Its been almost two years since I last competed in my own car at home in the Prodrift series so after having to sit out round 3 of the 2010 series due to mechanical issues I couldn’t wait for round 4 to arrive at Mondello Park.

Mondello has long been my favourite venue in the country and has always been good to me. It was the track that gave me my first ever podium and also where I clinched the ‘07 championship a couple of years later. Its also situated just outside Dublin, about a half hour drive from home for me which makes it a pretty relaxed weekend whenever we run there.

This event also runs alongside Japfest, the biggest japanese tuning car show of the year that runs drag racing and open track sessions alongside the Prodrift comp.It usually draws a huge crowd and this weekend would be no different.

Arriving early on Saturday morning it was clear the sunshine we had for most of the previous week was not going to make an appearance.The rain hardly let up all day and I really felt for the 60+ amateur drivers competing for a place in their top 32 finals. Amy G was out in her FC Rx7 so I was on tech duty for most of the morning making sure it was running well and handling the torrential conditions ok.

In the afternoon we would get our first practice session on track so I discussed the conditions with both of the Team Hankook drivers, Alan Lenihan and Alan Sinnot, and decided to run with a V12 Evo tyre that would handle the very wet conditions with ease. Im very familiar with this circuit so it was just a case of getting a feel for the conditions and remembering how to drive my 250hp Corolla. After some suspension and tyre pressure adjustment I finished the session confident that I could put down a solid qualifying run later that afternoon.

The rain began to thin out and as I sat on the line for qualifying it had stopped completely.My first run went well even though the track was very greasy in places but I finished the first round in 1st place, meaning there was very little pressure on me for my second run.
I could see the track had dried in places so I attacked my second qualifying run at almost full speed.Although the first corner had a good dry line the second tight left remained damp and I had trouble scrubbing speed to get in tight for the inner clip. It felt faster but the judges scored me lower than my first run since I ran off line slightly. I watched the rest of the field run through and sure enough the track had almost completely dried for the last 5 drivers to run. I finished qualifying in 4th place, not bad considering I achieved it on a wet track in the first session !.

On saturday night the Monster Energy crew put on a pre event party at a local night club for all the Prodrift competitors and teams. Its been too long since I was last out with some of these guys but I some how managed to slide out of there early to get some rest for Sundays competition. The free Vodka and Monster ran out pretty quickly from what I hear and judging by the state of some of the guys at the track on Sunday it was a late one !.

The rain let up considerably on Sunday morning and about half way through our morning practice session the track was completely dry. I made some changes to the set up and went back to the tyre I have always used on my corolla, the Hankook Ventus K105. Happy with how the car felt, I returned to the Hankook pit to preapare for the Super Lap competition later in the morning.

Super Lap is simply a shoot out competition for your final qualifying place which will determine the ladder for the top 16 finals.No warm up, no practice, just one run to get it right and please the judges. Due to my qualifying position, I would be 4th last to run so I stood with the rest of the drivers and watched as some incredible runs were put down.

James Deane held the top spot as I sat on the line so I knew it would have to something special to knock him off. I launched the car has hard as I could and entered the first corner in 4th gear, on the limit.I realised about half way through the turn that I was way too fast, all I could do was keep it pinned and try to scrub off the speed through the transition to turn two. Big angle and a foot full of brakes somehow managed to keep me tight on the inner clip and I finished strong, phew !.

I recieved 27 points out of 30 available which was enough to put me in first and send James back to the pit.I remained there until the final car had to run, 2005 Prodrift champion and also making his return to the series Damien Mulvey. If anyone could pull off something spectacular it was this man and I watched as he nailed every clip with plenty of speed in his infamous S13 Onevia. The judges gave their scores but it wasn’t enough, I managed to hold onto 1st and win my first ever superlap battle !.

With the top 16 competition scheduled to start much later in the day at 4 o clock it was great to see such a huge crowd had stayed to watch the action.

My first round battle would be against Chris Brady. Chris has really made a big impression in his rookie season and is an great competitor. I managed to pull some distance in the first run when I led. Chasing, in the second run, I left some space into the first corner and closed up through the transition and into the final corner, enough to give me the win and send me onto the great 8 !.

I had Mike Fitz to contend with this time. I would lead on the first run once again but I knew Mike wouldn’t be far behind. I pushed hard and ran a little wide on the second corner as well as changing into 5th instead of 3rd gear !.I knew it wasn’t a great run and I would have to really stick to MIkes door to take the win. Entering the first corner I initiated hard and tried my best to match the speed of the S13 only to watch Mike run wide, go off course and spin. I finished the run and went through to the final 4.

I met fellow Hankook driver Alan Sinnot next in his SR20 powered corolla. I knew Alan’s speed would be very close to my own so I pushed hard and put in a solid first run. When chasing, I was confident that I could get close to Alan without the worry of him being slow so I entered fast and managed to stay right on him through the transition and final corner. It was a shame that we couldn’t have met in the final instead as this was the most fun battle of the day for me.There’s very few corolla’s being used in top level European drifting these days and its nice to show just competitive they still can be. The judges finally gave us their verdict and sent me through to the final where I would battle it out with James Deane.

I’ve ran against James quite a few times in the past but in more recent times he has been almost unbeatable in the Irish scene.I knew I would have to be seriously fast and on the perfect line to take the win so I entered the first run leading on the absolute limit. Transitioning into turn two I once again selected 5th instead of 3rd gear and did it a second time when trying to recover. I was definitely out of practice with my corolla !. I knew I had lost some speed because of it and James was right on me as a result.
I had to really go for it when chasing in the second run so I pushed hard and closed in on the RX7 in the first corner.We were close but knowing how quick James was I hardly lifted through the transition and some how missed his rear bumper, it was about as close as it could get !. I stayed close through turn 2 and across the finish but in the back of my mind I knew my mistake in the first run could hand it to James.

The judges called for a one more time and this time I was determined to nail my lead run and try to put some distance between us. Coming out of the final corner I glanced in the mirror to see James crawling way behind me with some sort of problem. He had in fact blown his gearbox to pieces and would not be able to run again which gave me the win by default. Its certainly not how I wanted to win the event but its not the first time my trusty corolla’s reliability has won battles all by itself.

I made my way to the podium for the first time this year and struggled to remember how exactly to get a champagne bottle open in any sort of hurry.James and his brother Mike, who finished in third place, are well used to being up there and had me soaked before I knew it, I need more practice up with that too !.

I had a huge amount of support for the whole weekend from the Hankook Ireland crew including the two current drivers, Alan Lenihan and Alan Sinnot.Big big thanks to them for tyre support and advise during what were terrible conditions for the first half of the weekend.

Of course, my usual crew were called back into action after almost a 2 year absence so thanks to Amy G, Hopo, Ryan and Big Bro for a great weekend. Its great to be back on top and I will be pushing hard to bring this success with me to Formula D and get back on that podium .

Photos Courtesy of :
Spud Photography
Hankook.ie