Thanks to Martyn for the report from this month’s Isle of Wight Car Club. Ed
Yesterday (13th Feb) saw the IOW car club travel to Sydenhams for the final instalment of the Sealed Surface events. With three drivers all vying for the top spot the day promised to be a very exciting finale.
Dan Morgan, Dave Goodwin and Neil Glasbey could all walk away with the title, the beautiful sunshine of the previous day had all but disappeared and in its place, black clouds and rain! A similar course to our previous event at this venue although the surface felt more slippery and could be the make or break of the title contenders.
Porsche set the pace
Richard Weaver was an early pace setter in a Porsche 911 laying down a time of 40:76, the Porsche was getting grip where others were failing. Dan Morgan was fighting with his borrowed special as the tight course and wet track were fighting with him rather than working in harmony. Hitting cones and WT are usually the foibles of others but maybe the pressure was getting to him.
Dave Goodwin, hot favourite for the title with such a tight course was also struggling with times, not used to being outside of the top five Dave could not get his Mini faster than 41 seconds. Dave was blaming the brakes on the Mini and Man Flu!
205Gti topped the table
In the meantime Toby Allen had popped up with a 40:54 to top the leader board, his MX5 handling beautifully in the very damp conditions. An extremely fast time and a very accomplished drive.
Morgan came back at them all with 40:97, his car looked undriveable so it is only testimony to his skill that he got the vehicle round in such a quick time. This put him in third place and could potentially mean taking the title as Goodwin was in 8th position.
Andrew and Dave Leppard were out to spoil the party, driving a 205Gti with equanimity pushed them both well up the day’s times. Then Andrew stunned everyone with an extremely quick time of 39:15 to top the table, a drive which was near perfection and proving to the others that if they wanted the day to be theirs they were going to have to fight very hard to get it. Dave Leppard also recorded a stunning time of 40:64 to move into third position.
Wet weather played havoc for some
Neil Glasbey, the third part of the equation, was languishing down in 14th position at this time as he was struggling to get to grips with the tight sections of the course and the ABS on the VX220. The wet weather seemed to be playing havoc with the braking system, so a quick disablement and his time of 41:86 moved him nicely up the board, however it was never going to be enough to take the title.
So it was left to Goodwin and Morgan to battle it out, Dan could not improve on 40:97 and Dave was consistent but also could not better the 41:72 of his fourth run. We had a F1 scenario of title contenders taking championships off of the podium.
Stotesbury within an inch of his life
It was left to the remaining few to battle for positions, Steve Stotesbury drove his Mk3 Fiesta within an inch of its life, making use of the entire track (gravel and all) and it just looked like a bucket full of maelstrom. Avery commendable 8th place was the result however and a time of 41:71.
Toby could not improve on his time without hitting cones and incurring time faults and Andrew Leppard tried but failed to improve on his time, a little adventure into the woods was as a result of trying too hard.
Dave Goodwin scoops championship
And so the championship drew to a close, Dave Goodwin had scooped the championship by just a single point over Dan Morgan.
Congratulations Dave! It is nice to think that after an entire season the championship comes down to just a point, all three of the contenders have driven a different class of car and yet the results are so close.
I would like to give drivers of the day to both the Leppard brothers, to pilot the 205 into 1st and 3rd respectively was no mean feat and I think next year these boys will be the ones to watch.
Just one event left now in the overall championship, an unsealed surface event at Knighton Sandpit on March 13th. The USS championship has already been scooped by Dan Morgan but second place overall is up for grabs between Neil Glasbey and myself, just 1 point separating us as we head into the event.
Thank you to all the venues supplied to us this year, our supporters, everyone that has marshalled and of course to the competitors, it has been a great season.
Top Five Sydenhams
Andrew Leppard 39:15
Toby Allen 40.54
David Leppard 40:64
Richard Weaver 40:76
Dan Morgan 40:97
Sealed Surface Final Positions
Dave Goodwin 240
Dan Morgan 239
Neil Glasbey 230
Richard Weaver 224
Martyn Cutler 220
Combined Championship
Dan Morgan 485
Neil Glasbey 458
Martyn Cutler 457
Richard Weaver 403
Toby Allen 394
See you all again on 13th March for our final instalment. Please see iowcc.co.uk for full results and more pictures.
Click on images for larger versions
Pictures courtesy of Chris Wood
