On the 12th of March the Isle of Wight Car Club held its annual non championship taster event.

The goal for this day was to encourage people to try motorsport for the first time or for regular club members to have a bit of fun.

A simple but fun course was laid out in cones in the  large car park of BAE in Northwood. Each driver had 6 attempts to complete the course and their fastest time of the day was added to the over all result. 

As with a normal club event, there were different classes depending on the engine size of the car or the level of modifications made to it, so even if you drove a completely standard 1000cc car there was a chance you may drive away with a class win. Entry to this event was the same as a normal car club autotest and a bargain at only £20.

The success of the day was evident with 33 drivers and a smattering of people who signed on to just be a passenger. The array of cars used was entertaining to say the least and many club members were kind enough to let others try their car at this non-championship event.

Hopefully, people now know how accessible motorsport can be and how friendly club members are. If you would like to have a go for yourself, head over to the club website for more information and dates of future events.

Even though this was not a championship event the club still wanted to congratulate those who drove well.

The fastest class one driver was Danny Grist.

Steve Glass put down a fantastic final time to gain the class 2 honours in his standard BMW Mini Cooper S. Fastest lady of the day was Sue Brett who was sharing the Mini Cooper S with Steve.

James Robbins was campaigning his C1 in class one last year but has been busy over the winter modifying it, so is now in class 3 and this placed him on the 3rd step of the podium, however, it was Dave Goodwin in his modified classic mini who took the class 3 honours and the 2nd step of the podium.

Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc and Jon Barrett in his Subaru Impreza not only entertained his passengers with some sideways action, he was also quick enough for the class win.

Class 5 is for heavily modified cars or specials such as Chris Wilson’s immaculately prepared ex autocross special and he was uncatchable at this event and the class and overall winner, so expect a dominant comeback after a few years off from Chris in 2023.

The next events for the club include the AGM on the 18th of March and the Sandown Sprint on the 26th and 27th of March, the autotest season kicks off on the 16th of April. If you are interested in any of these events or how to become a member head over to our website at www.iowcc.co.uk.