WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.879 So I want you to just picture this for a second. 00:00:03.580 --> 00:00:05.400 You are standing right on the edge of a track. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:07.940 You're leaning up against this cold concrete 00:00:07.940 --> 00:00:11.419 barrier, right? And the air around you is just... 00:00:11.390 --> 00:00:14.910 thick. It's heavy with that sharp, unmistakable 00:00:14.910 --> 00:00:18.170 smell of high octane racing fuel. Oh, yeah. And 00:00:18.170 --> 00:00:20.589 burning rubber. Exactly. That acrid scent of 00:00:20.589 --> 00:00:23.010 burning rubber. And down the straightaway, this 00:00:23.010 --> 00:00:25.329 pack of cars just come screaming towards you. 00:00:25.750 --> 00:00:28.309 But if you listen closely, this isn't that smooth, 00:00:28.550 --> 00:00:30.710 predictable whine of, say, a Formula One race. 00:00:30.750 --> 00:00:33.869 Not at all. You hear this deafening, high -pitched 00:00:33.869 --> 00:00:37.729 screech of slick racing tires just fighting for 00:00:37.729 --> 00:00:40.750 grip on perfect tarmac. And then it just shatters. 00:00:40.810 --> 00:00:43.710 Yes, in the literal blink of an eye, the entire 00:00:43.710 --> 00:00:46.810 soundscape just violently fractures. That screech 00:00:46.810 --> 00:00:49.570 turns into this guttural, gravel -crunching roar 00:00:49.570 --> 00:00:52.049 as those exact same cars launch off the pavement 00:00:52.049 --> 00:00:55.109 and just violently plunge onto a section of loose, 00:00:55.369 --> 00:00:58.450 deeply rutted dirt. Mud flying absolutely everywhere. 00:00:59.010 --> 00:01:01.810 completely coating the windshields. The engines 00:01:01.810 --> 00:01:04.030 are being pushed to their absolute braking points, 00:01:04.250 --> 00:01:06.709 just bouncing off the rev limiters, and the drivers 00:01:06.709 --> 00:01:08.909 inside are violently wrestling their steering 00:01:08.909 --> 00:01:10.769 wheels. I mean, not just to make the corner, 00:01:11.090 --> 00:01:14.069 but just to keep these mechanical beasts facing 00:01:14.069 --> 00:01:16.879 in a vaguely forward direction. Just surviving 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:19.280 the transition. Right. So what happens when you 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:22.840 take the microscopic surgical precision of traditional 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:25.719 track racing and forcefully collide it with a 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:29.560 chaotic, sliding, mudslinging grit of rallying? 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:31.920 Well, you are welcome to the Irish Rallycross 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:34.599 Championship. It is, without a doubt, one of 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:36.900 the most punishing and technically demanding 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:39.519 forms of motorsport on the planet. And to really 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:41.579 understand it, I want you to build a theater 00:01:41.579 --> 00:01:44.319 of the mind right now. OK, let's do it. Keep 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:46.319 that image of the track in your head that you 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:49.439 just described, but picture a split screen. On 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.040 the left side, you have a pristine, beautifully 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:54.840 painted, perfectly swept tarmac race circuit. 00:01:54.980 --> 00:01:57.959 The precision side? Right. And on the right side, 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:01.260 a muddy, deeply grooved, completely unpredictable 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:04.560 dirt trail through a forest. Rallycross forces 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:08.120 a single vehicle and a single driver to master 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:11.219 both of those completely contradictory environments 00:02:11.219 --> 00:02:14.090 within the exact same lap. It's crazy when you 00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:16.490 think about it. It really is. It is the constant 00:02:16.490 --> 00:02:19.729 violent transition between absolute order and 00:02:19.729 --> 00:02:22.810 total chaos. OK, let's unpack this, because that 00:02:22.810 --> 00:02:25.530 transition is exactly what we are dissecting 00:02:25.530 --> 00:02:27.830 today. We have this enormous stack of sources 00:02:27.830 --> 00:02:30.310 outlining the history, the staggering engineering, 00:02:30.729 --> 00:02:33.069 the economic struggles and, of course, the standout 00:02:33.069 --> 00:02:35.550 