With a cancelled fourth round due to farmer based weather constraints the next event was eagerly anticipated and 17th July duly obliged with one of the calendars favourites, BAE systems, Cowes.
Weather was again looking to play havoc with this event, rain, sunshine and heavy wind were all forecast. A very heavy downpour whilst setting up the equipment gave the first indication of what was to come. Track conditions were ever changing from grippy to very very slippery.

With an excellent attendance of over 45 drivers the day was set. The course was fairly flowing but quite large, a sub minute time was going to be the order of the day for top of the leaderboard action. Steve Stotesbury the very man who laid out the course and also did a demonstration run was the first to put a time on the board, unfortunately for him though he recorded a wrong test almost immediately after he left the start box.

Marion Saunders driving a classic Mini was the first to record a meaningful time of 1:19.86 but Andy Williams soon showed us where we needed to be laying down a 58.47 easily breaking the sub minute barrier. The Dutch brothers were proving to be quick again in their Minis but the largest threat looked to be coming from Dave Goodwin and Dan Morgan, as ever!

Dan was quick but could not help but hit cones on his way, Dave was just quick. Never recording a time above 55 seconds anybody thinking they could beat him today was going to have to be very fast and consistent. Due to the changeable weather, the conditions seemed to worsen throughout not helped by a mechanical failure to a car which took almost an hour to clear off the course in which time a short torrential rain burst damped not only the track but spirits as well. Nobody could better their morning runs and so it would prove that Dave Goodwin would run away victor with an amazing time of 53.72

Class 1 was as ever taken by Jemma Western, a class Jemma has now made her own! With only one car to compete a time of 1:10.18 took class honours.

Class 2 at least had two drivers to battle it out, Dean Long as ever driving a Mk1 Mx5 and Luke Kozakewycz in a Toyota Supra. Dean was enjoying his tail happy Mx and the slippery conditions as he drifted his car beautifully between cones. Eventually recording a time of 59.59 three seconds faster than Luke. Where are all the competitors in standard cars? Come along people, bring your car and have some fun!

Class 3 was once again the class of the Mini, this class could almost be renamed. With 11 competitors and 9 of them driving classic Minis chances are that a Mini would take the class win. Both Dave and John Dutch looked quick in a saloon and a pickup recording times of 55.71 and 59.34 but at the head of the pack Dave Goodwin was dancing his car around to not only take class honours but the overall win as well, an incredibly consistent day for Dave considering the inclement conditions. Recording a final all conquering time of 53.72 and a run spare at the end of the day as well! Well done Dave the Sealed surface championship is now yours to lose.

Class 4, once again the most hotly contended with most competitors driving cars in this division. Twenty three cars in total! Dave Bizzill driving a Subaru Impreza was the first to record a memorable time with a very respectable 58.60, perhaps Dave had brought the correct equipment for this soggy Sunday. Steve Glasbey was looking very tidy all day driving a TVR and propelling himself to a final 9th place with a 56.97, the Rover V8 engine sounding beautiful as it went about its business. Richard Weaver and Neil Glasbey made valiant efforts to win the class but ultimately it was Andrew Leppard and Toby Allen battling for the honour. Toby had set an early time of 55.71 to keep everyone on their toes to which Andrew replied with a 55.48, alas Toby was not to lay down and foiled the rest of the class with an astonishing 54.88 to sweep up not only class honours but was also good enough for second position overall. An amazing feat in such changeable conditions.

Class 5, the special class! Andy Williams as ever set an early time of 55.96 and could probably have improved had his second driver Russell Thomson not broken the car whilst doing his third run. With a broken car Andy could not improve leaving the door open for Dan Morgan. Dan was fast from the outset but unfortunately was struggling to get a clean round, taking out cones on his runs. With rain distracting him Dan eventually pulled a 55.49 out of the bag to take the class and 4th overall.

Another excellent IOW car club event, Dave Goodwin taking the accolade for what was a very consistent well driven performance. Driver of the day for me was Toby Allen defying logic in his Mx5.
Fastest lady driver of the day goes to Vicky Cox with a time of 1:01.40

Top 5 Positions
Dave Goodwin 53.72
Toby Allen 54.88
Andrew Leppard 55.48
Dan Morgan 55.49
Dave Dutch 55.71

Sealed Surface Top 3
Dave Goodwin 100
Dan Morgan 97
Dave Dutch 96

Overall Top 3
Dan Morgan 147
Andrew Leppard 141
Andy Williams 141

This event kicks off at the usual time of 10am sharp, but you need to sign on from 9am-9.30am. The safety briefing and track walk will be held at 9.35am before the first car is let loose.

