Round 5 of the Isle of Wight Car Club 2022 season and the second round of their Unsealed surface championship was held at Atherfield.

This venue is always popular with members due to its wide open, super smooth grass field making it ideal for standard road cars.

On this gloriously sunny day an incredible 33 drivers lined up for day of grass roots motorsport for only £20.

The club has a thriving youth championship where competitors as young as 14 years old can drive alongside an experienced passenger. We are pleased to announce that all the drivers of this year’s Isle of Wight Car Club Youth Championship are sponsored by Jake Ellis, https://jakeellis.co/, with every driver receiving a pair of the latest Jake Ellis Compton sunglasses.

Chloe Dawson, Vinnie Whittington, Kaiden Read and Joel Gilby, all chuffed to bits with their Jake Ellis sunglasses, showed fantastic car control and improved their times in pursuit of the perfect run, however, it was Joel Gilby who again took the title of the fastest youth of the day and finished 21st overall.

Class 1 is for standard cars under 1400cc and an incredible field of 12 competitors were enjoying this low budget class and it was a return of a club member we have not seen for some time – James Robbins. He obviously has not lost any of his skills as he not only took the class one honours, he also finished 8th place overall in his Citroen C1.

Class 2 is for standard cars over 1400cc. Leading the charge in their open top Ford KA were Sue Brett and eventual class winner Steve Glass finishing 10th overall.

Class 3 is for modified cars over 1400cc and this seems to be the home of the small hot hatch., Steven Staff in his “Mighty No Money Micra” is on a roll after his class win and podium spot at Knighton and again today he dominated this class finishing in 5th place overall.

Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc. Star of the show was Wayne Hole in his Ford Focus. Not wanting to use his gorgeous mk1 Ford Escort Mexico rally car at the gravel Jon Dyer Memorial Island Stages on Sunday 21st August, Wayne decided to build his car club Focus into a rally car for the event. Today was its first outing and shakedown in its new iteration. Judging by his performance today he’s done an amazing job, not only winning his class but also standing on the top step of the podium posting the fastest time of the day.

Kevin Richardson, after his Suzuki Ignis died, was kindly offered by fellow club members a chance to drive their cars. On the last run of the day Cathy True kindly let Kevin drive her Class 4 Cooper S mini and he returned the favour by finishing 2nd place overall only 1/100th of a second ahead of Class 5 winner Andy Williams who finished 3rd.

An amazing day was had by all, and it was great to see so many people enjoying cheap motorsport at a club level here on the Isle of Wight.

The next event is on the 31st of July at Palmers Farm in Wootton. For more details on how to take part please visit our website www.iowcc.co.uk.

JON DYER MEMORIAL ISLAND STAGES sponsored by Rally Replay

Sunday 21st August 2022

Click the RALLY tab on this website to enter

A new venue for most and a return to a classic for some, the Isle of Wight Car Club returned to the car park of Westridge in Ryde for round 4.

34 drivers competed on this short, tight yet exciting course weaving in and around cones, islands and even over a ramp.

Cars spanning all 5 classes with a diverse mix of drivers of all ages including our  thriving youth championship. All but one entry was a street car proving that grass roots motorsport is alive and growing on the isle of wight thanks to the enthusiasm of the Isle of Wight Car Club and its members.

Class 1 is for unmodified cars under 1400cc. With 14 out of the 34 drivers competing in this class, it seems driving small standard cars to the limit is the future.

Gordon Bushell in his Smart Roadster was the fastest of the group and 8th place over all, Joel Gilby in his MGZR took the title of the fastest youth. 

If you are under 18 years of age you can drive in an autotest from the age of 14 provided your car has a roof, back seats and no more than a 2 litre engine. An experienced competitor will sit in with you to offer help and advice – a great way to get experience with car control before you learn to drive on the road.

Class 2 is for unmodified cars over 1400cc and this class was dominated by MX5s, these small nimble rear wheel cars can be very competitive even in standard form. Gerald Wilby also competes in class 2, however, drives his lovely classic Healey. Driving one of these machines required forearms like Popeye because of the lack of power steering. Wrestling this amazing classic around our tight courses demands respect.

Fastest driver in class 2 was Wayne Hole who also finished on the podium in 3rd place overall.

Class 3 is for modified cars under 1400cc and it was great to see Dave Goodwin take the class win and stand on the second step of the podium driving in his classic mini.

Motorsport is one of the few sporting activities in which men and women can compete alongside each other on equal terms, and in recent years, the number of women involved in motorsport has increased. At this event there were 9 ladies competing and Cathy True in her Cooper S was not only the fastest lady of the day but also finished 2nd in class 4 and 7th place overall.

Dean Long wowed the many onlookers by drifting his modified MX5 to the class win and 4th place overall.

Andy Williams in his class 5 ex grass track special dominated the proceedings by placing a time on his first run of the day that the rest of the field could not match and he only bettered this time on run 6 allowing him to stand on the top step of the podium and the class 5 honours.

