Round 9 Atherfield

Round 9 of the Isle of Wight Car Club calendar was an unsealed surface event held at Atherfield.
This has always been a popular venue, however, what seems to be growing in popularity is the number of competitors signing up to drive with a passenger. Under the MSA’s PCA rule, drivers can compete with a passenger to help guide them through the course, help with driving techniques or just for fun. This is starting to make events much more accessible and fun for all. So if you would like to take part in a PCA, just ask during sign on at the next event.
As a complete contrast to our last trip to Atherfield, the sun was out and the grass was dry. As usual it did not take long for the top layer of green grass to erode to reveal a grippy dirt path for all to follow. Any driver who ventured off this well-worn track later would soon loose traction, so the name of the game in the afternoon was to keep it on the brown stuff.
At the start of round 1 many competitors held back wanting to learn the course by watching other drivers. Wayne Hole as usual knew the course right off the bat and was the first off the line, posting a very respectable first run of 2 minutes 10 seconds.
It was good to see a class 1 car again with Steve Brookes and Rich Harrison piloting their standard Fiesta. At the end of the day it was Rich who posted the fasted time out of the two finishing 13th overall.

In class 2 it was great to see the return of Louise Wren and Shane Parry in their Ford Puma and Barry and Kevin Richardson driving their Suzuki Ignis, with the latter claiming class honours and finishing 15th overall.
Kevin was also in class 3, however, not driving. He was navigating for Steve Brett in his classic Mini, as Steve was unsure of the course. Both had great fun pretending they were on a rally stage. Steve was the only car in class 3 and finished 10th overall.

Class 4 was the most popular class of the day with 10 drivers competing in modified cars over 1400cc.
Hannah Thomson and Vicky Cox were not only battling in class 4 but also for the title of fastest lady of the day. Sharing Vicky’s 205 and being a passenger for each other, with Vicky’s guidance Hannah’s times consistently improved during the day, However, Vicky’s experience and skill allowed her to claim the bubbly at the podium celebrations and finish 7th place over all.
It was the Subaru of Jon Barrett (affectionally known as Clubby) that dominated this class. Also driven by Dean and Tony Long this car had grip and power allowing Dean to win the event with a whopping 1.74 seconds over second place and Jon took the third step of the podium ahead of Wayne in his Focus who finished 4th.

There were a smattering of mechanical incidents during the day, mainly due to Josh Finch. Josh was unable to bring his special to the event as he doesn’t have a suitable trailer, so Andy Williams offered him a drive in his special. Credit where credit is due, Josh drove Andy’s special like a demon and Andy was very impressed with how Josh’s driving skills have developed, right up to the point where he managed to drive over the rear mud flaps and totally mangle the rear arches (just like he did to his own special at the Autocross).

Then Ricky Sheppard said “Josh – You can borrow my 205” – Josh jumped at the chance, lined up Ricky’s class 4 Peugeot on the start line, dumped the clutch and promptly destroyed a CV joint.
In a domino effect, Wayne after finishing his last run of the day said “Ricky – You can borrow my Focus” – Ricky jumped at the chance, lined up Wayne’s class 4 Focus on the start line, dumped the clutch and promptly destroyed a CV joint. Oh how we laughed.

Despite having mangled rear mudguards Andy Williams seized second place in his special.
Standing on the podium with Jon and Dean he felt the full force of the bubbly supplied by our podium sponsor Young Plumbing.

We would also like to thank Alan Marsh for some amazing images of the event.
Our next event is also an unsealed surface event at Haslet Farm on the 30th of September.
See our website for more details.

Round 8 College

The Isle of Wight Car Clubs 8th event and 3rd Sealed Surface event of 2018 was held at the Isle of Wight College. On the 2nd of September.
From round 1 Ricky Sheppard was on form placing a time over 8 seconds faster than anyone else, even faster than the owner of the car he was driving, Steve Wells. However, by run 2 Steve had closed the gap to within a second. On this sunny September day, it looked like one of these gentlemen would be taking home the win and it was only a mater of time before we found out which one it would be.
With no drivers in class 1 (unmodified under 1400cc) the battle in the non-modified cars title fell to the two MX5s in class 2 (unmodified under 1400cc). The father and son team of Barry and Kevin Richardson not only shared their car, they also sat beside each other as they went round in what is none as the PCA class, this allows drivers and passengers to better understand the course, give each other some coaching or guidance and it makes the event very sociable. If you would like to drive with a passenger, please ask for more information at your next event. Neither of these drivers could match the speed of Wayne Hole in his MX5, who not only won class 2 but also finished 8th overall.
There was also a car share in class 3 (modified under 1400cc) with Dean Masterton and Gary Wetherick in their Suzuki Cappuccino, however, being in the modified class, they had totally stripped the car of any unnecessary interior, including the passenger seat so they were driving solo. David Goodwin was also competing in the same clas, but has recently made his car a little heavier now that he has started to remove some of the rust in his classic mini buy replaced the entire back panel. It was Gary Wetherick who was consistently faster in this group and deservedly collected fastest class 3 and finished 5th overall.
Class 4 (modified over 1400cc) consisted Jo Moore and Jon Barrett in their AWD Subaru Impreza’s and Toby Allan in his Turbo Mx5. Despite having more power and four wheel drive the subarus could not match the agility of Toby in his MX5. Toby not only took the class win but finished 4th overall, missing out on the podium by 1.94 seconds.
Steve Glass in his Honda Motorbike powered Fiat Cinquecento and Josh Finch in his MGF powered single seater special were both having teething problems with their cars in Class 5 cars (non production or heavily modified cars). But what looked like a guaranteed win for either Ricky or Steve was not to be as after a shaky start Chris Wilson leaped frogged them both in run 4, this run put him in the lead by 0.77 seconds for the rest of the day letting him stand on the top step of the podium. After a few wrong tests Steve managed to beat his fellow driver (always a relief when it is your car) and stood on the second step 1.61 seconds ahead of Ricky who claimed the 3rd step.
In a break form from tradition, these three made a gentleman’s agreement not to shower each other with Champaign supplied by our podium sponsor Young Plumbing but to drink the bubbly from cups toasting each others success.
The next event on the Isle of Wight Car Club calendar is an unsealed surface event at Atherfield on the 16th of September. This large, flat open grass field that is very kind to road cars is perfect for anyone wishing to have their first go at an unsealed surface event