The final round of the Isle of Wight Car Club’s auto test season was held within the grounds of Ventnor Botanic Garden.

Despite the rest of the country being dusted in snow, the south side of the Island sheltered by Ventnor downs was experiencing a mini Indian summer. 

30 competitors and many spectators enjoyed a spectacular and challenging course, lined with tropical plants and trees. 

Youth drivers, Caitlin Townshend, Joel Gilby and Vinnie Whittington had an amazing experience and demonstrated that, although they may be young (youth drivers can compete as young as 14), they have learnt to drive safely and develop their car control skills.

All of our youth drivers have been fantastic ambassadors for the sport and we look forward to seeing more of them compete against the day’s fastest youth, Vinnie, in 2022.

7 female drivers battled it out for the fastest lady of the day. Emma Hobbs and Tahnee Attwood were trading places at the top of the leader table in MX5s. But it was Louise Wren who pipped them both in the closing stages in her Ford Puma. Louise has been consistently fast this year, competing in other forms of motorsport on the mainland has obviously helped sharpen her skills.

We also had some competitors from cross the solent to the Island to compete, Joel and Charles Gilby in their Fiat Panda and Zach Lower in his BMW. It has become apparent that motorsport on the Island is not only enjoyable with friendly competition, it is also amazing value despite the ferry costs.

Throughout the day, drivers became more confident, speeds increased and times dropped and nearing the day’s close the fastest time of the day swapped hands so many times it was anyone’s guess who would win the final event of the day.

Zack Lower on his final run was the only driver to deliver a sub minute time and his trip to the Island was rewarded with the fastest time of the day.

2nd place went to Kevin Richardson in his class 2 MX5, 3rd place went to Karl Robins for a fantastic drive in his shared class 3 Micra.

Class 5 went to Andy Williams who finished 4th overall.

5th overall and fastest in class 4 was Dan Young in his Clio.

An amazing finally to the season and the club would like to thank not only Ventnor Botanic Garden for a spectacular and welcoming venue but to everyone who makes these events happen and all the competitors who make this such an enjoyable, accessible and inclusive sport.

See you all in 2022.

The 59th running of the Healey weekend, where the Austin Healey Club and the Isle of Wight Car Club duel it out in a weekend of motorsport action for the prestigious Turbine Trophy, was as competitive and enjoyable as ever.

Saturday’s event was held at BAE Systems in Northwood and was a wide open venue with a large figure of 8, perfect for those wanting to show off their drifting skills. Making this even more dramatic was a water feature. For some unforeseen technical reason water was being pumped from underground onto a section of the car park. This not only added more enjoyment to those wanting to slide their cars around but added a technical challenge to those looking to maximise grip and put down a quick time.

The Healey team always bring a fascinating spectrum of cars. Healey 3000s, a classic mini pickup, a Porsche 944, an army of very fast MX5s and a Ford Cortina looking very much like a Charger from the Fast and the Furious.

Day one was round 10 of the IOWCC calendar. 

Fastest lady of the day went to Louise Wren. Fastest youth of the day was awarded to Joel Gilby but not until Sunday morning was it noticed that this was an admin error and the true winner was actually Vinnie Whittington (sorry Vinnie). Class one went to Gordon Bushel in his rapid little Smart roadster, class 2 went to Kevin Richardson in his Mx5, Class 3 went to Adam Greenen showing his dad how to drive their classic mini, class 4 went to international rally driver Richard Weaver in his stunning and very rapid Subaru and class 5 and the event winner was Ryan Munt in his Locost.

Sunday’s event, and round 11 of the IOWCC calendar, was held at the Isle of Wight College. This is a much tighter course and the challenge there is to thread your car through the man made islands, avoiding the curbs and bushes.

And for some this challenge proved to be too much, however, the youth drivers were showing the adults how it should be done. Milly Blake, Joel Gilby and Vinnie Whittington were precise and posting great times throughout the day.