The next event is on The 24th of July and is an unsealed surface event on grass, this venue is super smooth and suitable for any street car, so if you fancy having a go at motorsport and sliding around on grass then head to our website for more information. www.iowcc.co.uk

Round 3, BAE Northwood Rain rain go away, come again another day. Well it’s possible that someone sung that song a few weeks ago and today was that other day because it absolutely pi**ed it down from the start of run 1 until just before the podium after run 6.Now, for some this could be a little depressing, however, car club members are never put off by rain as it just means more sliding and more drifting. 🙂
32 members competed at this large open car park venue and with the added bonus of a wet slippery track competitors could experience and enjoy sliding their cars around a set course with little chance of damaging their cars.
Despite the fun and games there was also a competition to win and the class 1 winner was Gordon Bushell in his Smart Roadster. Also in a standard car was our class 2 winner Kevin Richardson in his MX5.
Class 3 is for modified saloons and this field was full of Nissan Micras. These great little cars are the modern version of the classic mini, however, for the moment they are no mach for the original mini and the experience of Dave Goodwin who took the honours in this class.
Talking of minis, Cathy True is enjoying her BMW Mini Cooper S and was very close to stepping on the podium in the first few rounds in 4th place, however, it was not to be today. Cathy took the award for the fastest lady of the day and we all know its only a mater of time before she stands on that top step. 
Class 4 had the cars with the most potential to win today’s event as this group had the two all wheel Subaru Imprezas of Jakey Jarrod and Jon Barrett and it was Jon who took the class win.
Class 5 had a new member today, Vasil Kiryazov in his Westfield SEiW powered by a turbo MX5 engine was battling against Andy Williams in his autocross special. Vasil is learning not only how to drive his beautifully  prepared car but it was also his first time at auto testing, it’s no surprise that our 2021 champion Andy took class honours but Vasil enjoyed himself and we hope to see him back competing soon.
Fastest Youth of the day was contested between 5 junior club members. All developing their driving skills, years ahead of being allowed on the public roads and enjoying club motorsport in the process. It was Joel Gilby driving his MG ZR who clinched the winning points for this round of the Youth Championship.

Thank you to our new podium Sponsors PRO-TEK for the bubbly and junior prize

Overall positions went to Wayne Hole who finished 3rd in his class 2 MX5, Kevin Richardson who finished 2nd in his class 2 Mx5 and our event winner was Jon Barrett who took maximum points in the championship battle to finish first place over all.
The next event is another sealed surface event and will be held at Westridge behind Tesco in Ryde on the 12th of June. Please see our website for more details. 

If you’ve done a sprint then you’ll have all the right gear to compete.

So what is a Hillclimb? Quite simply, it’s a hill and you have to get to the top as quickly as possible.

The IOWCC are invited each year to compete in there own class for a weekend of competition at Gurston, near Salisbury.

The event this year is the weekend of June 18/19, you can do 1 day or both as each day is a separate competition. Camping is available or there are some great pubs locally that offer accommodation.

The following IOWCC members are already signed up to compete: –

Gerald Wilby – Sat/Sun
Ian Thomas – Sat/Sun
Dan Young – Sat/Sun
Toby Allen – Sun
Shane Parry – Sun
Louise Wren – Sun
Glenn Snudden – Sun

The Club has a Facebook event and Club member Dan Young has created a FB messenger group for those that are competing so if you are interested drop him a PM for any further info or take a look here http://gurstondown.org

This amazing quay is one of the most popular unsealed surface venues due to its dramatic elevation changes, varied loose surfaces twisting through made obstacles of heaped sand and mammoth  excavation equipment.

Despite the challenge 22 drivers competed in round 2 of the Isle of Wight Car Clubs 2022 season held at Knighton Sandpit.

Despite the brutal terrain many competitors chose to drive almost standard road cars, class one and two are for unmodified cars, the only optional  permitted additions are a 4 point rear cage and a sump guard. Fingers crossed a roll cage would never be used but experience has shown that the addition of a simple sump guard can protect your car from the many bumps and rocks around the course.

Lewis Whittington was our class 1 winner finishing a very impressive 6th place over all and Steve Glass took the class 2 honours in his Ford KA finishing 13th overall.

Joe Gilby our current Youth champion was also competing in class 1 but in his in his new weapon of choice for 2022 a MG ZR. This more powerful car and his growing experience as a driver gave his the award of the fastest Youth of the day and a very respectful 10th place over all.

The modified classes of 3 and 4 are often lighter and have more traction because of their knobbly tyres, Steven Staff used his skill and experience to power his little Nissan Micra to not only win class 3 but to finish in 3rd place over all.

Louise Wren in her class 4 Ford KA was awarded fastest lady of the day and just missed out on the podium finishing 4th place overall.

Class 5 is for non production cars or production cars where modification has been taken to an extreme, and new member David Greaves blew everyone’s mind when he turned up in his specialist production Polaris Razor, these cars are often seen competing in desert rallies such as the Dakar and looked right at home kicking up sand and dust in our own little desert. David demonstrated huge potential by finishing 5th place overall along side his class award.

But it was the bookies fave route Jon Barrett in his Subaru Impreza that dominated the day, he really knows how to drive a Subaru and enjoys every minute of it. Finishing on the top step of the podium with class and overall victory.

An amazing day of grass roots motorsport

Please check out these TickTock videos that captured the day filmed and edited of our own youth driver Millie Blake.

@iowccjuniors

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? original sound – iowccjuniors

Our next event is on the 15th of May at BAE systems in Northwood. Spectating is free and if you would like to have a go at a future event just come and introduce yourself at the club trailer or visit our website www.iowcc.co.uk

The  Sandown Sprint has been a huge and enjoyable success 

On behalf of every competitor and spectator we would like to thank all involved – all the marshals and officials made up of IOWCC / FDMC members and all the individuals  who have given up so much time and effort behind the scenes.

Without all of your support this event would never have happened.

Thank you

If anyone wants to be a Track Marshal at this weekend’s Isle of Wight Car Club sprint in Sandown, let us know. We have had a few last minute drop-outs.Watch the action up close. You’ll be given lunch and training is available.

The AGM and awards is this Friday – if you would like to book a meal please make sure you do as soon as possible via our website as the Inn needs to know our numbers. If you are only coming to the awards later in the evening can you let us know below – it would be great to see you all and plan for this season