Image Gallery: 2015 MicksGarage.com Irish Touring Car Championship

The 2015 MicksGarage.com Irish Touring Car Championship is about to kick off! The 1st race takes place at Mondello Park on the 15th March, which is less than 2 weeks away.

There's considerable hype surrounding the re-invigorated championship this year. The regulations have been opened up, tyre choices broadened, new sponsors attracted and in general a huge amount of work has been done to attract competitors and fans alike back to the series....and it's worked, at the time of writing, over 20 drivers have signed up and record numbers were out pre-season testing.

Championship Snapper Brian Walsh Photography was at both official test sessions to capture the action:

If you're looking for an exciting day out on Sunday 15th March then why not come along to Mondello Park for the opening round of the championship. Entry is just €15.00 and Kids go free!

2013 Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of The Year Kevin O’Hara To Race In 2014 MicksGarge.com Formula Sheane Championship

With just 3 days to go before the 1st race in the MicksGarage.com Formula Sheane Championship,
2013 Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of The Year Kevin O’Hara has concluded a last minute deal which sees him returning to the cockpit in the one-make Formula Sheane Series driving non-other than last years Leinster Trophy winning car. 

O’Hara, from Donedea in Kildare received a last minute call to take the drive and jumped at the opportunity.
“ I haven’t got a full time drive at the minute”, said the FF1600 star, “and was planning to do the Trophy races in my Ford, so the timing was perfect. The car is unraced since it won the Leinster Trophy last year so I have no excuses.”

Motorsport.ie’s Leo Nulty said “ The car is sitting up since the big win last year, it hasn’t sold- and Kevin’s family team LOH Motorsport run front running cars so the partnership makes sense for everyone! With this package, I would be surprised if we do not win races and challenge for the title.”

The talented young O'Hara certainly won't get it all his own way in this fiercely competitive series, multiple championship winners Kevin Sheane and Brian Hearty will be looking to add further trophy's to their collection as will 2011 Become A Racing Driver competition winner Sean Hynes who makes no bones about the fact that he is "here to win the championship"

O’Hara, an Instructor at Mondello Park, will be supported by Motorsport.ie, Mondello Corporate Events Centre and North Kildare Chamber and his first two races will be streamed live on www.mondello.tv on Sunday!

2014 MicksGarage.com Formula Sheane Championship Preview

The start of the 2014 MicksGarage.com Formula Sheane Championship is fast approaching. With drivers new and old all wanting to take a shot at the honours in Ireland’s fastest single seater class. This season is shaping up to continue where last years left off.

Kevin Sheane in his factory prepared machine returns to defend his title after the championship was only decided at the last race weekend of the season for the second consecutive year. Brian Hearty, Irelands most successful clubman racer with an astonishing nine championships to his name in Formula Vee and Sheane will be back more determined than ever to make it ten and to show the young guns what his experience can do. Robbie Allen in the MicksGarage.com Sheane will also be focusing his sights on the title after coming so close in recent years. The two Co. Wicklow neighbours of John Linnane and Gary Corcoran in their immaculately prepared cars are out to shake things up also, both are previous winners of the Formula Sheane Fun Cup and neither will be willing to give an inch when the flag drops.

Over the winter the championship has welcomed some fantastic new talent to the grid. Multiple Irish motorcycle trials champion Paul Mcloughlin makes a return to circuit racing in the ex-Kevin Sheane Snr. Car. Coilín Clinton from Dundalk will be looking to get to terms with his new toy that he acquired over the winter months. Sean Hynes & the first winner of the Sheane Cars and Mondello Park initiative to “Become a Racing Driver” is also back on the grid. Formula Sheane have also launched a new website over the winter where you can check out the 2014 race calender, view the championship standings, browse the photo galleries and check out all the tech-specs on the cars.