stars of this entire motorsport ecosystem. It's 00:02:35.550 --> 00:02:37.889 a massive ecosystem. And it's officially regulated 00:02:37.889 --> 00:02:40.830 by Motorsport Ireland. Curly known, thanks to 00:02:40.830 --> 00:02:43.150 its dedicated sponsors, as the Parts for Cars 00:02:43.150 --> 00:02:45.729 Irish Rallycross Championship, or the IRX for 00:02:45.729 --> 00:02:47.750 short. Right. In fact, if we were going to perfectly 00:02:47.750 --> 00:02:50.889 package this entire journey up today, say, crafting 00:02:50.889 --> 00:02:53.030 an Apple podcast title and description to summarize 00:02:53.030 --> 00:02:55.569 what we are doing in this deep dive, the title 00:02:55.569 --> 00:02:58.710 would simply have to be Dirt, Tarmac, and Dominance 00:02:58.710 --> 00:03:01.169 inside the Irish Rallycross Championship. I like 00:03:01.169 --> 00:03:02.969 that. Yeah. And the description would read something 00:03:02.969 --> 00:03:05.889 like, dive into the high octane world of the 00:03:05.889 --> 00:03:09.139 Irish Rallycross Championship. or IRX, in this 00:03:09.139 --> 00:03:12.400 comprehensive deep dive. We explore the grueling 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.159 tracks of Andello Park, decode the engineering 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:17.680 marvels behind the supercar and modified classes, 00:03:18.180 --> 00:03:21.000 and trace the intense recent history of Motorsport 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.599 Ireland's premier rally cross -racing series. 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:26.039 That covers a lot of ground. It does. It will 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:28.740 continue with, from snowed -out semi -finals 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:31.219 and gripping night races under floodlights to 00:03:31.219 --> 00:03:33.599 the unparalleled reign of multi -year champion 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:36.680 Derek Toehill, discover what makes auto racing 00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:39.840 and is so resilient and thrilling. Whether you're 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.719 a die -hard motorsport fan or a curious newcomer, 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:45.580 join us as we unpack the grit, gears, and glory 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:47.939 of Irish Rallycross. Perfect. And of course, 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:49.900 we'd weave in those essential SEO keywords, you 00:03:49.900 --> 00:03:51.699 know, things like Irish Rallycross Championship, 00:03:51.939 --> 00:03:53.860 IRX, Mandela Park, Motorsport Ireland, Derek 00:03:53.860 --> 00:03:56.099 Toehill, Rallycross Racing, Auto Racing Ireland, 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.159 Motorsport History, and Supercars Racing. That 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:01.180 is basically the blueprint for our mission today. 00:04:01.370 --> 00:04:03.629 It's a brilliant blueprint because this isn't 00:04:03.629 --> 00:04:05.849 merely a timeline of who crossed the finish line 00:04:05.849 --> 00:04:08.530 first. When you dig into these documents, you 00:04:08.530 --> 00:04:11.469 realize this is a master class in mechanical 00:04:11.469 --> 00:04:14.050 ingenuity. Yeah, survival really. Exactly. It 00:04:14.050 --> 00:04:17.250 is a study in institutional survival. We're watching 00:04:17.250 --> 00:04:19.829 how a local sporting body fights back against 00:04:19.829 --> 00:04:22.509 vicious winter weather, collapsing grid numbers, 00:04:22.750 --> 00:04:26.129 and obviously a global pandemic. But above all, 00:04:26.329 --> 00:04:29.389 It's about the people, the grassroots mechanics, 00:04:29.829 --> 00:04:32.170 tuning engines, and cold garages on a Tuesday 00:04:32.170 --> 00:04:34.610 night so they can go to battle on a Sunday. Let's 00:04:34.610 --> 00:04:37.649 start with the battleground itself. If we rewind 00:04:37.649 --> 00:04:40.329 to the genesis of this championship in 1982, 00:04:41.009 --> 00:04:43.009 the organizers faced an immediate logistical 00:04:43.009 --> 00:04:45.819 nightmare. They needed a home base? Right. When 00:04:45.819 --> 00:04:48.680 you are trying to legitimize a brand new, highly 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:50.920 destructive motorsport, you can't just operate 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.000 like a traveling circus tearing up a different 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:55.339 farmer's field every weekend. You need infrastructure. 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:58.519 You need a spiritual home. And for the IRX, that 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.000 home became Mondello Park in County Kildare. 