For the first time in over 30 years, stage rallying returned to the Isle of Wight earlier this month as the Isle of Wight Car Club hosted the Jon Dyer Memorial Island Stages rally at Palmers Farm in Wootton.
The 6 stages were predominantly grass and gravel tracks through both woodland and grassland. Although not a forestry event, it proved challenging and gave the opportunity for crews to drive stages which had never been driven before – even back in the heyday of motorsport on the Island.
Rallying has diminished in the South of England in recent years with the loss of the Tempest Stages in Aldershot, the Somerset Stages at Minehead and the Rally of Kent at Ashford – so the return of the Island Stages for the first time since the late 80s is a major boost for the motorsport.
Andy Rowe and co-driver Cat Lund, seeded 4th, took the event win in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 2, some 2 minutes 32 seconds ahead of Darren and James Matthews’ Subaru Impreza who were seeded 5th.
Adam Midghall and Thomas Pidden’s Class C Ford Fiesta Rally4 was a delight to watch, with the crew taking 3rd place overall. This superbly prepared car from Rally Replay had no issues with the terrain and demonstrated how rally car technology has developed over the decades that rallying has been absent from the Island.
Class F winners and 4th place overall went to Peter Hinton and Dean Mitchell in their Ford Escort RS2000. The Isle of Wight Car Club opened up the event to historic class vehicles and this delighted those who had fond memories of the good old days of rallying on the Island in the 1970s and 1980s.
This event of attrition rewarded and punished crews alike. Locals Dean Long and Barney Lower, seeded 3rd, were in contention for not only the fastest Island Crew but a possible event win, however, in Special Stage 2 they slid their Subaru into a ditch and were unable to remove themselves, dropping them to the bottom of the pack. They eventually finished 15th overall and 2nd in Class E.
Experienced rally driver Wug Utting and co-driver Bob Stokoe broke a driveshaft and 2nd seed Stuart Larby and Simon Larby in their Metro 6R4 also retired in SS3.
Wayne Hole and Chris Wilson were the highest placed Isle of Wight Crew and finished 3rd in Class C and a very impressive 6th place overall, especially considering that Wayne built his car for this event for under £2,000. To keep the cost down his Ford Focus was mostly unmodified and he swapped safety items such as seats, harnesses and fire extinguishers over from his normal weapon of choice – a tarmac Mk1 Ford Escort.
Other Island competitors included Jonathan Barrett and Gerald Wilby, who took 1st in Class E and 9th overall. Duncan Waite and Keith Garton came out of retirement to be 2nd in Class F (11th overall). Kevin Richardson and Katrin Herold in their 1969 classic Mini – still running on 10 inch wheels – asked to be seeded last but after their competitors retired or crashed out not only finished 14th place overall, but won Class A. They also deservedly won the Jon Dyer Memorial Trophy for Best Clubman.
David Ley and Neville Hudd, in their Peugeot 205, took the Class B award after a battle with Roger and Cameron Ray in their Ford Fiesta XR2. Eddie Gale & Rhys Williams finished 13th overall and took the Class D win in their Escort Mk2.
The Isle of Wight Car Club has given its thanks to landowner Tim Rogers for the use of Palmers Farm; Bournemouth & District Car Club for their officials, equipment and patient instruction; and the numerous officials and marshals from the Island and various mainland motor clubs.
Due to the success of this event planning is underway for 2023, with hopes that the next event will welcome spectators.
Very poorly advertised,if at all. I never knew it was on…
Was a private thing not open to public but hoping to be next year.
it was on the entire back page of the county press and the Island Echo when it was announced
Nice one Mr Rodgers for allowing this event to be run on your land
Would have loved to watch this. I expect the NIMBY lot will have it shut down like they did with the motocross.