For the Last few seasons the Formula Sheane Championship has gone from strength to strength. It has pushed itself through the hard financial times faced by all and proven that it has the closest and best racing on track. It has been rewarded for this outstanding push by being chosen to race for the most prestigious trophy in Irish motorsport, the Leinster Trophy. The Formula Sheane Championship certainly didn’t let the organisers regret that decision by exhibiting some sensational racing with two different winners and it being anyone’s for the taking on the day.

The season kicks off with a double header at Mondello Park on the 12th and 13th of April. The Championship will then venture north of the boarder for races in Kirkistown and Bishopscourt before returning to the Co. Kildare track. The Championship is up for any of the drivers to grab. Who will get it all together on the day and get that all-important win???

Leinster Trophy At Mondello Park This Weekend

This weekend Mondello Park host the Leinster Trophy, the most sought after prize in Irish motorsport. The big draw of the Leinster Trophy is that it offers club competitors the opportunity to get their name immortalised on the same piece of silverware as the late, great Ayreton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Eddie Jordan and many many more motorsport heroes from both home and abroad. Check out today's Irish Times article for some more in depth history.

Every year the famous trophy is awarded to one class to compete for. For example Formula Ford, Formula Sheane or Formula Renault etc. Who ever wins the race within the chosen class gets their name on the pot.

For the second year running (and not without considerable controversy) the trophy has been awarded to the MicksGarage.com Formula Sheane guys and girls.
The hot debate around the paddock and on Facebook is down to a difference of opinion on which class the trophy should have been awarded to this year. Fires have been further fanned by today's article in the Daily Star.

..which, while it may not make pleasant reading for us and our Formula Sheane competitors, does make some valid points about attracting overseas classes, the likes of which brought over the aforementioned mssrs Senna and Hakkinen. Anyway, one thing that isn't in dispute is the quality of the Formula Sheane field, the standard of racing and the level of talent which will be on display this weekend.

Saturday will see the final round and title decider in the MicksGarage.com Formula Sheane Championship. The young hot-shoe Kevin Sheane leads the vastly experienced Brian hearty, with only 6 points in the difference.  

The Leinster Trophy race will be held on Sunday and as many as 6 or 7 drivers have a real chance of a win. Yours truly was penciled in to take part in the the prestigious event but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Maybe next year!

Festival Of Speed Blog: Part 2

Sunday:
A slightly more relaxed start time of 7.30am today and a more leisurely cruise from Kilkee to Limerick. The weather was looking good, blue skies all around!
I arrived at the track, it had rained quite hard overnight and the tarmac was wet. There was also a 2" deep pool of water in the seat of my race car..great. I'd left my overalls, helmet and boots in the enclosed car trailer overnight. It turns out the trailer leaks...quite badly! My fire proof suit was soaked from the waist down...and freezing cold..I was not looking forward to putting that on! Thankfully, even at 9 in the morning the sun was warm and there was a good breeze. Great drying weather, for the suit and the track.
Kevin had fixed his car after clipping the ditch and bending all the front wishbones on the last run yesterday.

Leaving it till the last possible moment I got togged up, the suit was still damp but not cold at least. The track had dried though. In the queue to the start line I ran through the circuit in my head, picking out the points I thought I could make up most time. There were 3 or 4 places around the track where I knew I was holding back, I'd been braking hard into the fast sweeping right hander at the back of the course and my team mates reckoned they were just lifting there. The bend was flanked on both sides by high stone walls and there was zero run off or room for error. I figured i'd see how brave I was feeling when I got there!

Paddins Dowling lights up the rears ahead of me in €1.5m worth of  ERA

The starter gave me the green light and I dumped the clutch in 2nd with boot-full of revs and plenty of wheelspin, immediately a dab of brakes and into the tight right hander with a satisfying powerslide and a touch of opposite lock on the way out, short shifting into 3rd to settle the back end before the sweeping left hander which plunges, slightly off camber downhill making the back of the car step out, a quick lift and a flick left then hard on the power for a second before standing on the brakes, locking the inside left and down to 2nd for the 90 degree left at the bottom of the hill, straight away another hard left then flat out and up the gears for the fastest part of the course towards the sweeping right hander.....was I going to be brave enough to just lift? .....maybe next time! there was definitely grip to spare though. 