You can sign-on in advance from the clubs website linked here http://iowcc.co.uk/payments/ and pay via paypal which will help the smooth running of the event on the day. I strongly advise most members if possible to sign-on in advance as this really helps makes the event to run on time.

Just to make you all aware again, DAY MEMBERS and NEW FULL MEMBERS wanting to sign up this Sunday, must show their driving License as part of sign-on admission. Failure to do so will result in declined membership.

On no account must engines be revved prior to 10am and after that time any revving other during runs must be kept to a minimum.

Cars must not be started prior to 10am unless absolutely necessary and must be kept running for the minimum time possible. Driving of cars to and from the venue must be undertaken in a sensible ‘quiet’ manner at the approach to the venue.

These restrictions are necessary owing to concerns previously expressed by residents near the venue. any breach could jeopardise the club’s continued use of the venue and the transgressors will be dealt with severely by the club with potential sanctions including exclusion from the event.

The committee would appreciate if all could take note and adhere to this request.

Important update from the IOWCC COMMITTEE:
Based on complaints and to try and assist with numbers available for marshalling, the committee propose changing how events are run. All competitors willnow have to complete 3 runs before any competitor can attempt a 4th. Any competitors unable to complete 3 runs by the mid point of the day will have their runs forfeited however they may be able to continue from their 4th run after the mid point.

Also

There is also a change with late competitors signing on and taking part. Normally if a member gave notice of late attendance to Membership, they would have a briefing and walk round at the mid-point on the day. This meant they would have 6 runs. Now due to the new rule change, members arriving late are still able to compete later in the day (with a valid reason and notice given) but will only have 3 runs.

These new rule changes will soon be amended on the club’s regulations which can be viewed here http://iowcc.co.uk/

Hopefully see you all on Sunday.

Matthew Price
Membership Secretary
Isle of Wight Car Club LTD
07894050791

St Georges Park, Newport was the venue for the third round of the Isle of Wight car club Autotest championship. A brand new setting and it proved to be both a very nice circuit to drive and a nice circuit for spectators, able to see the entire circuit from just one vantage point.

With the promise of rain ahead competitors were eager to get on with proceedings, something not often seen at these events as drivers are usually waiting for optimum grip.

As seems to be the way Andy Williams set the first time of the day with a 39:93, if the rain held off it was looking to be a very fast circuit. At the last sealed surface event the challenge from the Mini’s was unassailable and again today the two Dutch brothers both looked fast out of the box. Dave Dutch threatening the top of the table with an extremely quick 36:95 in his Mini pickup.

Later in the day we were promised the attendance of both Daniel Morgan driving his new 7 style race car, supplied by Island PC Services, and Dave Goodwin with his Mini. As soon as Goodwin took his car out he posted a notably quick 37:40. Dave Bizzill driving a Subaru Impreza and Toby Allen driving a Mazda Mx5 were also keeping the fast pack honest, Toby even topped the table for a while with a time of 37:13, unfortunately for him though after that he struggled to remember where he should be going and his place tumbled down the leaderboard.

When Dan Morgan finally arrived we all expected great things, his first four runs all involved hitting cones and incurring time penalties. On his fifth run however he recorded a quite brilliant time of 35:48 over half a second faster than second placed Dave Goodwin.

Class 1 was swooped up by Jemma Western posting a time of 44:37 driving a totally standard Ford KA, with no other competitors to challenge her Jemma collected a cool 50 points for her class.

Class 2 again very poorly attended with only two drivers this time. Dean Long and Daryl Turner seem to have made this class their own, both driving a standard Mazda Mx5 the battle was on. With Daryl having beaten Dean for a couple of previous events Dean was on the offensive, driving a very clean 38:49 which Daryl found just too much to handle. Well done Dean for getting back on top!

Class 3 is the class of the Mini’s, with seven competitors fighting for the class honours. Dave and John Dutch looked very quick in the morning, their cars setup just right for autotesting. Unfortunately for them the party was spoilt by Dave Goodwin arriving late, he was on it from the get go recording a 36:02, which under most circumstances would have taken the overall win, Dave had to settle for 2nd overall but 1st in class and 50 class points.

