Thanks to Brian for the latest Isle of Wight Car Club report. Ed
Only two weeks have lapsed and we’re back at one of our favourite unsealed surface venues, Knighton Sandpit for round eight of The Isle of Wight Car Club, 2010/2011 championship.
The weather had been unkind as rain had fallen overnight and had dampened the usual dry dusty surface. This didn’t seem to dampen any of the 24 competitors spirits though as they got to grips with the very slippery, slightly longer than usual course.
Cooling system failure for Steve
Steve Brett threw down the gauntlet with an excellent time of 1:35.26 in his well prepared Mini rally car which seemed to be relishing the sodden conditions. Sadly this was to be his best time as he retired from the contest soon after with damage to the cooling system on his car.
Dan Morgan returned fire with a 1:35.34 in the West Wight Teams Golf GTI quickly followed by Neil Glasbey on 1:37.05 in the Team Dukes Golf GTI.
Rookie tops the time sheet
The rain continued and sub 1 minute 40 second runs seemed difficult to achieve for a while but the weather dried slowly as did the course and the times gradually started to fall. Season newcomer Danny Grist took advantage of the improving track and led the leader board with an impressive time of 1:33.72 in his £200 1100cc Peugeot 205. It certainly gave the veterans something to think about.
Chris Lee in his Ford engined special and Paul Wills with his recently purchased bike powered machine battled for class 5 honours. Chris pipped Paul with a time of 1:32.32 to Pauls 1:36.10. Paul was troubled with a steering problem and Chris suffered with an off into a ditch as did incidentally Tim Thomson in the Big Dawg 205 GTI.
The West Wight Team Golf of Morgan and team mate Martyn Cutler was plagued with problems throughout the day but it was repaired and continued to put in fast times in the hands of both drivers.
Brothers in arms
Brothers David and Andrew Leppard in their 205 GTI showed some committed driving but couldn’t replicate the results they had at the last event. Andrew especially suffering a few time penalties. Both had top ten placings overall though.
Another notable driving pair were Mazda MX5 duo Dean Long and Darryl Turner. Whilst their times were not as competitive as some they showed some very talented driving hustling the standard rear wheel drive sports car round the tight course with enviable skill.
Back to the chase and not to be outdone by newcomer Danny Grist, Dan Morgan produced a time of 1:31.10 only to be beaten by Martyn Cutler on 1:30.69 and then Neil Glasbey with the first sub 1 min 30 second run of the day at 1:29.52. Neil was quietly confident for the win but kept his last run in his pocket in case it was needed. It was. Martyn came back at him in the improving track conditions with a time half a second faster. Neil tried but couldn’t improve giving Martyn his first ever win.
Unsealed championship decided with one round to go
Congratulations to Martyn for his maiden event victory in several years of trying. Very well deserved.
Top lady driver again goes to Rebecca French with another solid top ten finish. Watch out boys!
Extended congratulations also to Dan Morgan for becoming unsealed surface champion 2010/2011 with the remaining round in hand. Well done.
My driver of the day is split between Martyn Cutler and Danny Grist. Martyn for his solid victory in an unreliable car and Danny for steering his lower classed, underpowered car to fourth position. Well done to you both.
Top five
1st . Martyn Cutler 1:29.02
2nd. Neil Glasbey 1:29.52
3rd. Dan Morgan 1:30.20
4th. Danny Grist 1:31.19
5th. Chris Lee 1:32.32
Championship Leaderboard
1st. Dan Morgan 246 points
2nd. Martyn Cutler 237 points
3rd. Neil Glasbey 228 points
4th. Steve Brett 226 points
5th. Andrew Leppard 224 points
Thanks go out to the land owner, organisers, marshalls, spectators and of course the competitors,
Next event
Our next event is a double header on the weekend of Saturday 13th November at BAE Systems at Cowes and Sunday 14th November at The Isle of Wight College. This event is run with invited guests from The Austin Healey Car Club from the mainland.
Please see website for more information and results.
Click on images for larger versions
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Allan Marsh. Top Image Chris Woods