Through another technical, twisty section then hard on the power down the short straight and on the brakes far too hard for a deceptive left hander flanked by huge bales and stone walls but with a wide exit, Onto the main straight I miss a gear as I head for the chicane, then miss another one on the way out, down the off-camber left hander for the 2nd time. I brake too late for the hairpin and the car understeers, both left wheels end up on the grass and the engine is screaming as the tyres scrabble for traction over the 20 yard sprint to the finish.

My time was 61.98 seconds, 3 seconds faster than i'd gone yesterday. I was going in the right direction. If I could calm things down a bit for the next run I should be able to shave some more time off.

For run 2 I tried the smooth approach, concentrating on clean gear changes and on braking points, trying not to lock wheels. Although a lot less wild and exciting it felt faster. The time was 61.72 seconds. Still going in the right direction but I thought it should have been quicker.

Time for lunch. I had a good wander round the festival site as I hadn't really had a chance to see what was going on. I grabbed a quick sandwich and sat on the steps of the grandstand watching helicopters taking off, stunt planes doing their thing and some quad racing, which was great but was miles too far away and nobody was watching it. There was a great selection of Ferrari's and Lambo's in the supercar paddock and on the way out I bumped into this thing:

I'd never seen one before. It's An Aston Martin of some sort with a bespoke Bertone designed body. I still don't know what it was exactly. There was a good selection of attractions for visitors from autotest demo's, stunt bikes, karting, trade stands, a good selection of places to eat, bouncy castles, a live band, car club displays and loads more besides. One big criticism would be the spectator areas for the sprint. All you could see was the start line and a section of the straight. For the price, this was not good enough and everyone I spoke to was grumbling about it. Hopefully the feedback from the fans will make it's way to the organisers and they'll act on it for next year.

Back to the action. For run 3 I decided a mixture of aggression and smoothness was required and tried to combine everything i'd learnt so far. it felt quick but I just clipped a cone going through the chicane which meant my time would be eliminated from the results. During the drivers briefing in the morning the amount that you were allowed to move the cones was the hot topic of debate. The Clark of The Course clarified with a great analogy: "Lads, it's like this. You cant be a little bit pregnant, either you are or you aren't and it's the same for the cones. you either hit them or you didn't. hit them and you're out!"

For the last 2 runs it was just more of the same, I kept pushing harder while trying to keep it smooth. The final run of the day was my fastest on 59.49 seconds. My team mate Dave was going extremely well on a 56.73 putting him 7th overall and winning our class. On his 4th run he hit a rock which had been dragged onto the track by one of the buggies, sending Dave off into the ditch and wrecking the car. Kevin was going well too and finished 8th overall on 57.01 seconds. I finished 16th overall, which to be honest I was pretty chuffed about!

So that was it, all over. On the whole I think the competitors had a good time and enjoyed the track. The Formula Sheane cars did themselves proud against some serious competition. Will we be seeing them at a few more hillclimbs and sprints in the future I wonder? 

As with any new event there were a few obvious teething problems which was to be expected and It's easy for us to fans and competitors to criticise but I do think overall the organisers did a fantastic job. Yes there's room for improvement and hopefully next year mistakes will be learnt from and the Irish Festival Of Speed will go from strength to strength!

Rob.

Big thanks to JayTee Photographic and Caora Dubha.com for the photo's

Irish Festival Of Speed Blog - Part 1

When the phone call came asking us if we wanted to get involved in the Irish Festival Of Speed we jumped at the chance. Having visited the Goodwood Festival on a few occasions we could see the potential was there for an Irish version and wanted in!

We agreed on a small sponsorship deal and signed the two MicksGarage.com Formula Sheane racing cars up to the sprint competition. We got in touch with current championship leader Kevin Sheane and he signed up too.

