Haslett Farm has given us mixed results in the past, our first outing in 2015 was in a field that turned to mush when it rained and the second field in 2016 was a fast flat dust bowl. This inconsistency may have contributed to the low numbers of competitors that turned out for round 8. However, the 16 drivers that did turn up were treated to an amazing venue that had some of the most extreme elevation changes ever seen.

From the start line the course twisted its way up the stubble field in what one competitor (Dan Morgan) described as an off road version of Eau Rouge from Spa. On top of this scenic plateau, drivers had to navigate a challenging series of loops and tight turns before a slow technical twisty section as they descended to the finish box.

Of the 16 competitors only 5 performed a correct test on the initial run. Dan Morgan made a return to the club after a short absence and had no problems remembering the course in his brutal Subaru Impreza, posting the fastest initial run by 3 seconds in a time of 1:05.14

But it was in round 2 that Chris Wilson showed everyone why he is so dominant at USS events this year by posting a time teetering on breaking the 1 minute barrier by .8 of a second.

With no drivers in class 1, the battle of the unmodified cars was between Barry Richardson in his MX5 and Josh Finch in his MGF, with the latter winning the honour of fastest class 2 car at the day’s close.

Class 3 consisted of Chris Lee who returned with his daughter Lorna Lee, Marion Brett who was presented with the flowers for being the fastest lady of the day and Steve Brett who only performed one correct test during the entire day but his single correct run was quick enough to place him in 4th overall, just missing out on the podium.

Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc. Sue Mitchell and Steve Glass were campaigning their Toyota Corrola and almost did not make the start line as Steve managed to drive into a hole on his way to scrutineering, luckily with no damage done. John Cooper and Wayne Hole were driving their Autocross prepared Ford Focus but had no answer for Dan Morgan in his Subaru.

Class 5 is for cars that do not fit into any of the other classes. Kevin Richardson was driving his ex Autograss mini but suffered mechanical issues and chose to drive his father’s MX5 for the second half of the day and the remaining class 5 cars were the single seater specials of Andy Williams and Chris Wilson.

With a successful event and big championship points for those that attended it was Dan Morgan who claimed the 3rd step of the podium and Andy Williams who stood on the second step. However, Chris Wilson did break that 1 minute barrier in round 4 with a blistering time of 0:58.14 and with no other driver anywhere close to this time he did not compete in rounds 4 and 5 and won the event with a 3 and a half second lead.

The next round is a Sealed Surface event on the 3rd of September at the Isle of Wight College. However, there is a lot of excitement with regards the Syd Taylor IOWCC Autocross on the 12th and 13th of August. More details can be found on our web site.

21 drivers made the epic journey down what must be the bumpiest gravel trail to compete at a gem of a new venue, Duxmore Farm.

The land owner is very keen to allow us to use his land, so much so, it will be the location for the much anticipated Autocross in August.

The field used for round 7 was a secluded flat grass paddock and provided a great day of grassroots motorsport.

As with any grass venue the first round is super slippery and the first drivers out had no chance of putting in a respectable time, however, those who waited for the top layer of grass to be brushed aside had a nice path to follow with improved grip.

If it was not for striking a cone, Dean Long would have placed the fastest time in round one in his AWD Subaru Impreza, however, Chris Wilson took that honour in his class 5 special.

In round 2 the classic mini of Marion and Steve Brett broke an inner CV joint putting them out of action for the rest of the day. Marion kindly volunteered to sit in the race control trailer to help with event results and timing.

In round 3 it was Chris who struck a cone incurring a 5 second penalty and handing the fastest time over to Dean Long. However, during the next run Dean’s Subaru suffered from an electrical fault, which resulted in a DNF. Both Dean and Tony were left franticly spannering in the pits to get their car back in action.

The Longs were not the only competitors driving a Subaru at this event. Jon Barret had kindly offered members of the Isle of Wight Subaru Owners Club to drive his Impreza. Ben Franklin, Ben Condon and Dave Arnold all seemed to enjoy themselves with the latter producing the highest position on the day’s result within their group.

