Entries for the Island Stages 2023 have now closed and unfortunately we did not reach the minimum number of entrants. The Isle Of Wight Car Club committee have taken the decision to cancel this year’s event.
We appreciate this is disappointing for all involved, however, we cannot run the event at a financial loss.
Despite this the IOWCC are looking to the future and are exploring the possibility of a TARMAC rallysprint format in 2024.
All competitors, officials, land owners and sponsors have been informed – thank you all for your support.2023
Disappointed that the IOWCC event had been cancelled this weekend? Well the nice people at Wight Karting have offered a 20% discount on this Sunday morning time trial sessions.
The available sessions are a 9:25am arrival and 9:40am arrival on the 13th This would get anyone 2×15 min sessions, Moke has also said he would record the times set by IOWCC members and would award medals on the podium for the fastest times.
The promo code they have set up for this is IOWCC20% and this would be put into the ‘‘ADD PROMO OF DISCOUNT CODE’’ section on our booking screen.
Find the link to the available session times here:
Due to the weather we have been having we are unable to run the event on Sunday. We have tried to access a different venue with out success. We are all very disappointed. Everyone that has entered will be honoured for the next event.
Atherfield never fails to produce a great day of grass roots motorsport and round 6 of the Isle of Wight Car Club calendar had it all from super tight zigzags to fast sweeping sections.
This large flat field is popular with car club members as, if competitors want to try an unsealed surface event in their daily driver, there is little chance of damaging your vehicle.
The only modification permitted in the unmodified classes are a sum-guard to protect the car and a rear 4 point roll cage to protect the occupants.
Class 1 is for unmodified cars under 1400cc.
Rob Highmore and Darren Phillips were sharing their Ford KA and were pushing each other throughout the day – proving you don’t need a big engined bodied car to have fun and friendly competition. Rob not only took the bragging rights being the fastest of the duo but also took the class 1 title.
Class 2 is for unmodified cars over 1400cc.
There was an identical battle in class 2 between Jacques and Steve Riddett in their amazing Toyota Corolla. This time Jacques was putting in the fastest time and being awarded with the class 2 win.
Modifications permitted in the modified classes are limited and the car must look like a car that would be legal for the road, for example they must retain windows, bumpers and light lenses.
Class 3 is for modified cars under 1400cc.
The small nimble cars were making light work of the zig zags and Steve Staff in his “No Money Micra” proved to be fast over the entire course giving him the class 3 win.
Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc.
Wayne Hole driving his Ford Focus was in a tight battle with Dean Long in his MX5 and Shane Parry in his Ford Puma, however, this is how the podium was due to finish, with Wayne taking the top step with the fastest time of the day, Dean on the 2nd step only 0.09 of a second behind and Shane in 3rd place overall.
Class 5 is for heavily modified cars, specials and limited production cars.
Colin Attrill in his fantastically prepared Classic mini Autograss pickup took some time to figure out how to navigate the tight zig zag sections in a front wheel drive car without a hand brake but by the closing runs of the day was nailing it and not only took the class 5 win he also finished 8th overall.
Fastest lady of the day was awarded to Louise Wren. Louise has been competing in many other motorsport events on the mainland and the time behind the wheel is paying off with some fantastic results.
Fastest youth of the day is sponsored by Jake Ellis Sunglasses.
Members can drive in an autotest from the age of 14 provided their car has a roof, back seats and no more than a 2 litre engine. They have to have an experienced competitor sitting in with them to offer help and advice – a great way to get experience with car control before they learn to drive on the road.
Alfie Froment, at only his second car club event and in a borrowed car achieved the honours of the fastest youth of the day – a fantastic achievement and one to watch as he is only going to improve.
Running alongside the action on track, Wight Karting had their amazing Kart simulator.
James Robbins was the 3rd fastest of the day with Jacques Riddett coming 2nd. Danny Grist, who proved to be a much better at the karting simulator than as a passenger on track, he repeatedly told his driver the wrong way to go round the course, claimed the top spot of the podium.
A big thank you to everyone who make these events happen, help set up and pack away at the end of the day.
The next event is at Knighton Sand Pit on the 6th of August.