Friday:
A small gang of MicksGarage staff decided to head down to the event after work to provide a bit of moral support for our competitors, we'd all be staying an hour down the road in the lively seaside town of Kilkee. We arrived tired but thirsty on Friday night. I'd be competing the next day so a swift pint in Scotts and an early night was in order for me, the rest of the guys had different ideas though and thirsts were adequately quenched, then quenched again!

We weren't responsible for the bin - at least I don't think so!

Saturday:
Ominous looking black clouds rolling in from the sea made the 5.30am start and hours drive to Limerick racecourse quite tense. Fingers crossed the rain that was inevitable would blow over quickly. After scrutiny, sign-on and the drivers briefing, the cars just needed tyre pressure checks and refueling before the first practice run.

lining up before the start

I'd driven the track a couple of weeks earlier on the press day so knew which way the turns went at least, but it felt a lot narrower now we were going at racing speeds! I was having trouble with the gearbox and couldn't get the car into 2nd at all, a big problem on a track that is all 2nd and 3rd gear.
The on-board footage from Deirdre Mckinley below gives quite a good impression of how narrow the track was in places:

 

We adjusted the gear linkage which sorted the problem and the first timed run was completed fairly tentatively as there were still damp patches of tarmac in places. Just before run 2 the heavens opened, but thankfully it didn't last long. We hung back for as long as we could get away with to let the track dry out as much as possible before going out again. It dried quickly and on run 3 everybody started to put the hammer down.

My view from the drivers seat

The organisers appeared to be having a few teething problems with the timing systems and although I knew my last run was my fastest by far I had no idea how I was doing compared to the competition. As I brought the car back into the paddock I could hear Leo Nulty over the tannoy sounding quite animated, I cut the engine and listened in........ "2nd in class and 5th place overall! a truly remarkable performance from Rob King in only his 2nd time in this car, punching well above his weight there!!...fantastic stuff!!"
Sadly after a mere 2 seconds of elation I quickly crashed back to earth realising something was clearly wrong with the timing system and I wasn't in-fact the driving god I was being made out to be.

Dave Parks driving the MicksGarage.com Formula Sheane

The timing error was soon rectified and as suspected I wasn't 5th fastest overall. However, my team mate Dave Parks in an identical car, was! Up until now we'd been taking a fairly laid back approach to the whole thing, after all, our race cars were up against much more powerful, specialist hillclimb climb cars with super sticky slicks and big wings - we didn't expect to be at the races at all.
But now, the mood changed, there was a noticeable buzz of excitement, not only were we holding our own we were 2nd in class behind Sylvie Mullins in a 700hp Judd F1 engined Gould!

Sylvie Mullins, the fastest man on track - Gould GR37 Judd V8

Big smiles from Dave Parks - & rightly so!

There was one more timed run left but the rain had started to fall again. I wasn't going to learn anything new or go any faster in these conditions so I decided to call it a day rather than risk damaging the car on the slippy track. We'd had a great days racing, Dave had done exceptionally well and Kevin Sheane and myself were quite closely tied a bit further down the time sheets. Now we knew what the cars were capable of it was all to play for tomorrow. Kevin and myself had some catching up to do!

After a very hectic schedule it was only now I realised, noticeable by their absence, were our 'moral support team' - the crew from MicksGarage. Where had they got to?

An hours drive back to kilkee and my question was answered. Left with some very sore heads from the previous nights 'thirst quenching' they decided a relaxing day fishing and a few hairs off the dog was much more appropriate than standing in a field watching noisy racing cars - they had a point.

Vinny & John. A miracle they didn't fall in!

More to follow tomorrow in part 2.......

Thanks to JayTee Photographic,  Caora Dubha.com & Deirdre Mckinley for the photo's and videos.

Rob..

MicksGarage.com Formula Sheane Championship Rounds 4 & 5 - Mondello Park

Round 4 and 5 of the MicksGarage.Com Formula Sheane Championship was held in Mondello on Sunday 9th. June where Mondello was celebrating 45 years of motorsport at the venue. There was a great buzz all weekend with the stand and the paddock full of spectators. The glorious weather helped the huge effort made by Mondello to encourage people to the venue for what was going to be a thrilling days racing.

