VIDEO: IRISH DRIFTER CONOR SHANAHAN’S RING OF KERRY SHAKEDOWN
Europe’s next Drift champion, Cork drifter and Red Bull Athlete Conor Shanahan takes his 2022 Drift Masters European Championship (DMEC) livery out for a shakedown at the iconic Ring of Kerry ahead of the Mondello Park season opener this weekend, live on Red Bull TV.
Along Ireland’s jagged Atlantic West Coast and at the very edge of Europe, 19-year-old Shanahan takes a fast paced, no limits trip, illuminating the Ring of Kerry with his passion, energy and screeching tyres.
Stunning scenery emerges as Shanahan shows his now globally renowned drifting skills. Taking advantage of the typically Irish rainy weather, Conor drifts and slides through the infamous winding roads of Moll’s Gap, stopping at the spectacular Ladies View for a serious shakedown of his 2022 drift car, before heading off into the greenery, mist and fog.
Shanahan, who is pegged to become Ireland and Europe’s next drift champion at the upcoming 2022 DMEC has been drifting since the age of just nine. The Mallow man became the youngest driver to win European, British and Irish professional drift events, making his debut in the DMEC in 2018, sensationally beating fellow Irishman, DMEC and Irish National champion, James Deane, at the Polish round of the championship.
With several of the sport’s frontrunners hailing from Ireland, including Conor’s own brother Jack (back-to-back British Champion), Ireland has emerged as an integral part of the drifting scene, and that is underlined by the 2022 DMEC season opener at Mondello Park on the 7th and 8th of May.
As well as Conor’s brother Jack nd Conor himself storming the drifting scene, Conor’s own mother and father are heavily involved in motorsports too, with his father winning multiple rally titles including on this very circuit at Moll’s Gap, with Conor’s mother being the only Irish woman to win a national Autoglass championship. First launched in 2014, DMEC is the pinnacle of drifting in Europe, featuring a grid of champions from across the globe. In a knockout format, drivers face off in ‘twin battles’, with the chase driver aiming to follow the lead driver as closely as possible as they drift door-to-door at high speeds.
Watch the Drift Masters European Championship live on Red Bull TV.
2022 DMEC Calendar:
May 7-8: Ireland – Mondello Park
June 18-19: Austria – PS Racing Center
July 1-2: Sweden – Drivecenter Arena AB
July 29-30: Latvia – Riga Racetrack
Aug. 19-20: Germany – Ferropolis City of Iron
Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Poland – Moto Arena Łódź
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