Shanklin father-and-son rally duo Simon and Matt Verstraeten secured an impressive 25th overall and 7th in class at the weekend’s Bovington Stages in Dorset.
The Isle of Wight pairing, who were recently backed by Island Echo, Harwoods Garage, Wilton’s of Shanklin and RapidFinish cosmetic car repairs, were seeded 43rd for the closed, non-spectator event in a 98-strong field.
Simon once again took to the wheel of his Talbot Sunbeam, with son Matt alongside him on the notes. It was only last month that Matt stepped into the co-driver’s seat for the very first time, making his competitive debut on the Island Stages Rally.
Over the course of the 2-day rally (28th February/1st March), the Verstraetens steadily worked their way up the leaderboard.
Dry conditions on Saturday allowed them to build confidence and pace, before crews were met with wet stages on Sunday morning as conditions changed.
The strong result sees the only Isle of Wight-based crew in this year’s event return home with a top-25 finish overall, continuing their positive start to the 2026 season.
Unlike Havenstreet, Bovington is made for
Racing.
If the island had a race track, then racing on the
island would be ideal, but just like cycle lanes
on the island, they are scarce.
Enjoy Bovington
They entered a mainland rally, finished 25th overall in a 98 car field and 7th in class. That’s the story. Whether the Island has a permanent race track or not doesn’t change the achievement.
Not every article needs turning into a complaint about infrastructure.