We are looking for marshals to help at the Island Stages Rally on the 30th of September – 1st of October.
If you are interested please head to our website www.iowcc.co.uk.
Round 5 of the Isle of Wight Car Club’s 2023 Forward only Autotest season was an unsealed surface event held at one of the locations of this year’s Island Stages rally – Palmers Farm in Wootton.
This venue had everything from wide open land with nothing to hit, stunning views over the Solent and an undulating track that evolved as the day went on, producing quicker and quicker times.
The only modifications permitted in the unmodified classes are a rear 4 point roll cage for safety, a sump guard to protect the car and strict rules with regards to tyres.
This is fantastic for those on a budget or want to use their standard road car and compete with others on a level playing field.
Class 1 is for unmodified cars under 1400cc. Rob Highmore and Darren Phillips in their Ford Ka were consistently quick and there was next to nothing separating their times. On the final run Rob took the class win over Darren by a fraction of a second.
Class 2 is for unmodified cars over 1400cc. Jacques Ridett in his shared Toyota Corolla put in a fantastic time to take this class win.
If modifying cars is your game, then you will love competing in class 3 and 4.
Class 3 is for modified cars under 1400cc and Steve Staff in his “no money Micra” is proving that modifying cars can be cheap. Today Steve competed alongside his dad Gary Staff. Steve took the class win but has plans to dip his toe into class 4 with a new car later in the year.
Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc and Wayne Hole in his rally Ford Focus not only took the class win but finished on the top step of the podium with the fastest time of the day.
mage by Allan MarshI
Class 5 is for extremely modified cars and specials. This award went to Martin Goddard in his ex autocross motorbike powered special. This was Martin’s first outing in his new car and he is still finding his feet, however, it won’t be long before he is challenging for a podium spot.
Thank you to our podium Sponsors Pro-Tek for their support and awards . The battle for the podium was fought until the closing runs of the day.
During run 6 the slippery grass had worn away and what was left was a rough, grippy, yet dusty path to follow, however, any competitor who dipped a wheel off this well trodden path back onto the tall grass could loose valuable time. Jon Barrett in his rally Subaru Impreza and Wayne Hole were trading places for the top step all day and as we know Wayne secured that place and Jon had to settle for second overall.
Third place on the podium was owned for a very long time by our eventual fastest lady of the day, Cathy True in her rally prepared MINI Cooper. Cathy is also entering the Island Stages rally in September and it looked as if all top 3 places were going to be taken by 3 rally drivers in their rally cars who have entered the Island Stages rally on the very land where one of the stages are due to be held. However, this was not to be. On the final run Kevin Richardson in his class 4 Suzuki Ignis Sport put in a time 3 tenths of a second faster knocking Cathy off the podium but the next car on track was Steve Glass in his class 4 MINI Cooper S and he knocked Kevin off the podium giving him the well deserved 3rd fastest time of the day.
Drivers can drive and compete at IOWCC from the age of 14 years old as part of the Youth Championship sponsored by Jake Ellis Sunglasses. Millie Blake, Alicia Perkins, Sam Wood, Alfie Froment, Kaiden Reed and Joel Glibly are proof that the Youth Championship is a success and making motorsport a family sport. Each youth driver is developing not only their driving skills years before hitting the road, they are the future of our club. Joel Gilby has been a youth driver for many years and is now driving to such a high standard it won’t be long before he is standing on the podium, so it was no surprise that today he was our Youth champion.
Mixed in with the action on track there was some serious competition taking part in the Kart Simulator organised by Wight Karting. We would like to thank Wight Karting for their support and allowing club members to try their simulator and organise medals for the 3 fastest sim drivers of the day. It may come as no surprise that the top 3 SIM drivers were all youth drivers. 3rd place went to Sam Wood, 2nd place went to Joel Gilby and our SIM podium winner was Kaiden Reed.
Again Thank you so much to Wight Karting for their support.
The next event is also an unsealed surface event on the 23rd of July and is planned to take place at the iconic venue of Atherfield. This flat open field is always a popular venue with competitors as its super flat open space is very forgiving and if you have ever wanted to drive your road car on grass this is the event to try.