As promised, officials from the Southsea Motor Club made themselves available to answer any questions about the upcoming Autocross event in August. They also gave advice on what modifications, if any, were needed to competitors’ cars to meet the event’s safety requirements.

For those of you who now have your MSA licence and access to the required helmet and overalls, you have pretty much everything you need to join the Isle of Wight Car Club, who have been invited back to Gurston Down on the 10^th of September to compete at their hill climb in our own class. If you would like to compete or come and spectate visit their website for more information.

By round 6 the course was defined with little grass left and even at this stage drivers wanting to produce a quick time were stalling to be the last car out on track. In this round, Andy Williams produced the provisional fastest time of the day and as Chris Wilson lined up for his run the pressure was on. Unfortunately for him he struck a cone and with this incurred a 5 second penalty. With their car now fixed, Dean and Tony Long lined up to perform their runs. Tony, like many other drivers during the day, rolled his near side front tyre off its rim halfway round the course and Dean over cooked it into the stop box, narrowly missing the timing gear, and incurred a 10 second penalty for doing so.

Once Marion and Brian had worked out the results for the day, Sue Mitchel was awarded the flowers for being the fastest lady, Dean claimed the 3^rd step of the podium, Chris Wilson was the highest placed looser of the day but it was Andy Williams who was crowned as the day’s champion.

The next event is on the 30th of July at Haslett Farm

_{20 competitors and many spectators enjoyed a day of grassroots motorsport at one of the nicest venues on the calendar – Atherfield.}

 _{This large flat open grass field is smooth and suitable for road cars. As always the first few runs are slow because of the lack of traction on the lush green grass.}

_{Initially many drivers struggled to remember the course and that’s not surprising when Andy Williams who designed the course had to lead the walk round holding a map because he was not sure himself. However, under a glorious July sky, the grass soon gave way to dust and revealed the course for all to follow.}

_{Again, with no drivers in class 1 the battle of the unmodified cars was in class 2. Barry Richardson initially struggled to remember the course but was pleased to see his times improve during the afternoon. Josh Finch was campaigning his MGF and Collin Kill along with Ross Davidson drove their Mazda 323 with the latter producing the fastest class 2 time of the day.}

_{The only class 3 cars were the classic minis driven by Marion Brett, who was presented with the fastest lady of the day flowers at the podium celebrations, Steve Brett who suffered a broken driveshaft in round 3 but managed to replace it with a spare so he could continue and Dan Young who pushed his car to the limits and rolled his mini on the final round in a last-ditch attempt to gain a podium place. Luckily Dan stepped away from this incident with only a bruised elbow. This is a testament to the club’s safety rules that are above and beyond the requirements of the motorsport governing body.}

_{Class 4 currently seems the popular choice for competitors with 9 drivers competing in modified cars over 1400cc. Wayne Hole and John Cooper were campaigning their new Ford Focus with the intention of using it for the up and coming Autocross. This seemed like a savvy choice as the only class 4 car ahead was that of Dean Long in his rally prepared Subaru Impreza.}

_{Class 5 is for cars that don’t fit into any of the other classes and is the domain of ex auto grass cars. Andy Williams missed out on a podium position by only 1/100ths of a second.}

_{At the podium celebrations, Steve Brett was rewarded with 3}^rd _{place overall and Dean Long claimed the 2}^nd _{step. However, ahead by 2.12 seconds and a spare run in hand Chris Wilson took the top step.}

_{The next event is at Duxmore Farm on the 16}^th _{of July. This is also the venue for the greatly anticipated Autocross and drivers can have their cars looked over by the Autocross scrutineer to see if their car will meet the safety requirements for this event.}

28 drivers competed in the 1st unsealed surface event of the Isle of Wight Car Club 2017 season held at Knighton Sandpit.

This venue is known to be a horrible sticky mess when it is wet and a dust bowl when it is dry. It had rained leading up to this event, however, race day produced one of the hottest days of the year so far.

This combination of weather created a very mixed track for the competitors to deal with. The upper sections were loose and dusty, while the lower sections had very soft sand and the dips in the track contained muddy pools of water.

