Round 2: Isle of Wight Pearl

The Isle of Wight Pearl became the home of an extremely tight course on Easter Sunday for the second round of the Isle of Wight Car Club Championship. The layout was a lot slower than the one used at the previous round, but it looked as if it would produce a close event alongside the torrid weather conditions of the day. Many were hoping for a repeat of the weather they had experienced two weeks prior to this event, with the rain fading and the track drying as the day went on. However, there was to be no repeat of that, with the rain falling relentlessly through the day.

Despite the weather issues, the times got faster as the day went on. David Goodwin (Mini MKI) was on top of the timing sheets in the early stages, and his time wasn’t beaten until the third set of runs; Danny Grist and Daniel Kozakewycz, both behind the wheel of a Mazda MX5, improved on his time, with Daniel becoming the first driver to break into the 37 second range with a time of 0:37:58. During the fourth set of runs, Dean Long, in yet another MX5, posted a time of 0:37.22, which propelled him to the top of the timesheets. James Robbins (Peugeot 205) and Russel Hector (Subaru Impreza) also set times of under 38 seconds, meaning things were becoming increasingly close at the top.

On his fifth run, Dean Long set a time of 0:36.54, which would prove to be unbeatable. In fact, he was the first and only driver to set a time of less than 37 seconds all day. Danny Grist also improved, setting a 0:37.15, which would be the best time of the day for the Class Four entrant. Incredibly, Daniel Kozakewycz set an almost identical time on his final run, falling milliseconds short of taking second away from Grist. Kevin Richardson also came close in his Mini, setting a time that was less than a tenth off Kozakewycz and Grist.

So after an extremely soggy day of motorsport, Dean Long was not only victorious in Class Two, but also stood on top of the overall podium in his Mazda MX5. Danny Grist and Daniel Kozakewycz rounded out an all MX5 overall podium, with Grist also claiming victory in Class Four.

Class Three honours went the way of Kevin Richardson in his Mini, while Ricky Sheppard set the pace in Class Five. Darren Cole drove his Seat Ibiza to another Class One victory, cementing himself as a frontrunner for the championship in that particular class.

For complete results from this round, as well information on how to get involved, please visit iowcc.co.uk.