00:05:01.339 --> 00:05:03.620 The cathedral of Irish motorsport. Yeah, our 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:06.100 sources show that in the early days, almost every 00:05:06.100 --> 00:05:08.120 single round was run right there at Mondello. 00:05:08.420 --> 00:05:10.720 What's fascinating here is the psychological 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.410 and mechanical dynamic that creates. Mandela 00:05:14.410 --> 00:05:17.209 Park isn't just a venue, it is the crucible that 00:05:17.209 --> 00:05:20.430 really forged Irish Rallycross. But relying on 00:05:20.430 --> 00:05:23.949 a single track is a massive double -edged sword. 00:05:24.250 --> 00:05:27.170 How so? Well, on one hand, it concentrates your 00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:30.490 resources. Rallycross is an exceptionally expensive 00:05:30.490 --> 00:05:33.879 sport. By centralizing at Mandela, the teams 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:36.220 don't have to spend half their budget hauling 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:38.439 cars and equipment across the country. Or dealing 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.319 with ferry costs across the sea. Exactly. And 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:43.459 the fans know exactly where the sport lives. 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:46.680 But let's look at the downside. If a driver races 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:49.600 on the exact same sequence of corners every single 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:52.300 month for years, the track just becomes a matter 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:54.100 of muscle memory. Right, they could drive it 00:05:54.100 --> 00:05:55.779 with their eyes closed. Yeah, and the challenge 00:05:55.779 --> 00:05:57.699 of motorsport is supposed to be the unknown. 00:05:57.930 --> 00:06:00.490 So to prevent the local veterans from essentially 00:06:00.490 --> 00:06:03.709 sleepwalking to victory, the Mandela organizers 00:06:03.709 --> 00:06:06.250 had to become architectural illusionists. Right, 00:06:06.310 --> 00:06:08.350 because they couldn't physically move the grandstands 00:06:08.350 --> 00:06:10.310 or the timing towers, so they constantly changed 00:06:10.310 --> 00:06:12.899 the lab breadth itself. Exactly. They would run 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:15.779 the circuit clockwise one weekend, which tests 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:18.480 how a car handles high -speed right -hand sweeps 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:21.060 into the dirt transition. Then the next month, 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:23.899 they would completely flip the script and run 00:06:23.899 --> 00:06:26.139 a reverse short circuit. Which completely messes 00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:28.439 with your braking zones. Completely. A corner 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:31.100 that was previously a fast exit suddenly becomes 00:06:31.100 --> 00:06:33.980 a heavy braking zone. The transition from dirt 00:06:33.980 --> 00:06:36.300 to tarmac, which used to be an acceleration point, 00:06:36.779 --> 00:06:39.139 suddenly becomes the entry to a tight hairpin. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:42.300 It forces the drivers to constantly rewrite their 00:06:42.300 --> 00:06:44.500 internal pacing. They have to relearn where the 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:46.740 bumps are, where the mud gathers, where the grip 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:49.740 completely vanishes. It's intense. And that relentless 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:53.339 pressure cooker environment at Mandela Park clearly 00:06:53.339 --> 00:06:56.899 produced some incredibly sharp drivers. because 00:06:56.899 --> 00:06:59.860 by the early 1990s, the local standard had gotten 00:06:59.860 --> 00:07:03.100 so high that the European Rallycross Championship 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:05.240 actually brought around Ireland. That was a massive 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:08.019 moment. It feels like a monumental shift. I mean, 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:10.060 it's one thing to be the fastest guy in your 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:12.339 local pub, but it's another to have the heavyweight 00:07:12.339 --> 00:07:14.399 champion of the world walk in and challenge you 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:17.259 to a fight. That is the perfect analogy. Putting 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:20.139 the Republic of Ireland on the European Rallycross 00:07:20.139 --> 00:07:23.420 map changed the DNA of the domestic sport forever. 