From the age of 14 members of the IOWCC can drive alongside an experienced club member in a production car and gain not only driving skills but life skills that will pay dividends when they are finally allowed to drive on the open road. How many 17 year olds or even adults could say they would know what to do if their car began to slide? For more information check out the IOWCC website www.iowcc.co.uk.

On day 2, the fastest lady of the day and the fastest class one driver was Louise Wren, the fastest youth, correctly announced this time, was Vinnie Whittington, class 2 went to Kevin Richardson, class 3 Adam Greenen, class 4 to Jon Barrett and class 5 and our event winner again was Ryan Munt.

Each of these days were individual rounds of the championship, however, the Healey weekend awards are a reflection of consistency. The times from each day are added together and awards for each class were presented at the Bargemans Rest at Newport Quay on Sunday afternoon.

Fastest lady was Louise Wren, fastest youth was Vinnie Whittington, class 1 went to Gordon Bushell, class 2 to Kevin Richardson, class 3 winner was Adam Greenen, class 4 went to Jon Barrett and class 5 and the coveted Turbine trophy went to Ryan Munt.

A great weekend and with next year’s event being the 60th anniversary the hope is it will be an event not to miss.

Check out the video report below

For longer than anyone can remember, members of the Austin Healey Club have made an annual pilgrimage to the Isle Of Wight.
A weekend of fun and motorsport currently featuring two days of sealed surface autotesting in a bid to win the coveted Turbine Trophy which is awarded to the driver with the fastest combined time for the two events.
This year is comprised of round 10 and round 11 of the Isle Of Wight Car Club Autotest Championship. 
We are opening this event up to other clubs on the Island and on the mainland, to not only try and capture the Turbine trophy but also to see who is the quickest in their club – Club organisers are more than welcome to supply and present trophy’s for their club members at the awards presentation held at the Bargeman’s rest immediately after the close of the Sunday event 

You enter each day individually as normal and if you compete in both days we will work the rest out.

As is tradition there to be a social evening on the Saturday of the Healey weekend.

This year it will be held at Luccombe Hall in Shanklin, club members are more than welcome to attend from 8.15. Please do not arrive earlier as Healey Club will be eating before that.

Our members will be able to buy drinks but no food available.

As always this should be a fun sociable even

6 women drivers and 3 youth drivers under the age of 18 years helped make the last unsealed event an enjoyable and diverse competition.

21 competitors in total signed up to drive their cars around Knighton Sand Pit in a forward only auto test  around cones and natural and man-made features such as large rocks, machinery, pallets and big bags of stones.

The Isle of Wight Car Club are encouraging 14 to 17 year olds to join the club and compete in the new youth championship series.

A member can drive at one of our events as young as 14 years of age, as long as they are have a passenger with a drivers licence who is experienced in auto testing. The car must be a production touring car (i.e. back seats and a roof) under 2000cc and members as young as 12 years old can be a passenger with an experienced driver with a current driving licence. This can only help young people gain essential car control before they hit the road and it is also an amazing opportunity to gain life skills and have family fun through sport.

Millie Blake, Vinnie Whittington and Joel Gilby all improved not only on their times around the circuit but also their skill and confidence behind the wheel. Without doubt they will be back and in greater numbers. We hope the youth championship will grow and eventually challenge the old guard.

Joel Gilby took the honours of the fastest youth of the day, finishing in 10th place overall.

With 6 women drivers this has to be the greatest ladies’ representation the club has seen for a very long time. The club and Motorsport UK are very proud to offer a sport where everyone can compete on a level playing field, where gender has no advantage. Cathy True is a very smooth technical driver and this approach is producing some amazing results, Cathy not only took the title of the fastest lady of the day but also 7th place overall in her VW Lupo.

Class 1 is for unmodified cars under 1400cc and 14 drivers were driving cars in this class, yes these cars are technically the lowest capacity but this does not mean they are not fun to drive or uncompetitive. Proving this point was Kevin Richardson who took his standard Peugeot 206 to the second step of the podium and winning his class in the process.