Scrutineering at the club has a new format for 2017. All drivers wanting to compete must now present their car to the scrutineering tent on the start line before 9.30am. This system works very well, not only does it make Brian’s job a lot easier it also seems to be a great place to stand and watch each car having its pre-event safety checks.

The course for the day was not particularly difficult to remember, however, it did involve several loops covering the same part of the venue. The trick was to remember which loop you were on. Many drivers did not do enough loops or did too many, and this continued throughout the day.

Round 1 was the domain of the class 5 cars. 2016 USS champion Chris Wilson set the standard for the day in his car engine single seater special, followed by Kevin Richardson in his newly acquired autograss mini and Andy Williams in his single seater special powered by a motorbike engine.

In round 2 the Morgan family, driving their AWD Impreza, were now pushing hard and challenging Chris. The only other AWD car was driven by Steve Wells, however, his car had mechanical issues, with both Maf sensor and Knock sensor faults. Due to this, Steve missed round 3 as during this time he was robbing parts off of the Morgan’s spare car in an attempt to fix it.

Class 2 is normally flooded with front engine rear wheel drive MX5s, however, there were non today. A new breed of class 2 car was kicking up dirt around the sand pit, this time rear wheel drive mid engine cars. Josh Finch was driving his MGF and Joe Moore in his Toyota MR2. Both these standard cars performed well in these challenging conditions.

Class 3 as usual is dominated by classic minis and this year there is money at stake. After finding Steve Brett and Dan Young envisioning who would be the fastest, Andy Williams persuaded them to take a £10 bet on who would be the highest placed mini in 2017.

Joining class 3 was new member Lorna Lee. Lorna had a successful first outing driving her Suzuki Alto with no wrong tests and reducing her times with each run.

By run 4 Ricky Sheppard found his mojo in his 2017 weapon of choice, a class 4 Peugeot 205 that he shared with James and Brian Robbins. Ricky had great success in his class 1 Rover 45 last year and expectations are high to see what he can achieve this year.

New for 2017 we have a sponsor for our podium. Grange Chine Service Station will be supplying Champagne (bucks fizz) for everyone on the podium and the flowers that are presented to the fastest lady of the day. So, visit Grange Chine Service Station on the military road for all your road and competition car needs.

Marion Brett claimed the flowers for the fastest lady of the day with only 3/10th of a second lead in a very close battle with Sue Mitchell.

At the close of the day, there was a clear divide between the front runners and the rest of the pack. With his best result to date, Dave Morgan claimed the 3rd step on the podium. Sibling rivalry ensured 2016 SS and over all champion Dan Morgan put his younger brother in his place by claiming the 2nd step with an astonishing 5.14 seconds lead.

However, both had to submit to the superior force of the King of Knighton Chris Wilson, who not only claimed the top spot but did so with an additional 1.39 seconds lead over second place.

Is there anyone who can challenge this man in 2017?

Our next event is a sealed surface event at the Isle of Wight College on the 9th of April.

Remember to present your car to the scrutineering tent and sign on with your entry form by 9.30. See you there.

28 drivers returned to the Ventnor Botanical Garden for another day of grass roots motorsport.

Due to restrictions on the type of event that the club can run, this year’s event was confined to the top car park of the gardens. The restricted space, combined with the inclement weather resulted in a very slippery and technical course.

This twisty course had many drivers worried that they would not remember where to drive and with 12 of the 28 drivers that competed during the day performing a wrong test on their first outing, they were not wrong.

Wayne Hole not only correctly remembered the course but was also the fastest driver in round one piloting John Coopers remarkable MX5 powered VW Golf in a time of 40.67 seconds.

Run 2 saw more MX5 domination, this time in the hands of Dean Long, his usual flowing style producing a time of 37.71 seconds. However, soon after, Kevin Richardson set the standard for the day in his classic mini producing a time of 35.49. This 2 second lead was instantly under threat as it only took run 3 for Ricky Sheppard to join the fight, producing a time 2 10ths of a second from the lead.