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:25.829 Because suddenly they had a new benchmark. Right. 00:07:26.170 --> 00:07:28.730 Before the European invasion, the local Irish 00:07:28.730 --> 00:07:30.990 drivers were measuring their success against 00:07:30.990 --> 00:07:33.589 each other. If your car was a tenth of a second 00:07:33.589 --> 00:07:36.029 faster than the guy in the next town over, you 00:07:36.029 --> 00:07:38.149 were a hero. But then the Europeans arrived. 00:07:38.490 --> 00:07:40.990 And they brought a different level of automotive 00:07:40.990 --> 00:07:44.290 warfare. Factory -backed budgets, exotic materials, 00:07:44.689 --> 00:07:47.509 specialized engineers. The local Irish mechanics 00:07:47.509 --> 00:07:50.170 suddenly found themselves in the paddock, staring 00:07:50.170 --> 00:07:52.910 at aerodynamic designs and suspension geometries 00:07:52.910 --> 00:07:55.120 they had literally never seen before. before. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:57.500 It must have been intimidating. It provided a 00:07:57.500 --> 00:08:00.699 brutal unforgiving benchmark. But rather than 00:08:00.699 --> 00:08:03.639 folding, the Irish domestic field absorbed that 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:06.199 knowledge. They elevated their own racecraft. 00:08:06.339 --> 00:08:08.339 They started building cars that could genuinely 00:08:08.339 --> 00:08:10.459 hold their own against the continent's best. 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:12.740 Here's where it gets really interesting. Let's 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:14.279 talk about the actual machines they were building. 00:08:14.430 --> 00:08:17.449 The class structure in the IRX is incredibly 00:08:17.449 --> 00:08:20.550 complex, but it's essentially the Rosetta Stone 00:08:20.550 --> 00:08:23.230 for understanding how the sport functions. It 00:08:23.230 --> 00:08:25.290 really tells you everything about the ecosystem. 00:08:25.569 --> 00:08:28.430 Yeah. Let's decode the grid using the highly 00:08:28.430 --> 00:08:31.170 detailed data we have from the 2018 season as 00:08:31.170 --> 00:08:34.470 our lens. At the absolute bleeding edge of the 00:08:34.470 --> 00:08:37.470 sport, you have the supercar class. The rule 00:08:37.470 --> 00:08:39.570 book defines this class with a phrase that should 00:08:39.570 --> 00:08:42.110 terrify any normal driver. Oh, I know the phrase. 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:45.039 modified four -wheel -drive cars with unlimited 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.600 engine capacity. Unlimited. It's madness. In 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:52.620 2018, Derek Toehill dominated this class alongside 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:54.799 fierce competitors like Michael Coyne and Declan 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:57.120 Kelly. And then you have the Superfinal, which 00:08:57.120 --> 00:08:59.100 is essentially throwing all the Lions and the 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:01.399 Gladiators into the ring together. The absolute 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:03.879 fastest cars from the day, regardless of their 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:06.460 original class, fighting in one last sprint. 00:09:06.580 --> 00:09:09.899 The main event. Exactly. Toehill usually ruled 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:12.990 the Superfinal too. But let's pause on that phrase 00:09:12.990 --> 00:09:16.370 for a second. Unlimited capacity. For someone 00:09:16.370 --> 00:09:19.009 who doesn't spend their weekends rebuilding carburetors, 00:09:19.629 --> 00:09:21.970 what does it actually mean to put an unlimited 00:09:21.970 --> 00:09:24.830 engine into a four -wheel drive car on a surface 00:09:24.830 --> 00:09:27.409 that is literally shifting underneath you? It 00:09:27.409 --> 00:09:29.509 means you are trying to harness a controlled 00:09:29.509 --> 00:09:32.250 explosion. Let's break down the physics of a 00:09:32.250 --> 00:09:35.049 supercar. When we say unlimited capacity, we 00:09:35.049 --> 00:09:36.990 are talking about custom -built engines that 00:09:36.990 --> 00:09:39.570 can easily generate upwards of 600 horsepower. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.659 Which is insane for a car that size. To put that 00:09:42.659 --> 00:09:45.259 in perspective, these rallycross supercars can 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:47.759 often accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:50.220 faster than a Formula One car. They can do it 00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:52.200 in under two seconds. Under two seconds on dirt. 