IOWCC round 4 was held at Atherfield yesterday (25th September), why round 4 I hear you all ask? This was a rescheduled event due to the venue not being ready earlier in the year. An unsealed surface event which is usually ever changing throughout the day due to the initial wet grass right through to compacted soil.

As was suspected the first few runs were akin to what you may see on TV as dancing on ice. Wet grass made not only navigating tight turns difficult but indeed trying to come to a halt in the stop box was virtually impossible. Steve Glasbey was the first to tame the conditions and record a sub one minute run with a very respectable 58.18 driving a mk2 Golf Gti. Dave Dutch once again kept the field honest with a decent 57.90 in a classic Mini but it was Neil Glasbey who not only looked the fastest but was actually the quickest at the half way point with an amazing 55.15 in the Golf he shares with his brother.

Meanwhile the battle for the fastest lady was on, Rebecca French driving a 57.52 only to be bettered by Vicky Cox with a 57.30. Marion Saunders was trying her best to keep her little Mini up there but could not quite catch the leading lady finishing with a 58.48. Vicky went on to better her time and finish 9th overall with a very credible time of 55.52. Vicky put her new found speed down to the newly installed limited slip differential. Well done Vicky!

Back at the top competition was hotting up, Dan Morgan joining the fray half way through due to competing in a Triathlon in the morning. Dan was using a borrowed Diesel Mk3 Golf as earlier Martyn Cutler had killed the gearbox in the WWC Golf. Dans second run of 55.86 put the cat right amongst the pigeons and the battle was on. Andy Williams took to the challenge with a certain confidence about him and duly delivered with a 55.13. Neil Glasbey came back at the two of them coolly slotting back into the top spot by being the first into the 53 seconds driving the wheels off the little red Golf. Andy replied with a 53.70 only to be bettered by Neil with a 53.65. With a 1-2-3 of Neil, Andy and Dan the competition for the table was getting tighter and tighter. Nobody was looking over their shoulders though when Andrew Leppard stepped up having not read the script. Driving a 205gti on standard road tyres Andrew drove a quite exceptional 53:79 to take third place away from Dan.

And that was how it ended, the times had indeed tumbled as the grass was replaced by compacted soil and as the dust settled Neil came away with a very valuable 50 points. With just 2 rounds left in the USS events and competition getting hotter by the week it all points towards a grand finale.

Driver of the day goes to Neil Glasbey for guiding the red bullet to ultimate victory.

Top 5

Neil Glasbey 53.65
Andy Williams 53.70
Andrew Leppard 53.79
Dan Morgan 54.92
Martyn Cutler 54.97

Unsealed Surface Top 3 Positions:-

Dan Morgan 148
Neil Glasbey 147
Andy Williams 145