Have you always wanted to have a go at Motorsport? Well here is your chance – The Isle of Wight Car Club is holding a non championship taster event.
Just like a normal club forward only autotest, A simple course will be laid out in cones in a large car park. each driver will have 6 attempts to complete the course and their fastest time of the day will be added to the over all result.
There are different classed depending on the engine size of your car or the level of modifications made to it. So even if you drive a completely standard 1000cc car there is a chance you may drive away with a class win.
Entry to this event is a bargain at only £20
DRIVE AT 14 YEARS OF AGEThe IOWCC 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 have a passenger with a drivers licence who is experienced in autotesting. The car must be a production touring car (i.e. back seats and a roof) under 2000cc. Members as young as 12 years old can be a passenger with an experienced driver with a current driving licence.
In addition all competitors and passengers must have a valid Motorsport UK RS clubman licence – this licence is free and can be applied for via the motorsport uk website
You do need to be a member of the Isle of Wight Car
ClubEntries for this event close at midnight on the 8th of March,Please head to our website for more informationhttps://iowcc.co.uk/events
The last round of the Isle of Wight Car Club forward only autotest championship was held at Fort Street car park in Sandown.
Despite the inclement weather, 37 drivers weaved their way through the traffic cones and rain puddles and a fantastic day of budget motorsport was had by all.
The slippery conditions rewarded those who drove in a smooth and controlled manner, and this is exactly how Wayne Hole has driven all year. Not only did he win this final event of the year, he also clinched the well-deserved sealed surface championship and due to his consistent performance on the dirt and grass has also won the overall championship.
Claiming the title in a completely standard, would be scrap MX5, Wayne has demonstrated what the club has explained for many years, that you don’t need a high-performance car to be competitive.
Class 1 is for standard cars under 1400cc and James Robbins took this class win for the day in his Citroen C1 and finishing 9th place overall.
Class 2 is for standard cars over 1400cc and our event winner and now champion Wayne Hole can expect a table full of trophies at the next AGM evening.
Class 3 is for modified cars under 1400cc. Dave Goodwin in his classic mini was the highest placed driver without a single wrong test or time penalty for hitting a cone. Decades of club autotest experience provided him with the class win and put him on the 3rd step of the podium.
On the note of wrong tests and time penalties for hitting cones, if you are a new to autotesting or in the case of our young drivers in our Youth championship, don’t become down hearted if you are not getting all the clean runs you would like, just look at the results and you will see that even the top placed drivers struggle from time to time. Stick with it, be patient and remember “slow is smooth and smooth is fast”.
There were 5 youth drivers competing and it is amazing how the Youth championship sponsored by Jake Ellis sunglasses has grown during 2022. The fastest youth driver of the day was Joel Gilby in his MGZR closely followed by Chloe Dawson.
If you are 14 years of age and would like to compete next year, members can drive from the age of 14 as long as they have an experienced passenger in a car that is a production saloon car designed to have 4 seats. Please visit our website www.iowcc.co.uk for more details.
Fastest lady if the day was awarded to Cathy True in her MINI cooper S who finished in 7th place overall.
Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc and there was some impressive machinery on show. Dan Parkman drove his very impressive Subaru Impreza, James McEnery’s highly modified Ford Fiesta was very quick and Luke Everson had a great result squeezing his Subaru Impreza through the tight course to finish 5th overall. However, Dean Long pipped Luke to the class win in his MX5.
Class 5 is for non-mass production cars, heavily modified saloon specials and single seaters. Robbie Cooper in his classic mini was determined to beat Andy Williams in his special, even upgrading his dampers midway through the event, but to no avail as Andy on his last run put that goal out of Robbie’s reach. However, it was Chris Wilson who came out of retirement and was sporting his beautifully refurbed single seater special who took the class 5 win and stood on the second step of the podium. Chris was using this event as a shake down for the 2023 season, so expect some good results in next year’s championship.
Thank you so Much to Pro-Tek for sponsoring the podium prizes and to everyone who helps make these events happen and especially to the club members who help set up and pack away on the day.
Despite this being the end of the autotest season for 2022, the club still has a few more events before they start again in the new year. There is a Christmas dinner at the Bargeman’s rest, our annual AGM, Dinner and Awards evening, a treasure hunt and a non-championship autotest taster event. So please check out our websitewww.iowcc.co.uk for information and dates.
The isle of Wight Car Club’s annual 2 day event, the Healey Weekend, comprised of rounds 12 and 13 Saturday’s autotest was held at BAE systems in Northwood and Sunday’s autotest was held at Westridge car park in Ryde. If a competitor competes in both of these rounds their combined times are added together and the fastest in each class is given an award and the individual with the fastest combined overall time is presented with the coveted turbine trophy.
Saturday’s event although dry included a spectacular water splash section as the car park was partially flooded. This made for some stunning images and slippery driving conditions.
This venue is held on a large open carpark, perfect for the larger more powerful cars to stretch their legs.
International rally driver Richard Weaver in his Evo 6, dominated this event in his all wheel drive rally car and it was a spectacular sight to watch and combined with the brutal sound of the anti lag provided much entertainment for the spectators and fellow competitors alike. Richard finished the day with the overall win and class 4 award.