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:54.740 Well, a Formula One car does that on perfectly 00:09:54.740 --> 00:09:57.840 sticky, warm tarmac. A rally -crossed supercar 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:00.259 has to unleash that violence on gravel and mud. 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:03.440 If you put 600 horsepower exclusively to the 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.000 rear wheels on a dirt track, the car would just 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:07.860 instantly spin around in a circle. Right, the 00:10:07.860 --> 00:10:10.059 tires would just vaporize. Right. Into smoke, 00:10:10.379 --> 00:10:13.080 and you wouldn't move an inch forward. That is 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:16.139 where the four -wheel drive system and specifically 00:10:16.139 --> 00:10:18.139 the differentials come into play. Okay, let's 00:10:18.139 --> 00:10:19.879 clarify differentials because that's a term that 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:22.740 gets thrown around a lot in car circles. If I'm 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:25.000 pushing a shopping cart around a corner in a 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:28.620 grocery store, the wheels on the outside of the 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:31.379 cart have to travel a further distance than the 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:33.480 wheels on the inside of the cart, right? Spot 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:36.440 on. If the wheels on a solid axle were locked 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:39.080 together and forced to spin at the exact same 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:41.820 speed, your car would shudder and hop every time 00:10:41.820 --> 00:10:43.679 you tried to turn the steering wheel. Because 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:45.440 one wheel wants to go further than the other. 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:47.700 Right. A differential is the mechanical brain 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:50.179 that allows the outside wheels to spin faster 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:53.279 than the inside wheels during a turn. Now imagine 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:55.480 the complexity of that mathematical equation 00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:58.519 in a rallycross supercar. The car is entering 00:10:58.519 --> 00:11:01.539 a corner at 100 miles per hour. The front left 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:05.419 tire is on smooth, grippy tarmac. The rear right 00:11:05.419 --> 00:11:08.519 tire is suspended in mid -air over a rut. And 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:10.879 the other two tires are clawing through deep, 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:13.340 slippery mud. Every single tire is dealing with 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:16.409 a different surface. Exactly. The differentials 00:11:16.409 --> 00:11:19.129 in a supercar have to instantly, mechanically 00:11:19.129 --> 00:11:22.210 decide exactly how much of that 600 horsepower 00:11:22.210 --> 00:11:25.269 to send to each individual wheel in fractions 00:11:25.269 --> 00:11:27.990 of a second, just to prevent the car from violently 00:11:27.990 --> 00:11:30.450 spinning out of control. The stress on those 00:11:30.450 --> 00:11:33.539 parts must be Unbelievable. The internal forces 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:36.419 acting on those gearboxes and drive shafts are 00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:39.279 catastrophic. That is why competing in the supercar 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:42.139 class requires an astronomical budget. You are 00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:45.320 basically paying for aerospace level metallurgy 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:47.559 just to keep the car from tearing itself apart. 00:11:47.659 --> 00:11:49.940 That really makes the dominance of someone like 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:52.299 Derek Toehill even more fascinating. He isn't 00:11:52.299 --> 00:11:55.559 just out driving the field. His team is out engineering 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:58.200 them. They're managing that catastrophic stress 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:00.639 better than anyone else. It's a team sport. without 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:02.700 a doubt. But what I love about the IRX is that 00:12:02.700 --> 00:12:04.659 it isn't an exclusive country club for millionaires. 