If you would like to enter the Island Stages rally as a competitor or see the action up close as a rally marshal please head to our club website for more details.
Are you ready? – Entries for the 2023 Island Stages open at 8pm tonight – this event is limited to 45 entries – so grab your navigator and all your details because you will not want to miss this years MULTI STAGE event.
Round 4 of the Isle of Wight Car Club’s Forward only Autotest season was held at Westridge Leisure Centre. The twisting course around islands and traffic cones proved a real driving challenge.
To help keep this grass roots motorsport as accessible and as cheap as possible the club runs 2 different classes for completely standard cars – basic road tyres, no upgraded brakes, no sports or decat exhausts – this may sound boring to some, however, the competition can be fierce.
Class 1 is for unmodified cars under 1400cc and Robin Perkins who was looking to challenge for the class win unfortunately clipped one of the unforgiving curbed islands damaging his rear wheel and putting him out of the event after run 3. Rob Highmore and Darren Phillips in their shared Ford KA were leading the field at the end of the day and it was Darren who delivered the fastest time, giving him the class 1 win.
Class 2 is for unmodified cars over 1400cc – Jacques Ridett and Steve Ridett had such a close battle driving their shared Toyota Corolla and for a standard car it has some get up and go and it was a joy to see them nail some of the challenging handbrake turns. Jacques earned the bracing rights as he was the fastest of the two by only 0.9 of a second.
Wayne Hole, also in class 2, is a very experienced and talented driver of his MX5. He struggled to improve on his time in the closing runs of the day, however, he took the class 2 win and claimed the 3rd step of the podium.
If you own or like to modify your car then the modified classes will be just your cup of tea – there are restrictions as the car must resemble a road legal car.
Class 3 is for modified cars under 1400cc and this is where you find the souped up hot hatches such as Micras, Fiestas, MGZRs, classic minis and the fantastic Citroen C1 of James Robbins.
Dave Goodwin in his classic mini and James traded fastest overall times throughout the day and James took the class and overall win by 0.08 seconds. This is making for an exciting battle as both Dave and James are on equal points in the class 3 championship.
Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc – one of the questions at the beginning of the day was what sort of car would be best suited to this course. Well ,the top 3 class 4 cars finished one behind the other with only 1 second between them all. Kevin Richardson in his front wheel drive MINI Cooper S finished 3rd in class, Jon Barrett finished 2nd in class in his all wheel drive Subaru Impreza but it was Dean Long in his rear wheel drive MX5 that took the class win. It is amazing that 3 completely different cars and different driving styles can produce such a close result.
If you want to compete in something extreme, then class 5 is home to heavily modified saloons, non-production cars and specials.
Robbie Cooper in his ex grass track classic mini put in a fantastic effort and finished in 13th place overall and the class 5 win.
Cathy True was using her rally mini and is getting more confident and is very excited to compete in the Island Stages on the 30th of September – Cathy was awarded the fastest lady of the day prize and finished 16th overall.
You can compete at one of our events from the age of 14 as part of the Jake Ellis Sunglasses Youth Championship – Joel Gilby was our fastest youth of the day and is no longer the apprentice and on his way to being the master as he finished in 10th place overall, an astonishing 16 places ahead of his father Boo Gilby.
Thank you to Pro-Tek for sponsoring the podium.
An amazing addition to the event was the inclusion of Wight Karting who are based at Westridge and provide Karting Action all year round whatever the weather – but what was on offer was a Kart Racing simulator for IOWCC club members to try and discover who was the fastest virtual racer. The queue to take part was a testament to how much fun it was and Wight Karting also presented medals to the fastest 3 drivers of the day.
Again the results were super close and it was a pleasure to see Jake Jarrold stand on the top step of the podium. Thank you so much to Wight Karting www.wightkarting.co.uk and we hope to collaborate again in the future.
There is going to be a summer break from the sealed surface events as the club takes advantage of the dry conditions to run their unsealed surface events.
If you would like more information about the different classes of cars or how to take part please head to our website www.iowcc.co.uk.
Isle of Wight Car Club 