Class 4 was hotly contended as ever, with over 20 competitors it promised to be a great spectacle. Toby Allen was the first to record a noteworthy time with 37:13 which not only led the class but the overall standings as well. The FWD cars were struggling to match the RWD and 4WD cars in this class, the fastest of the FWD was Matt Price in a race prepped Saxo with a 37:22. Dave Bizzill, driving a Subaru Impreza broke Toby’s supremacy with a very tidy 36:82 to top the class and scoop the 50 points, just 0.01 seconds behind was Martyn Cutler driving his Vx220. Also notable in this class was a very tidy run by Steve Glasbey in his recently rebuilt TVR with a very respectable time of 37:05 to finish 4th in class and 7th overall.

Class 5, the special class! Just two drivers to fight this one out, Andy Williams and Dan Morgan. Andy completed most of his runs early, I think the track rubbered in later in the day, his special looked good and he set a very respectable 38:15. Acclaim must go to Dan Morgan though, only the second time he has driven his new car and he looked at one with the machine. Struggling at first with cone demolition he pulled it all together in his 5th run, a time of 35:48 sweeping the rug from under everybody else. Well done Dan, the car was a long time in coming but now it is here it is where it belongs, at the top!

And that was the end of the day, fastest lady goes to Vicky Cox with a time of 39:91 and driver of the day to the latecomer Dan Morgan. Some fantastic drives from the likes of Dave Bizzill, Dave Goodwin, Dave Dutch and Steve Glasbey. This season is shaping up to be a very competitive one. Well done all!

Top 5 Positions

Dan Morgan 35:48
Dave Goodwin 36:02
Dave Dutch 36:81
Dave Bizzill 36:82
Martyn Cutler 36:83

Overall SS Top 3

Dave Goodwin 50
Dan Morgan 50
Andy Williams 49

For full results see www.iowcc.co.uk

Next event at Atherfield on Sunday 3rd July, see you all there.

Round 2 of the 2011 IOW CC Autotest season took us to Knighton sandpit for the first unsealed surface event of the championship. With such arid conditions recently the track was watered beforehand in an attempt to keep dust to a minimum. A number of new faces helping swell the membership, always a pleasing sight.

Andy Williams started the proceedings in his extremely open to the elements special, setting a time of 64.15 seconds and getting extremely wet and muddy as an added bonus. Steve Brett as always at Knighton was fast out of the box and was doing his best to keep Andy in check recording 62.70 in only his second run. As the surface begun to dry out the FWD cars begun to dominate, Dan Morgan, ever present at the top of the table laid down a 58.45 followed by an unassailable 56.28. The west Wight Golf Gti coupled with driver Morgan proving just too good for the opposition.

As with the last event there were no competitors for class 1, any budding autotest drivers out there with a standard car under 1400cc should come along, there is a gap in the market!

Class 2 was also lacking many competitors, the two it did have though have always had in house battles for supremacy. Dean Long usually the victor driving the shared Mazda Mx5 but Daryl Turner, refusing to lay down to Dean won the class with a time of 60.61 a mere 0.37 seconds in front of his stable mate. Well done Daryl!

Class 3, usually a hotly contested class on sealed surface is lacking the depth of cars on the unsealed, however with 6 drivers battling it out at least there was something to play for. Steve Brett took the class with relative ease, his classic Mini just seems to be setup so well for this event. Steve Stotesbury driving a Mk3 Fiesta was trying his hardest at times overdriving as he clipped banks and rubble heaps. It looked like fun though as the incredible little car just seems to live forever.

Class 4 is where the bulk of the drivers were for this event, most driving FWD hot hatches of the 90’s era. VW Golfs seem to be the car of choice if you wish to take a class win but rest assured the 205Gtis give it a good crack as well. Andrew Leppard and Neil Glasbey were Dan’s main rivals as times begun to tumble. Neil having replaced all of his glass with plastic to shed yet more weight from their Mk2 Golf Gti laid down a time 57.93 to briefly top the table. Andrew Leppard responded with a 56.88 but it was not good enough to take the class and overall win as Dan Morgan powered his way to an incredible time of 56.28 with 2 runs left in his hand. With nobody even getting close to Dans time he finished the day on top having only completed 4 runs, not often seen as the days are usually hotly contested until the bitter end. Well done Dan for taking the Class 4 honours and the overall win.

Class 5 was contested by just two drivers today, Andy Williams in a grasstrack special and Andrew Lee driving a Beetle based Buggy. They could not have been more in contrast to each other if they tried. Andy was fast all day, throwing stones everywhere as both man and machine looked at one. Andrew Lee on the other hand was testing his buggy for the very first time and some more setup on the suspension is needed I feel to get closer to the competition. Andy Williams won the class with a 58.25 and leaving him 4th overall.