Class 3 is for modifies cars under 1400cc and it was fantastic to see Steve Glass step on the podium for the first time in his club career,  winning his class and 3rd place overall.

Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc and Jakey Jarrold in his Subaru hustled what must have been the largest car of the day around this tight twisting circuit to take the class 4 victory.

Class 5 is for non-production cars or heavily modified cars and Andy Williams in his single seater special dominated the leader board and took a well-deserved win standing on the top step of the podium.

For many reasons this was a fantastic finale to the unsealed surface season and we hope to see this discipline grow in 2022.

There are 3 more rounds left on the club calendar and all are on tarmac. There is a 2 day event on the 13th and 14th of November (you do not have to commit to both days, you can enter them individually) and the final event of the year is within the grounds of the Ventnor Botanic Garden – now that is an event not to miss.

WANTED – farmers do you have any round silage bales left in storage and no longer usable for animal feed?We need lots and lots and lots of bails for the 2022 Sandown Sprint. – the event is the 2/3 April so we will start setting up on 30 March and remove by end of 5 April – if you are able to help please get in touch. Thank you

When the sun is out and sky is blue Atherfield has to be the most enjoyable unsealed surface venue on the Isle of Wight Car Club calendar.

The 19 drivers who competed in round 8 on the 5th of September were treated to these exact goldilocks conditions.

Joel Gilby sharing his Fiat Panda with his father Charles Gilby were competing in class 1 and Joel being under 18 years of age took the award for the fastest Youth.

If you are over 14 years of age and you would like to drive at car club see our website for more details.

Another award up for grabs at each event is the fastest lady of the day, 7 ladies were competing. Laura Lusted thoroughly enjoyed her first time competing in het Toyota Starlet and finished 3rd fastest lady of the day, 2nd went to Louise Wren in her puma and it was great to see Cathy True finish in 10th  overall and take the top ladies honour in her VW Lupo.

Shane Parry always seems to be able to put in a blinding performance and today was no different finishing in his Puma first in class one and 6th place over all.

Emma Hobbs in her MX5 consistently improved her times throughout the day and was todays class 2 winner.

Class 3 is for modified cars under 1400cc and the top 2 places in this class was a battle of the Steves. Steven staff in his Nissan Micra and Steve Glass in his Clio. After a day of trading places on the leader board Steve Glass managed to pip Steven Staff to class win by only 0.18 of a second.

Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc and the top 3 battling for this class win was Jakey Jarrod and Jon Barrett both driving 4wd imprezas and Wayne Hole in his Ford Focus. Jakey Jarrod has been improving as a driver all year and today finished 3rd in class and 5th overall, Wayne finished 2nd in class and just missed out on the podium finishing 4th overall.

But it was Jon Barrett dominated the day winning class 4 and standing on the top step of the podium as the event winner.

Class 5 is for heavily modified cars Such as the single seater special of Andy Williams and the stripped out Ford Fiesta of Michael Marrison. Andy finished 2nd in class and stood on the 3rd step of the podium and an awesome drive by Michael earned him a well deserved class 5 win and second place over all.

The next event is another unsealed surface event, this time at Knighton Sand pit on the 10th of October. Please check our website for more details. www.iowcc.co.uk

Knighton Sand Pit has a reputation as a car killer – but its just not true.

16 competitors competed in round 7 of the Isle of Wight Car Club calendar, and interestingly quite a few chose to drive completely standard cars in the unmodified classes of 1 and 2.

Cathy True took the class 1 honours in her VW Lupo and finished 4th fastest lady.

IN class 2 Robbie Cooper shared his Corsa with Father and son paring of Barry and Kevin Richardson. In an attempt to prevent a repeat of their last outing at Knighton where Kevin managed to write off their shared Skoda by punching a hole in the sump when he hit a rock, they crudely fabricated a sump guard out of some crap aluminium in the pit area before the start. Despite this very Heath Robinson approach the car survived the day allowing all 3 drivers enjoy a day of club motorsport without too much incident.