This tight course was extremely challenging for many drivers, front wheel drive cars were having to master the use of the handbrake turn, rear wheel drive cars needed to light up their rear tyres just to get around the tight 360 cone. Resect must go to Mark Hill in his Mitsubishi Evo, this being an all wheel drive car, he had to master all of these just to thread this monster sized car around the cones.

The ladies were also battling for the honor to be the fastest lady of the day. Hope Wallis and Sue Mitchel initially struggled to remember the course and swapped positions on the leader board through the day. Marion Brett on the other hand showed everyone why she held the trophy for the fastest lady in 2016 by not only remembering the course but consistently improving her times throughout the day and was presented with the flowers at the day’s close.

The only real mechanical fatality during the day was the suspension of Adam Morgan’s Locost. The good news is he continued the event in the Greenen’s classic 1275GT mini to finish 10^th place overall and he is now in the running to win a new trophy for the best mechanical failure that will be awarded at the 2018 AGM.

By run 5 Ricky had taken the lead from Kevin by 7 10ths of a second and this is how it stayed as in round 6 Ricky could not improve on his time and Kevin incurred time penalties due to striking cones.

2016 sealed surface and overall champion Dan Morgan who had been plagued with wrong tests and time penalties throughout finally produced some quality times in round 5 and 6 to claim the 3^rd step onthe podium.

The next event on the Isle of Wight Car Club calendar is an unsealed surface event at Knighton sand pit on the 26^th of March. Don’t forget to complete your entry form in advance.

Come and enjoy a meal with your fellow car club members followed by the AGM and club awards.

It this evening (3rd of March) Arrive at 7 for a 7:30 meal or arrive at 8:30 for the AGM and awards 🙂 see you at the cheques inn

You can buy your ticket for the meal, via Pay Pal in the payments section of the club website

On the 19^th of Feb, the Isle of Wight Car Club held their annual winter non-championship event at BAE Systems in Northwood. The club always tries to do something a little different than the normal competition format and this year’s event consisted of a simple course set between cones that drivers had to navigate in one direction for 3 runs and the remaining 3 runs in the opposite direction. All six runs were added together and the driver with the lowest combined time would be crowned the winner.

With every run counting, drivers were very reluctant to drive the course without being confident where they were going as a wrong test would instantly place them at the bottom of the leader board.

Not everyone was at this event to be competitive, many used it as a shake down session to test their cars for the upcoming season or just wanted an excuse to shred some tyres on this open twisty course.

The ladies had an interesting battle, Marion Brett in her Classic mini and Hope Wallis in her mk7 Ford Fiesta were placing competitive times, although, both performed one wrong test. New member and first time competitor Josie Collins, however, was precise and consistent driving her classic mini and thanks to this, leapfrogged both Marion and Hope in the leader board to claim the flowers as the fastest lady of the day.

This was not a specific drift event but you would have been mistaken for thinking so. The amount of tyre smoke produced from rear wheel drive cars choosing to navigate the cones in a sideways fashion provided lots of entertainment, not only for the drivers but also for the onlooking crowd.

One such driver was new member Adam Pomeroy who was not shy in using his immaculate Skyline to its true potential. With the rise in popularity of forced induction Mx5s and other driver orientated cars, expect to see more of this style of driving in 2017.

Father and son duo of Chris and Adam Greenen were super quick right from the start. Their distinctive 1275GT may have been giving up power to the larger cars but more than made up this deficit with plenty of grip, lifting a rear wheel on the tight corners. These two traded places during the day but in the end, Chris had to settle for the 3^rd step on the podium as Adam pipped him to second place by only 4 tenths  of a second.

But the driver of the day was Ricky Sheppard, who consistently laid down very quick runs without a single mistake and finished on the top step of the podium with a combined lead of over 11 seconds.

The next event is round one of the Isle of Wight Car Club’s 2017 championship held within the top car park of the Ventnor Botanic Garden. The format of this event has been changed from previous years and if you can attend the club’s AGM and awards evening at the Chequers Inn on the 3rd of March all will be explained. You can find more details on how you can attend both of these events on the club’s website www.iow.co.uk. Keep in touch with latest updates by following us on Facebook and Twitter.