Damien Bradley won the third Island Car Centre Sandown Sprint on the 20th & 21st April 2024, driving his incredible Subaru Legacy. The car has been highly modified to perform on hillclimbs and sprints and Damien set an impressive new track record time of 34.91 seconds on his Saturday run.
The track has been specially constructed using closed public roads along the beach in Sandown, making it one of the country’s most unusual motor racing events. Around half of the 90 competing cars were from the Isle of Wight. The spectacle attracted the event’s largest crowd since the first Sprint in 2022, with the seawall being packed throughout the weekend.
Event Director Tim Addison commented; “We made a few changes for 2024 and these have all worked well. The track was slightly extended and all the competing cars were based in Fort Street, near the main entrance. Spectators loved getting close to the cars and meeting the drivers in the paddock. Together with the Sandham Gardens Race Village, there was a great family-friendly atmosphere.”
| Position | Driver | Class | Sat | Sun | Total |
| 1st | Damien Bradley | B11 | 34.91 | 35.75 | 70.66 |
| 2nd | Will Nicholls | C15 | 36.50 | 36.19 | 72.69 |
| 3rd | Nicholas Olson | B11 | 37.43 | 36.97 | 74.40 |
“I’d like to thank the Isle of Wight Car Club for its hard work alongside our friends from other clubs such as Farnborough, Southsea and Brighton. Putting on an event like this is a real team effort, our stewards did a great job getting people in and out of the Sprint and our track build crew was outstanding. And of course, no motorsport can happen without our volunteer marshals and officials.
Easter was early this year, so we ran a few weeks later than previous years and that certainly helped with the weather. It felt like the first weekend without any rain for ages. Thank you to all our sponsors and partners and to all the fans who came along to support the Sandown Sprint this year.”
“The Sandown Sprint is put together using all Isle of Wight contractors. 300 straw Hesston bales are used to create the track, which is constructed overnight from the Thursday before the weekend.
In our first year we had to use six days to build, run and break down the track, but this year we managed it in four. There was one additional job that needed a four-hour closure on the Wednesday, which was just unfortunate. Our aim is to minimise overall disruption and create an event which most people think is well worth the inconvenience. We operated a free shuttle service throughout the weekend which was very well used by anyone wanting to get from Fort Street to Yaverland or back. Steve, our minibus driver, was one of the stars of the weekend.”
“On Monday the pavements were clear from 8am, Yaverland and Fort Street car parks were open at 10am, with Culver Parade fully re-opening at 3.30pm.
Overall, we would regard this year’s Sandown Sprint as a real success. We understand that Sandown is being targeted for future regeneration and that new events are seen as part of the town’s future success. As someone who was born in and went to school in Sandown, I could not be more hopeful for the town’s future and for the Sandown Sprint to play a part. A look at our Facebook page will show some amazing images, with Sandown Bay as a beautiful backdrop. It has to be one the most stunning venues on the UK’s motorsport calendar.”
