Atherfield has always been a popular venue for unsealed surface events and there was a great turnout of competitors and helpers for Round 7 of the Isle of Wight Car Club Unsealed Championship.
With little rain for the past few weeks, the field was dry, and the last few runs of the day saw huge plumes of brown dust obscuring the drivers, marshals, and spectators’ view. Despite this, the competition was close, and the social aspect of spectating club-level motorsport in the summer sun made for a great day out.
Class 1 is for unmodified cars under 1400cc. So much fun can be had in these standard classes and in the right hands can be very competitive. James Robbins proved the point by not only winning his class but finishing in 5th place overall.
Class 2 is for unmodified cars over 1400cc. Lewis Whittington in his rear-wheel drive MX5 was trading times for the class win with Kevin Richardson in his front-wheel drive Suzuki Ignis Sport. At close of play, Kevin just pipped Lewis to the top of the class table by 2 tenths of a second.
Class 3 is for modified cars over 1400cc. Charles Gilby and Joel Gilby have made the jump from class 1 to 3 and it has made a huge difference, their car is noticeably quicker and with Joel developing and improving his driving, he was awarded the Fastest Youth of the Day award and finished 8th place overall. However, Steven Staff put in such a good time during run 4 in his Nissan Micra that he finished fastest in class 3 and got to stand on the 3rd step of the podium.
Class 4 is for modified cars over 1400cc. Early in the day, Kathy True put in such a good time she almost had one foot on the podium; however, in the afternoon a few mistakes resulted in her tumbling down the leaderboard to 9th place overall. Louise Wren in her class 4 KA finished 7th overall and took home the Fastest Lady of the Day award. Luke Everson consistently improved during the day, finishing 6th overall in his Corolla, and Shane Parry finished 4th overall in his KA. But it was Wayne Hole in his rally Ford Focus, who took the class 4 title and was crowned our event winner.
Class 5 is for non-mass production cars and specials. Robbie Cooper finally managed to finish an event without breaking down or anything falling off his ex-grass track mini, finishing in 14th place overall. Andy Williams in his single-seater special finished 1st in class and 2nd overall, just 3 tenths of a second behind Wayne.
The club is back at Atherfield for round 8 on the 11th of September. Atherfield is popular as an unsealed surface venue because the flat grass and lots of runoff makes it a great opportunity to use a road car and experience rallying.
This Sunday (21st August) sees the return of the Isle of Wight Rally Stages in the form of the Jon Dyer Memorial Island Stages. The event can be viewed online as it is being streamed live via the event sponsors Rally Replay. Visit the club website www.iowcc.co.uk for further details.
