Don’t forget you need your licence and club membership to compete in 2023

There are so many benefits being a club member including some amazing discounts and services from our club partners and sponsors

Use the membership section of the club website to sign up for 2023 and the link below for your motorsport uk license.

To compete at Isle of Wight Car Club Autotest events as a driver or a passenger in 2023 you will need to hold a new RS Clubman licence as a minimum, which will be free of charge.
The RS Clubman licence can be applied for online via the Motorsport UK website and aims to encourage more grass roots participation, as well as ensuring all Motorsport UK event competitors are covered by comprehensive insurance. Additionally, licence holders will have access to Motorsport UK’s Member Benefits Programme that includes the new upgraded personal accident cover.

Other licences

RS Interclub (UK Only) – This licence can be applied for online via the Motorsport UK website and is the minimum requirement for competing in Sprints, Hillclimbs and being a navigator in Stage Rally. This cost £74

Race and Rally – to drive in a stage rally or circuit racing you would need to undertake the relvent tests for your chosen discipline – if you would like more information please contact the club.

see the chart below for the full list of competitors minimum acceptable licences

Club Lanyards

Show your support for your club with the new club lanyard £4 each – these will be available along with sunglasses from our Youth Championship sponsor Jake Ellis at the Club Trailer in the paddock at the Sandown Sprint this weekend and at future car club events.

Your vote counts

At this years AGM we have a couple of things for members to take a vote on.

Changing of Constitution clause 17 “Payment Of Subscriptions”
From “Membership shall be due from the date of the AGM or the first event of the season, whichever comes first.”
To “The Club’s membership year shall run from the 1st January to the 31st December.”

While the current wording implies that “the season” corresponds to the calendar year it isn’t always interpreted that way. This change is intended to make it less ambiguous.

Sprint & Hill climb Standard Car / Road Car Category Fuel
Motorsport UK has asked each club to feed back on a rule change affecting Speed events.

S10.6.1 – Currently states that for Standard Cars, Road Cars-and Modified Cars, pump fuel is mandatory. Only air may be mixed with the fuel as an oxidant.
FIA Specification fuel (FIA Appendix J Art.252 art.9) is currently permitted under the definition of pump fuel and therefore permitted within these categories.
Do you think the regulations should allow for FIA specification fuel in the Standard Car and Road Car Categories?

FIA Spec fuel allows up to 102 RON which would generally not be considered normal pump fuel “of the type on sale to the general public” as per the definition in the MSUK Yearbook

2023 Taster session was a huge success

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.