Final positions are as follows:-

1st Dan Morgan 56.28

2nd Andrew Leppard 56.88

3rd Neil Glasbey 57.93

4th Andy Williams 58.25

5th Grant Sabin 58.40

The next event is at St Georges Park on SATURDAY 18th June

The results from today are now online.

The top 5 drivers were:

1st – Dan Morgan
2nd – Andrew Leppard
3rd – Neil Glasbey
4th – Andy Williams
5th – Grant Sabin

Cheers to everybody for a great day

Dan

Easter Sunday saw over 40 competitors turn out for the premier event of the season at the IOW college. With unabated sunshine hats and sun cream were the order of the day. A slightly tighter course than usual meant competitors were going to have to be on their toes to get the course correct and avoid hitting any cones. Two complete 360 degree turns were laid out, a first for a while!

As suspected the usual suspects were topping the leader board from the outset, Andy Williams setting a time of 60.78 in a car engined special when most were struggling to get close to 68 seconds. Dave and John Dutch were out to show the others how it was done, dancing their little minis around the course and worrying the seasoned pros as their times were tumbling. Dave put in a 60.43 keeping Andy honest at the top. Of course Dave Goodwin, last years sealed surface champion was yet to set a time and when he did he jumped straight to the summit with a 60.36. The course was undoubtedly suited to the smaller cars, times were being made or lost in the 360s.

It was almost as if Mazda had brought their MX5 showroom to the competition, with 6 Mx5s on show there was a variety of success amongst the drivers. Dean Long, Darryl turner and Paul wills seemed to have an in house competition to see who could dance closest to the cones without hitting them, I think the final crown went to Dean for that one. Danny Grist, last seasons Rookie award winner was also in amongst the Mx5 drivers, he showed why he scooped last years award driving his little roadster with skill and a deftness usually seen from older heads.

There were no class 1 cars entered so in class 2 we had 6 cars. Dean Long scooped the fastest in class with a 64.50 closely followed by Pete Hughes driving a Clio 182 who recorded 64.77. It is nice to see the RWD and FWD cars competing so closely. Proof that the machinery is not as important as the person behind the wheel.

Class 3 was hotly contended as it is where most of the Minis hang out. Steve Brett had to retire early due to mechanical failure meaning two less drivers competing for the class honours. As reported earlier Dave Dutch and Dave Goodwin were topping the overall board so naturally they were also hotly contending the class as well. Chris Greenen was doing his best to keep them honest but Goodwin eventually ran away with a time of 58.27 just over one and a half seconds faster than Dave Dutch. The way the minis were taking the course they shall be hard to beat this season, Dave Goodwin has just installed a new engine and informed us it was not yet using all of its RPM available. Watch this space!

Class 4 is where the rest belong, the largest class of the club. Wayne Hole driving a Vauxhall powered Mk1 Escort was fast from the outset, adept at 360s using the natural oversteer happy nature of the car to power his way to a 62.63 Matt Price was driving a well prepped Saxo race car for the first time, hoping for reliability he not only got that but he was also rewarded for some very capable smooth driving with a time of 62.95. Andrew Leppard outclassed them all late in the day to prove his up and coming drivers award last year was not just a one off. Pushing the 205 Gti to a very credible time of 62.05 to take the class win, well done Andrew!

With only 3 drivers in class 5 Dan Morgan would have been hopeful he could have taken a class win. Driving a brand new seven inspired vehicle he was pitting himself against Steve Wells and Andy Williams. Dan had brought his own pit crew with him and after setting his car up he was struggling with the front end washing out, a few adjustments were made and he propelled himself up the leader board with a very respectable time of 61.27, Steve was very close behind with a 61.57 but Andy scooped the class with 58.32.

And so the day drew to a close, Dave Goodwin using only 5 of his 6 runs to take the overall win closely followed by Andy Williams and Dave Dutch into third. An extremely enjoyable first event of the season, hope to see you all at Knighton on June 5th.

Top 5 Finishers:-

Dave Goodwin 58.27
Andy Williams 58.32
Dave Dutch 59.79
Dan Morgan 61.27
Steve Wells 61.57

Fastest lady driver of the day was taken by Vicky Cox driving a 205GTi and recording a time of 67.76

Photos courtesy of Allan Marsh