Not such an easy day for Sue Mitchel and Steve Glass whose power steering belt broke on their Ford KA. Exactly a year ago at the Healey Weekend BAE venue, Steve’s power steering belt broke on his Ford focus. Proving that the IOWCC is a friendly club, Shane Parry offered Steve to use his Ford KA and Louise Wren kindly let Sue borrow her Ford Puma, so that they could continue. Sue said afterwards “I’m now a Puma fan lol”.
Class 1 win on Saturday went to James Robbins in his completely standard Citroen C1.
Class 2 was awarded to Louise Wren in her completely standard Puma.
In class 3 there was a proper battle between the Greenen family, all finishing within a second of each other, however, it was Andy Greenen who took the class win and finished 3rd place over all.
Class 4 went to event winner Richard Weaver.
Class 5 and 2nd place overall went Andy Williams in his single seater special.
During the evening, competitors either relaxed, or spent the night spannering away to repair or improve their cars for Sunday’s event.
Sunday’s venue at Westridge carpark in Ryde (next to Tesco), was a much tighter course and would favour the smaller nimble cars.
Richard Weaver was unable to attend this event due to family commitments, so this not only gave other competitors a fighting chance to get on the top step it also completely opened up the door for the combined Healey Weekend award as you need to attend both days to be in with a chance of holding up the amazing trophy made from a helicopter turbine.
Proving the point that you do not need a race car to be competitive, James Robbins in his completely standard C1 not only took the class 1 win for the day he was also the 3rd fastest driver overall.
Class 2 went to Louise Wren in her standard Puma.
Dave Goodwin in his classic mini put in a fantastic drive and finished with the class 3 win and with the fastest time of the day took the top step of the podium.
Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc and James Mcenery’s Ford Fiesta definitely falls into that category and with a stunning drive he took the class 4 win and finished 4th place overall.
After a slow start, Andy Williams found his form and finished with the class 5 win and stood on the 2nd step of the podium.
The Healey Weekend is a fantastic two days of club level motorsport and rewards drivers who can consistently produce good consistent results.
Combining all the times of the weekend our Healey Weekend winners were –
Fastest youth – Joel Gilby
Class 1 – James Robbins
Class 2 winner and consistently the fastest lady of the entire weekend was Louise Wren
Class 3 – Dave Goodwin
Class 4 – James Mcenery
Class 5 and overall Healey Weekend winner was Andy Williams
2023 is the 75th anniversary of the IOWCC Healey Weekend and we are hoping to make next year’s event even bigger and better with a large social event and just maybe a night time driving event.
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 12 and round 13 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 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.
Entries close Midnight on the Wednesday before the event
Ventnor Botanic Garden hosted round 9 of the Isle of Wight Car Club’s forward only autotest championship. Despite only the top car park being usedm a fast flowing yet challenging course was created. 27 drivers enjoyed a sunny day of motorsport and the competition at the top could not have been tighter. Class 1 is for unmodified cars under 1400cc. Junior drivers Tyler Hayes and Chloe Dawson along with Nigel Dawson had a great time trading placed in their shared Ford Fiesta, however, it was James Robbins who took the class win in his Citroen C1 and finished 9th place overall. Class 2 is for unmodified cars over 1400cc. Sue Mitchel and Steve Glass managed to scrape the passenger door of their Ford KA on a rock flower bed, however, neither of them are admitting, or know who cut the corner a little too tight as the damage was only noticed later in the day. Laura Gates and Emma Hobbs were not only competing in class two but in contention for the fastest lady of the day award, however, Louise Wren took that title in her class 2 Puma. Wayne Hole knew he had to put in a good performance as he will not be able to make the Healey Weekend. The IOWCC championship allow competitors to drop their 2 lowest event scores in both sealed and unsealed events, this means even if you miss a few events, you can still be in with a chance of a trophy at the end of the season. Wayne certainly did put in a good performance and wowed the spectators as he posted the fastest time of the day, deservedly taking maximum class and championship points. Shane Parry also in class 2 was only 0.1 of a second behind Wayne in his Class 2 Ford KA. If that was not tight enough Class 3 was even closer. Class 3 is for modified cars under 1400cc. Chris Greenen always struggles to get his classic mini 1275GT started in the morning and today was no different. Club members were enthusiastically trying to push start the little mini up and down the pits. Thanks to an extra push from Steve Glass the mini sprung into life. Chris and Dave Goodwin in his classic mini again traded places but Chris pipped Dave to the class win and the third step of the podium buy only 0.05 of a second and Chris was only 0.09 of a second behind Shane. So, the top 4 places were within 0.24 of a second of each other. Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc, and this battle was just as tight. James McEnery piped Cathy True to the class win by 0.34 of a second and finished 7th place overall. Class 5 is for specials or limited production cars, Robbie Cooper was campaigning his ex-grass track mini and despite using old standard road tyres finished 14th overall. Thank you so much to Ventnor Botanic Garden for the use of their stunning carpark and offering some amazing food from the Plantation Room Café. The next event is a double header unsealed surface event at Knighton Sand Pit on the 23rd of October, please see our website for more information www.iowcc.co.uk.
Isle of Wight Car Club 
