I am sure you all know how hard club members have been working behind the scenes to organise the forthcoming Sandown Sprint on the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of April.

However, we will have some small tasks that need to be performed during the weekend so that things run as smooth as possible and we are hoping club members will step forward and help.

The pit area for the Sprint is going to be in the Yavaland Car park and there is only enough room for cars and vehicles that have pre organised pit passes.

Yavaland sailing club has organised someone to man the gate and allow vehicles with passes to enter, however, this is only one person and he has asked if we could find an assistant for him during the busy period in the morning when all the teams and race cars arrive.

If you are available to help please can you connect the club either via our email or contact a committee member.

Don’t miss out on the biggest night of the year.

The 2022 AGM will be held at the Chequers Inn in Rookely

The normal Format is a social meal at 7pm

followed by the AGM at 8:15 where you can voice your thoughts on how to help the club move forward.

And at 9pm the presentation of the trophies and awards to our 2021 winners.

If you would like to book your place for the Calvary meal please pay via the events page link on our website.

Each year before the IOWCC championship gets underway, the club likes to organise a taster event. The idea is for people to have a go at our sport without any pressure and hopefully realise how accessible club motorsport can be and more importantly how much fun it can be.

This years event was held at BAE systems and 26 drivers brought an amazing variety of cars to either try auto testing for the first time or to treat the event as a shake down for the 2022 season or for the Sandown Sprint only a few weeks away.

Cars of note included Neil Glasbey’s Healey Jenson and the Greenens’ Civic type R. 

Neil has to be commended on his driving skills and the excellent handling of this big classic sports car. I am sure it will get a lot of attention at the Sandown Sprint.

Chris and Adam Greenen’s Civic R has not been used for many years as they were now sprinting and hill climbing in a very rapid single seater, however, single seaters are not permitted at the Sandown sprint so it was pulled out of mothballs and this was its first shake down.

These were not the only new cars to be unveiled on the day, Steve Glass and Sue Brett now have a Peugeot GTI 180 (180 being 180BHP) and Cathy True is the proud owner of a BMW Cooper S.

Andy Williams was also shaking down his new Cooper S in preparation for the sprint but something tells me he will be back behind the wheel of his special come the start of the Autotest season.

Youth Drivers Millie Blake and Vinnie Whittington had a very close battle for the honours of the fastest youth of the day but it was Vinnie who gained that tile.

It is amazing and inspiring to see Mille hustle her huge car around the cones despite needing two hand to apply the hand brake.

After a competing in class 1 last year the fastest Lady of the day went to Cathy True in that very nice Cooper S.

Class 1 went to Gordon Bushell in his smart car, Class 3 went to Steve Staff in his Nissan Micra and class 4 and 3rd place over all went to Dave Leppard in his modified MX5

The battle for the fastest car of the day was between Wayne Hole and Kevin Richardson in their standard class 2 MX5s. Kevin concentrated on producing a smooth runs, slowly improved on his time as the day went on, however, Wayne spent the morning having fun getting his car sideways and giving rides to fellow club members. Only in the last 2 runs did Wayne focus on nailing a fast time

In the end Wayne missed out on the top step by only 2 tenths of a second giving him second place over all with Kevin achieving the fastest time of the day.

With these 2 drivers producing the times that they did in completely standard cars is testament that you don’t need  a modified or performance car to be competitive at car club, so if you have always wanted to have a go at motorsport, don’t find excuses – just do it.

Membership is £30 a year, each event is £20 and if you have never competed at car club before your first event is free. For more information about how to get started visit our website www.iowcc.co.uk

It looks like its going to be fun. – don’t forget entries close midnight on Wednesday

I know you are all keen to enter the Taster Event this Sunday, however, we are having a temporary issue with the pay pal link. Dont worry we are confident we will have it up and running ready for payments Tuesday evening.So in the meantime make sure you have your free motorsport UK 2022 licence and study the course map for the event.

This Years Car Treasure Hunt was a huge success with a great turn out of club members

Thank you to Andy Williams for organising and expect a full report in the Spring Newsletter (dont forget to sign up – see the home page).

ASWMC have invited our members for a Marshals training day.  you would need to have completed the online Motorsport UK marshals training course before hand, this is free and can be found on the Motorsport UK website.

We have confirmed entries to those entered and paid for the sprint who had entered and had to have a refund due to the cancelations.

so we are now happy to open up spaces for people to “apply” for an entry slot – we have around 15 or so slots left.  the entry form can be found here:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvFsUIVj_bPiYiY5hYqDverEI9oWzja3ucyjjrfDHqm6079Q/viewform.

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.