However, it was the shared class 2 car of Jennie Stangle, Steve Wells, Dan Young and Clive Stangle who were competing in the most unlikely of cars – a Mitsubishi space wagon. More at home on a trip to Tescos or the school run rather than being thrashed around a sand quarry this car not only proved to be very entertaining but surprisingly competitive.

The car made it all the way to round 5 (a total of 16 runs) before having its suspension smashed after hitting a rock. Despite this Clive Stangle managed to not only produce the fastest class 2 time but just missed out on the podium finishing 4th place overall.

Steve glass took the class 3 award in his Clio that he shared with Sue Mitchell and Louise Wren took the fastest lady of the day award in her class 4 Puma that she was sharing with Shane Parry who took this car to the 3rd step of the podium with a very impressive drive.

Jon Barret also in class 4 but driving his 4wd Subaru claimed the 2nd step of the podium and the class 4 win but it was Andy Williams who dominated the event in his single seater class 5 special standing on the top of the podium.

All cars no mater what class you run in are permitted to have a sump guard to prevent damage, however, nothing can protect your car from over enthusiastic driving. Not that we would ever want to stop that. 

For more information on how to take part please visit our website www.iowcc.co.uk

The Isle of Wight College is always a challenging and rewarding venue. 

Bucking the trend of previous years this event had more drivers competing in standard cars than modified. Motorsport need not be expensive and sharing and driving a normal road car can be so much fun. 

Class one is for unmodified cars under 1400cc Sue Mitchell, Cathy True, Gordon Bushell and Shane Parry were all battling for this class win, however, it was Shane in his Puma that came up trumps and finishing 7^thoverall in the process. 

Class two is for unmodified cars over 1400cc and in this case this class was occupied by standard MX5s. Barry Richardson and Emma Hobbs were trading places during the day, Emma took the award for the fastest lady of the day and Kevin Richardson was punching above his weight battling with the modified cars. 

Class 3 is for modified cars under 1400cc and Dave Goodwin was all alone in his modified classic mini. The class 3 win was in the bag but he was peddling hard and just missed out on a podium position finishing 4^thoverall. 

Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc. Jakey Jarrold had cooling issues with his Subaru, but Jon Barret in his Subaru called clubby took the class win and the 3^rd step of the podium 

Kevin Richardson finished the day on the 2^nd step of the podium demonstrating that standard doesn’t have to mean slow, but, the event win went to Andy Williams in his single seater class 5 special. 

A great day of club motorsport and so inspiring to see members wringing all of the performance out of their daily drivers. 

Round 6 was another unsealed surface event 

Threading their way between piles of rubble and excavation machinery, 18 drivers kicked up dust and enjoyed the challenging venue of Knighton Sandpit.

It was fantastic to see 5 competitors contesting the title of The Fastest Lady of the day, Hayley Schuchart in her Citroen, Laura Parry in her MX5, Cathy True demonstrating some very competent skills in her Lupo, Sue Mitchell is flying this year in her Clio, however it was Louise Wren who not only took the honours of the fastest lady but also finished 6th place over all.

Fastest Youth was Joel Gilby in his Fiat Panda and to his relief Charles Gilby managed to just stay ahead of his son to be the fastest in class 1.

Class 2 went to Kevin Richardson, however, during his last run damaged the sump on his borrowed Skoda scuppering the chances of his team mates going any faster and Steve Glass took home the class 3 award.

Shane Parry was again showing some exceptional skill in his class 4 Ford Puma and was rewarded with his first ever podium spot finishing 3rd overall. Jon Barrett in his AWD Subaru took the second step and the class 4 win but it was Andy Williams in his single seater class 5 car that took the event win. 

Andy is building I nice lead in the championship, however, as we know anything can happen in motorsport.

For more details on how to spectate or even compete at a future event head to the club website at www.iowcc.co.uk