Two laps into my first ever competitive motorsport outing I've come to a stop on the grass just inches from the Armco barrier. I'm not sure if the car is still drivable, but I do know that my door is in a bad way and something's rubbing on the right rear tyre. Yet all I can think about is how I'm going to get the car back to the pits so it can be put right for the rest of the day's racing.
Welcome to the world of Irish rallycross. This is not for the fainthearted, but boy is it fun! I have Ian Beatty, Operations Manager of Mondello Park, to thank (some might say blame) for my debut on the racing scene. Earlier in the year I went through the process of obtaining a racing licence for a feature article in the Sunday Independent, and while I always loved the idea of taking part, the realities of the economy and a household with two small kids in it made sure I never really expected to make much use of the licence.
But in the interim, Ian went out and bought himself a Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6 that he and Eoin Murray (of Murray Motorsport) had originally developed. It was prepared for the Stock Hatch 8v class, which is dominated by 205 GTis, and Ian intends to campaign it for the rest of this season at least.
For some reason he got it into his head that he'd share the experience with me, so invited me to double-drive with him at the third round of the Motorsport Ireland Rallycross Championship in Mondello. This meant sharing the car on the day and rushing around between our heats and finals to do the driver changes, etc. It's a great way of keeping costs down and it turned out to be a real laugh in the pit garage too, as we really had to work hard to get each other back out on track in time for each race.
My little skirmish didn't help matters, and for a moment I really did worry that Ian might not even get to race if the damage was bad enough. Get ready for the racing driver excuses now, but the cause of said accident was another competitor going to overtake me when I couldn't see out due to the level of condensation in the car. Next thing I know another car is trying to share the cabin with me and I'm off the track.
Once I got the screen cleared I realised that the car was drivable and I meekly ambled back to the pit garage to apologise to Ian. He greeted me with a laugh though and simply "that's rallycross". We inspected the damage and though the mountings for the rear bumper were knackered (we'd later lose it altogether...) and the driver's door was badly caved in, there was nothing preventing us from getting back on track. Thankfully the door still opened and closed.
Ian was installed in the driver's seat, fuel topped up, washer bottle topped up, transponder changed, windows cleaned and he roared off just in time to join the grid for his first race. He brought it home in one piece too, and confirmed that we had a major issue with condensation. No problem, we stuck a small heater fan onto the dashboard and pointed it at the area ahead of the driver. It made all the difference.
The rest of the day went in a blur of lift-off oversteer, bumps, half-spins, water splashes, standing-starts and even a little bit of racing. Ian did particularly well by winning one of his heats and progressing to the A final, while I can proudly boast that I finished my final (the 'B' one) in second place. Dig deeper and you might discover that only three cars made the grid...
But for a beginner, the finishing spot really was irrelevant. It was a truly invigorating day. While Mondello was wet, windy and bitterly cold (isn't it always?) a combination of adrenaline, rushing about and plenty of hot tea (thanks to Ian's better half, Sharon!) kept us toasty for the day. I'll be talking about the experience for months.
And the costs? In this case I was blessed, as Ian did all the prep work on the car. The most I did was fit his Rev.ie decals on the morning of the race meeting. Fuel for the day was only €100, you'd have to budget for a set of spare tyres every few meetings, costing about €500 and the entry fee is only €195. Clearly you'll need to beg, borrow or steal a proper helmet, racing suit, boots, gloves and fireproof underwear, but you don't even need to invest in a car to get the feel for it, as there are plenty for rent at reasonable prices.
So will I do it again? Without a moment's hesitation if finances allow it. Unsurprisingly, motorsport is an addictive pastime. Now that I've tried rallycross, I'd definitely give that another go, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a first stepping stone for would be amateur racers. A new race series due to start in Mondello for production-spec Ford Fiestas. This will be on the regular track (making it far easier to get to grips with) and a primary focus of the series is low costs. Go to the series event page for more information.
Even if you have no intention of taking part yourself, the rallycross meetings offer a great spectacle. The lower classes such as ours have plenty of spills and entertainment, while there are also significantly quicker cars competing on the same day. Indeed, Mondello has signed up the European Rallycross Championship for the 2013 season, taking place on 17/18 August. Now that will be exciting.