Four events in eight days.....part 2

I don't usually take long breaks from the day job but take days here n there, mainly to head away to a rally or the Ken Wharton Autotest in England, but 4 days of my holidays are kept for the Octane Track Days in Mondello Park.
Originally started by a couple of the guys back in 2008 when the Octane.ie forum was in full swing, these days gave guys and girls a chance to get their road cars out on track and have a blast. They also served as a social gathering where other members of the forum would come down for the banter and maybe get a few PAX (passenger) laps in some of the cars. Since the demise a few years ago of Octane, the guys running the trackdays kept the OTD "branding" and have now run 24 very successful days.....mostly with good weather and last Fridays was no exception.
With the evolution of cars and track experience over the last 7 years many of the people attending the OTDs now have dedicated track cars or have even progressed onto racing and bring their race cars down.

Track prepped Ford Puma

Race spec Lotus Exige

As is the norm for these days, the available spots were sold out well in advance of the day and the few cancellations that occurred filled in a short time. With a handful of new people to trackdays present they got out on track for some familiarisation laps directly after the briefing. Once the newbies had gotten used to the track and knew where they were going the pit lane was opened for everyone else. Despite the difference in performance of the cars and driver ability they day flowed well with no major problems, a couple of spins and visits to the gravel traps slowed proceedings but as usual everyone was enjoying themselves.

Nice to meet you

As is now customary at the OTDs a lovely lunch was served with the organisers again calling on the services of Twist Café who provided a lovely array of sandwiches, wraps and bagels. With lunch consumed, cars refilled with fluid and given a quick look over it was back to the action on track. Normally things are very relaxed at these days with cars spread out on track but OTD24 was different with lots of cars out on track together.

Despite the number of cars no one felt pressured or threatened on track as driving standards on OTDs are second to none. As the afternoon passed the action on track eased and with people having had their fun some began to pack up or partake of some PAX laps with other drivers to compare lines and driving styles. When the rain came close to 5pm it brought the day to a slightly premature end as people didn't feel like swapping tyres for the damp conditions.

More photos: HERE
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And so the final time in a hectic week to drag the camera out of the bag was at the Birr & District Motor Club Multi Venue Autotest. This year the Birr Club returned to Athlone to run their MVAT and had 20 tests planned for the day at seven different locations. Starting from the Creggan Court Hotel, just off the M6 motorway, three groups of competitors set off for three different test locations where they would complete all tests at each test site and then move onto the next site until all the morning tests were complete.

Frank Lenehan

Declan Donohoe/Eoin Longworth

With the first 12 tests completed the competitors returned to the Creggan Court for lunch and the results showed Richard Meeke leading in his Starlet by almost 8 seconds from Piers Mac Fheorais in a Mazda MX5 with the Starlets of John McAssey, Frank Lenehan, Kevin O'Rourke and Gary Egan next up.
Top 10 at Lunch

1	Richard Meeke	Toyota Starlet		762.74
2	Piers MacFheorais	Mazda MX-5		770.57
3	John McAssey	Toyota Starlet		770.77
4	Frank Lenehan	Toyota Starlet		771.67
5	Kevin O'Rourke	Toyota Starlet		777.27
6	Gary Egan	Toyota Starlet		787.47
7	Mark Doran	Ford Escort		798.98
8	James Mansfield	Austin Mini		830.91
9	Billy White	Toyota Starlet		831.69
10	Brian Kingston	Suzuki Ignis		832.71

After lunch it was the turn of four farmyards for the afternoon tests and with competitors again split into groups it was hoped that the tests could be completed as quickly as possible so as not to interfere with the milking of cattle in the evening.

Hugh McBrien

Mark Doran

Brian Kingston

Another steady run over these 8 tests saw Meeke return to the Creggan Court as winner with almost 14 seconds of an advantage over McAssey who was just over 3 seconds clear of Lenehan. The loose tests in the afternoon suited the front wheel drive cars more than the rear wheel drives and coupled with a test fail on the last test Mac Fheorais dropped to fifth

1st Overall Richard Meeke

Final results

1	Richard Meeke	Toyota Starlet		1183.22
2	John McAssey	Toyota Starlet		1197.17
3	Frank Lenehan	Toyota Starlet		1200.28
4	Kevin O'Rourke	Toyota Starlet		1202.52
5	Piers MacFheorais	Mazda MX-5		1236.2
6	Gary Egan	Toyota Starlet		1238.2
7	Mark Doran	Ford Escort		1256.38
8	Billy White	Toyota Starlet		1289.88
9	David Meeke	Toyota Starlet		1291.32
10	James Masfield	Austin Mini		1299.45

Class Winners

Class 1 - Jack Quinn (Peugeot 106)

Class 2 - John McAssey (Toyota Starlet)

Class 3 - Piers Mac Fheorais (Mazda MX-5)

Beginner - Aidan Kelly (Toyota Starlet)

First BADMC Member - David Forde (Toyota Starlet)

Full Results: HERE

More Photos: HERE