Formula Sheane hosted a grid of 14 cars with a couple of new faces making their debut in Formula Sheane which bodes well for the future, more later. The weather was quite simply fantastic for spectating even the garages were warm but would it be too hot for quick times ? There were reports from testing earlier in the week that the lap record was under threat. This in fact was not to be the case. There was a constant battle between oversteer and understeer as tyres went through the transition from cold to hot. So finding that compromise in suspension settings would be crucial. There was also the potential problem of having qualifying and two races in the one day. This is tough going for all competitors as one mistake could cost you the championship as time for repairs etc is just not available.
It was Brian Hearty, who with his wealth of experience, showed how it was done in qualifing. He took pole position by 0.614 of a second from Kevin Sheane and 1.037 seconds from Robbie Allen and 1.275 seconds from Barry Rabbitt. Was this going to be a Hearty "whitewash" weekend ? The Scholarship runners were not that far off the pace either so things were looking good for the usual Formula Sheane "two races in one race"

Race 1.
Hearty was on pole followed by Sheane, Allen, Rabbitt (started from pit lane), Eoin Crowley and David Parks . They are all quick and "demon" starters, however it was Kevin Sheane who made the best start and was into turn 1 in the lead a lead he was not to give up despite the efforts of Brian Hearty who was the quicker of the two. But clever defensive driving from Sheane enabled him to effectively steal the win from Hearty. 1.828 seconds separated the first 4 cars at the chequered flag. It should be noted that Barry Rabbitt who started from the pit lane made a storming rise through the field to finish 5th. Down through the field there were battles waged. John Linnane and Eoin Crowley had a great tussle, Gary Corcoran was in the "wars" but Jenifer Mullan was one who just kept her head down stayed out of trouble and scored her best finish so far. Aidan Byrne and Gilbert Clancy (the grey haired larger than life brigade) were both going well as was Brendan Carr who is getting to grips with his recently acquired Sheane. Then we have our "debutants" Mondello Race School winner of a season in a Formula Sheane Stephen O' Keeffe and Michael Sweeney both got involved in the banter and craic as well as seeking and getting advice from fellow drivers in an effort to improve and enjoy the experience of racing a Formula Sheane.

How it all finished.
1 K Sheane
2 B Hearty
3 R Allen
4 D Parks
5 B Rabbitt
6 J Linnane
7 E Crowley sc
8 G Corcoran sc
9 J Mullan sc
10 A Byrne sc
11 S O' Keeffe sc
12 G Clancy sc
13 B Carr sc

DNF M Sweeney sc
sc = Scolarship Championship

Race 2.
Hearty was on pole from Sheane,Allen and Rabbitt. Was this going to be a rerun of race 1. Well from the start you would have thought so as Sheane took the lead into turn one but was under serious pressure from Hearty. How long could Sheane defend from the quicker Hearty. The answer is until the third last lap when Hearty dived up the inside of Sheane into turn two, a move you would only try with a driver you respect and trust in case it all ended in tears. Allen pounced on the now off line Sheane to take second place putting Sheane from first to third in no more that a second. Meanwhile Rabbitt and Parks were having a massive race, Linnane and Corcoran, Byrne and Mullan were caught up in their own battles, O'Keeffe, Clancy and Carr brought up the rear. Michael Sweeney had a day to forget ! Hearty was to hold on to the lead to the finish but only by 0.291 of a second from Sheane who took second place from the stricken Allen who had a suspension problem.

How it all finished.
1 B Hearty
2 K Sheane
3 D Parks
4 B Rabbitt
5 G Corcoran sc
6 J Linnane
7 A Byrne sc
8 J Mullan sc
9 E Crowley sc
10 S O'Keeffe sc
11 G Clancy sc
12 S Carr sc

DNF R Allen (suspension)
DNF M Sweeney sc
sc = Scolarship Championship

We were treated to two absolutely fantastic races from Formula Sheane well done to all.

All the best until the next time,

Snr.