Circuit of Kerry 2023

A return to navigating ( taking any chance we can to be in a rally car)

Im not sure why, But Colin Neligan let me back in the car for a second time. I was tasked with reading strange letter and number combinations for a full day. and luckly for Colin i was able to remember R=right and L= left. In another stroke of luck i only had to count to 6, things get a bit fuzzy after 9.

This car is something else. Ya we all like the R2 and R5 cars, but what truly defines rallying is a proper clubman car. This started life as a bog standard Swift GTI, but over the last number of years has developed in to a real tidy little rocket. The engine is the 13B unit found in all GTI swifts of the era, but with the addition of an extra few CCs, lumpy cams, Toyota 20v Throttle bodies and a tasty exhaust.
The power is delivered to the wheels though a Dog box and a gripper diff. While the top speed is nothing to be excited about, how fast it gets there is giggle inducing every time. 5:1 final drive will do that I guess.

The day Consisted of a 3×3 format.
SS1-4-7 Mount Eagle. Starting just outside Castleisland, had a fast flowing start, before getting tight and slippy on the assent and descent on the mountain sections of this called for major bravery but using your head was more important.

SS2-5-8 Headleys Bridge. A blistering fast stage, with a few KM of tight tricky lanes in the middle. The swift suffered on the faster places here, having conversations around how long it would maintain 9k rpm on straights was a new addition to note calling

SS3-6-9 Desmonds Grave. The stage start for this was almost a motorway. “Flat to the square right” might have been mentioned, once off the main road the bulk of the stage could only be described as a beautiful monster. much like keeping a pet Gorilla. It could fuck you up at any second, but if respected, it was great crack.

The Day was a great progression for Colin. A cautious start led to huge improvements in stage times throughout the day. Unfortunately the second run over Headleys Bridge and Desmonds Grave was cancelled due to incident’s before us. We pushed hard on the final 3 stages and finished well with a 5th in class 9.