Inside Line- with 98FM’s Luke O’Faolain
I’ve always been a car guy; I’ve been go karting a lot in the past and was always faster than the people I was with. So, when Ken and Declan from Mondello offered me a go at their Race Car Experience I said yes immediately! Apparently I set a respectable lap time and Ken offered to hook me up with a car for the Formula Vee Festival, I nearly took the hand off him agreeing to it.
I’d two more sessions in the single seater Formula Sheanes at Mondello’s school but it wasn’t till the weekend of the Vee Festival that I actually got to drive my Formula Vee car, which I named bumblebee (It was yellow and black…….yes I name cars, it’s a habit!)
The chassis won Adam Macaulay two championships so it was absolutely perfect in the bends. Adam and all the other drivers gave me some great tips for getting the most out of the car. The atmosphere in the paddock is really encouraging with drivers and mechanics helping each other out, sharing tools and car parts, oh and of course plenty of slagging each other off.
Image from Cregor Elliott.
Lining up on the grid Saturday morning is a moment I’ll never forget! The sheer amount of cars around you, the smell of petrol and the engine noise was incredible. I’d some great fun battling the likes of Aimee Woods who, in fairness didn’t have a car that was running at 100%. Kevin Cahill who had just as many spins as me, Jack Byrne who I was very briefly faster than and played a great game of chicken with Donie Bolt and a pit wall!
Bizarrely it’s actually quite a calming thing to do, seriously! You literally only have the time to think about what’s going on around you. Am I in the right gear? When should I turn into the corner? Your brain is completely focused on the race so the likes of, I must buy milk on the way home or I owe yer man money goes out the window!
Overall I’d 3 goals, don’t crash into someone and ruin their day, don’t finish last and don’t wreck the car! Amazingly I managed to do all three, delighted.
So now the search for sponsorship begins! That’s right; I’ve been firmly bitten by the racing bug and am determined to start racing regularly. Hopefully you’ll see me on that podium real soon.
Luke.
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Header Image & below from Dublin Enemy No 1 Photography.
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