Thank God Its Over Ian McCarthy, October 20, 2023October 24, 2023 The Championship we have being trying to complete since 2020 is finally done and dusted in its entirety. The forestry championship is alive and well in Ireland but to complete it is a mammoth task. It’s is a task far outside the scope of any lone warrior. The end result for us as a team was second in class 11f. Both ourselves and Michael Fitzgibbon/Carrie Moroney Ryan finished on equal points but he had 1 more max than us and we lost out on a tiebreak. I say “Thank God” because while the thrills and spills were tremendous so was the sacrifice. Financially, emotionally and hardest of all, time. Time away from family and time spent with friends which was often more of a task to be completed than friends spending time together. This all sounds negative and difficult, and while nothing comes easy in a Championship like this, both myself and Patrick have come on in leaps and bounds. I’m happy now that my driving is far superior to anything i have managed before and that is due to both seat time and Patricks precise and committed direction throughout the year. The hours pouring over notes. The adjustments and additions. The “cuts” and the “dont’s”. We have learned so much. The most important piece of any Clubman attempt at a Championship, is support and good old fashioned hands on help from the best group of people on the planet. My Wife and kids David and Olivia. (im glad ill have my weekends and evenings back). Joe Shinnors (and Anna for the loan of Joe) for all the help on event and for all the phone calls at a time in his life where he had no time to give but still managed. The emotional bill will be substantial. Jason Coulter and all his crew. Damien O Donovan for an absolute mountain of help and for talking sense when i needed it. Vincent Goggin for his unique sense of humor and for never being afraid of the Darkness. Finally Ian O Brien for all the evenings learning about Hondas against his will and for keeping Bitsy (The Honda) presentable against all odds . Finally i need to acknowledge our amazing sponsors and where possible please support them. We just couldn’t get in the car without them and we really do use their businesses on a regular basis . https://www.picycles.ie/, https://shop.mcgautostyling.com/ and https://www.odonovaneng.ie/ are the sponsors who we couldn’t manage without. I have kept this quite serious, which is kind of flying in the face of what we are about here at Redmist Motorsport but i really didn’t want to belittle the effort made by everyone mentioned here. From here its back to a few events a year and back to the fun and craic. Mac over and out. Macca Rallies
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