vehicles running in the Pro Slammer and IHRA Australia Pro Mod Categories.

A review has been undertaken at a series of the past events in relation to the performance, driver behavior, aerodynamics, parachute failures and accidents caused by mechanical failures, there is no doubt that through the advent of mandated rules under IHRA Australia that Electrimotion, Dual Net Systems, Sand Traps, attention to track prep have all aided in lifting the safety standards for these categories, with the recent increase in performances base on state of the art technology these particular vehicles are pushing boundaries far greater than what we see internationally. As a result, IHRA Australia will be implementing the following recommendations as follows. 

IHRA Australia feels strongly that these guidelines must be implemented immediately until we can implement more specific updates to certain areas of these vehicles, IE: aerodynamics, down force, and other updates. IHRA Australia will also be implementing a driver standards policy along with the above-mentioned. 

Please Note: A racer will receive an initial warning and will be logged appropriately and any further breaches of these performance guidelines will see them excluded from the event.

• Round 11 (Grand Final) – Willowbank Raceway – 6-9 June 2024 (Winternationals) – featuring Top Fuel, Nitro Funny Car, Top Fuel Motorcycle, Top Doorslammer, Pro Alcohol, Pro Stock, Pro Mod, Pro Stock Motorcycle, plus Sportsman Eastern Conference racing.
Sanctioning for each event will follow the in-place agreements held by each venue.

We are aware of recent social media commentary relating to IHRA’s Personal Accident insurance with specific reference to the payment of medical bills. Consistent with IHRA’s ongoing commitment of transparency, as evidenced by the publication of IHRA insurance policies on its website, we think it is important to clarify for the benefit of members the factual framework attached to this matter.

 At the outset we affirm IHRA’s commitment to supporting its members as much as is practicable and within the law and scope of its insurance policies in their unfortunate time of need following an accident. We also recognise and share some frustrations experienced with the process in the past. To this end, we terminated our arrangement with our previous broker in April 2023 and engaged the services of a new broker with a depth of experience in these complex policy arrangements.

Personal accident cover

The current IHRA policy provides a level of cover for non-Medicare medical expenses like ambulance, chiropractor, physiotherapy and osteotherapy. Due to specific legislation outlined below, general insurers cannot cover any out of hospital expenses that have a Medicare component. Therefore, if a claim for medical or other treatment has a Medicare Item Number, such as a doctor’s fee, it can be claimed via Medicare and is therefore uninsurable by general insurers. This applies generally to such insurance policies and IHRA is no different in this regard to any other sanctioning body and/or bodies that provide personal accident insurance to their members.

Legislative framework

When Medicare was introduced in 1984 the government amended the National Health Act 1953 (Cth), the Health Insurance Act 1973 (Cth), and later the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 (Cth), ensuring insurers were locked out from providing full cover for any medical expenses that Medicare was to cover. These laws state that where there is a contract of insurance, the insurer isn’t liable to make a payment for anything that is rendered by these Acts. The onus is thus on Medicare to cover the client and any gap to be picked up under their own private health insurance if applicable.

 When considering the above, we can confirm IHRA’s Sports Group Personal Accident policy with Blend is compliant with the above legislative provisions and consistent with the market standard for similar group general insurance products.

Support available

If members require further explanation commensurate with their individual circumstances or experience frustration with the claims process, please contact your local IHRA representative or myself and we would be pleased to assist. Complex and often very personal circumstances like this are not the province of social media commentary, and consistent with its commitment to privacy principles IHRA will not discuss or enter into public commentary regarding an individual member or claim, it is unlawful to do so and totally inappropriate.

Kind regards

Maurice Allen