Christmas Autotest

Conditions were very similar to the Ice Racing Trophée Andros event !

The day dawned bright and cold and conditions were very icy. Studded tyres were not in the regulations so this made the tests which were fast and flowing even more challenging. One of the tests was partly on an ice rink which made for some interesting action or lack of it in some cases.

Damien Phillips and Robby Brunkard were out on their first multi venue style autotest and seem to have adapted very well to this new style of driving. Damien’s idea of using the gravel banks to slow down worked very well for him on a few occasions and he passed on this vital information to me and I promptly went out next and did exactly the same. Ronnie remarked that Damien was a braver man than he thought after watching Damien doing wrong way throws in the deep gravel around the sandbags on test 1. Damien had forgotten his hat and was worried that the sub zero temperatures would affect his performance so he went on the look out for a spare hat and in true TDC spirit disaster was averted when one was located in my handbag, thankfully for him it wasn’t pink.

John Nolan came out of retirement and was hot out of the traps in the ex Eddie Peterson Silver Starlet, he deemed the tests as “savage fun” and was first to finish all 3 laps, He declared the 1300cc engine that he had fitted the previous week an absolute rocket ! I think he thought you could keep going all day, Keep handing in the time cards and Paul gives you another time card for 4 more tests.

Gerard and Derek Tohill had a very successful day, ending up 4 & 5th respectively, flat out everywhere seems to work very well for these two boys. They must have been flat out loading the car and this resulted with the car having very poor visibility on the day but it didn’t seem to slow them down. The car which had a new clutch and tyres fitted seemed to work very well in the icy conditions and Derek declared it good to go for another 5 years.

Owen Whelan made the journey from Athy worthwhile and was sharing his car with Mark Doran. Mark made a few derogatory comments about the (matt) Black Starlet ie it’s a ****box however it can’t be that bad as he finished a very creditable 7th. Clive Peterson decided to break with tradition and gave the Mini a day off and opted to double drive a Starlet with Eddie, both of them finished in the top ten with Clive keeping Eddie on his toes all day.

Eoin Murray was unfortunate to suffer a puncture on test 1 and this effectively put paid to a good result for him but he did look to be having fun as did the other Owen Murray. Mick Kehoe left the 309 at home and took his wife’s shopping trolley instead. The Micra looked at home in the conditions proving that it’s not all about power in the ice.

Eamonn Byrne and Frank Lenehan made it a very successful 1-2 , with Darren Quille taking third spot .Frank seems to treat Starlets like shoes in that you need ones for different occasions however they all seem to be as good as the next one no matter what colour. Richard Pain was suitably booted up in green wellies however Dolly didn’t seem to revel in the artic conditions despite his best efforts. Bernard Bradley had his lovely mark 1 Escort out and spent a very enjoyable day getting to grips with it in the tricky conditions.

Many thanks to all the marshals who braved the elements . These volunteers are invaluable to us and without them there would be no events. Declan Hendrick, Christy Grimes, Kate Phillips ,Timmy Faulkner Robin Lyons John Farrell and Austin Quille were among those doing marshalling duties and we also owe a big thanks to the land owners for allowing us to use their premises. Last but not least thanks also to Paul Phelan for doing the entries and results.