00:12:05.019 --> 00:12:06.860 The vast majority of the paddock is actually 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:08.860 populated by the modified and production tiers. 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.460 The grassroots heroes. Yeah. Looking at the 2018 00:12:11.460 --> 00:12:14.139 breakdown, we see the super modified class, where 00:12:14.139 --> 00:12:16.539 guys like Peter McGarry, Michael Coyne, and Lloyd 00:12:16.539 --> 00:12:19.320 Spindlove were trading paint. But then the rules 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:21.799 get hyper specific. Yeah. Very specific. You 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:24.649 have the 3A modified class. This is for two -wheel 00:12:24.649 --> 00:12:27.669 drive cars, but they can either use forced induction 00:12:27.669 --> 00:12:30.269 or have a normally aspirated engine larger than 00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:33.669 2150cc. Right. And then right beside that, the 00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:36.330 3B modified class restricts drivers strictly 00:12:36.330 --> 00:12:39.909 to normally aspirated engines under 2150cc, which 00:12:39.909 --> 00:12:43.320 is where Chris Grimes was winning. So let's untangle 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:45.960 that jargon for a minute. Forced induction versus 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:49.019 normally aspirated. What is the real world difference 00:12:49.019 --> 00:12:51.039 when these guys hit the mud? It's the difference 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.559 between breathing naturally and having a leaf 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:55.879 blower shoved into your mouth. That is a very 00:12:55.879 --> 00:12:58.039 vivid image. It's accurate. A normally aspirated 00:12:58.039 --> 00:13:00.460 engine relies entirely on atmospheric pressure. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.320 As the pistons move down, they create a vacuum, 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:06.019 naturally sucking air into the engine to mix 00:13:06.019 --> 00:13:08.100 with the fuel. So it's just pulling air in like 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:12.110 we breathe. Right. An engine's CC, its cubic 00:13:12.110 --> 00:13:14.649 capacity, is essentially the size of its lungs. 00:13:15.149 --> 00:13:17.529 The bigger the CC, the more air it can suck in, 00:13:17.529 --> 00:13:19.370 the bigger the combustion, the more power it 00:13:19.370 --> 00:13:22.690 makes. That's why 3A and 3B are separated by 00:13:22.690 --> 00:13:26.330 that 2150cc boundary. It prevents a guy with 00:13:26.330 --> 00:13:28.590 a massive 4 -liter engine from just bullying 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:31.509 a guy with a small 1 .6 -liter engine on the 00:13:31.509 --> 00:13:33.750 straights. And force induction is the leaf blower. 00:13:34.309 --> 00:13:37.409 Exactly. Force induction means using a turbocharger 00:13:37.409 --> 00:13:40.190 or a supercharger. These are mechanical turbines 00:13:40.190 --> 00:13:42.490 that violently compress the air and force feed 00:13:42.490 --> 00:13:44.590 it into the engine. So you can cheat the displacement 00:13:44.590 --> 00:13:47.009 rule, basically. Yeah. You can take a very small, 00:13:47.149 --> 00:13:49.429 lightweight engine, bolt a massive turbocharger 00:13:49.429 --> 00:13:51.570 to it, and suddenly it's producing the horsepower 00:13:51.570 --> 00:13:53.990 of a much larger, heavier engine. So why doesn't 00:13:53.990 --> 00:13:55.610 everyone just use a turbocharger? It sounds like 00:13:55.610 --> 00:13:57.549 a no -brainer. Because of a phenomenon called 00:13:57.549 --> 00:14:00.059 turbo lag. It takes a second for the exhaust 00:14:00.059 --> 00:14:02.799 gases to spin that turbine up to speed. When 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.120 a driver steps on the gas pedal in a turbocharged 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:07.620 car, there is a brief moment of hesitation. Nothing 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:10.820 happens. Nothing happens, and then followed by 00:14:10.820 --> 00:14:13.960 a violent, sudden surge of power. On slick tarmac, 00:14:14.019 --> 00:14:16.720 that's great. But imagine you are mid -corner 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:19.320 on a slippery mud surface, balancing the car 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:22.179 on the edge of traction. Oh, man. You press the 00:14:22.179 --> 00:14:24.419 throttle, nothing happens, and then suddenly 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:27.220 300 horsepower kicks in all at once. The tires 00:14:27.220 --> 00:14:29.799 instantly break traction, and you spin straight 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:33.379 into the wall. Ah, so a normally aspirated engine, 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:36.539 while maybe having less peak horsepower, delivers 00:14:36.539 --> 00:14:40.019 that power in a smooth, predictable, linear line. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:42.679 Precisely. The throttle response is instant. 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:45.480 If the driver presses the pedal 10%, they get 00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:48.620 exactly 10 % of the power. It allows for microscopic 00:14:48.620 --> 00:14:51.080 adjustments in grip. And remember, these modified 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.019 classes are two -wheel drive. Right. They don't 00:14:53.019 --> 00:14:54.779 have the fancy differentials. They don't have 00:14:54.779 --> 00:14:56.559 the sophisticated all -wheel -drive differentials 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:59.580 of the supercars to save them. Driving a high 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:01.879 -powered two -wheel -drive car on a wet dirt 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:04.720 track is like trying to run a sprint on an ice 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:06.799 rink while wearing bowling shoes. Just slipping 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:09.659 everywhere. It requires a delicate, almost balletic 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:11.600 level of throttle control. That makes sense. 00:15:12.269 --> 00:15:14.850 Connect this to the bugger picture. By structuring 00:15:14.850 --> 00:15:18.090 these classes so meticulously, separating the 00:15:18.090 --> 00:15:20.409 turbo cars from the naturally aspirated cars 00:15:20.409 --> 00:15:23.730 and the big engines from the small engines, the 00:15:23.730 --> 00:15:26.789 IRX organizers created a brilliantly democratic 00:15:26.789 --> 00:15:29.710 ecosystem. It levels the playing field. Exactly. 00:15:30.110 --> 00:15:32.470 They ensured that if you are a wizard at tuning 00:15:32.470 --> 00:15:35.330 small, naturally aspirated engines in your home 00:15:35.330 --> 00:15:38.169 garage, you have a distinct championship to fight 00:15:38.169 --> 00:15:41.070 for without being obliterated by a factory team. 00:15:41.429 --> 00:15:43.509 It prevents the sport from becoming exclusive. 00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:45.669 exclusively a billionaire's playground. It's 00:15:45.669 --> 00:15:48.090 a mechanic's dream. Yeah. And the sheer variety 00:15:48.090 --> 00:15:50.549 of vehicles really proves it. Moving down that 00:15:50.549 --> 00:15:53.549 2018 list, you have the 16V production class 00:15:53.549 --> 00:15:56.090 for standard cars, one by Siren Murphy. You have 00:15:56.090 --> 00:15:58.730 an entire subset of rally cars. Right, the actual 00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:00.870 stage rally car. Yeah, adapted for this circuit 00:16:00.870 --> 00:16:02.970 format. You've got Class 9 for the smaller engines, 00:16:03.049 --> 00:16:05.429 one by Patricia Denning. Class 9A for the mid 00:16:05.429 --> 00:16:07.889 -range, one by Jack Deegan. And the heavyweight 00:16:07.889 --> 00:16:10.909 Class 9B for the big turbocharged 4WD machines, 00:16:11.269 --> 00:16:15.259 one by Joe Downey. But if you want a purely visceral 00:16:15.259 --> 00:16:17.759 experience, you really have to look at the buggy 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:20.200 class. This was dominated by Russell Woods in 00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:23.179 2018. A buggy is essentially taking the concept 00:16:23.179 --> 00:16:26.179 of a car, throwing away the doors, the roof, 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:28.679 the windshield, the interior, and leaving nothing 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:31.860 but a tubular steel roll cage, four wheels, and 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:34.139 a screaming engine. It's the ultimate power -to 00:16:34.139 --> 00:16:36.899 -weight ratio. It looks terrifying. And then 00:16:36.899 --> 00:16:38.460 on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:40.940 the Fiesta class, which is spec racing. Everyone 00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:44.059 drives the exact same standard Ford Fiesta. David 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:47.019 Marr won that in 2018. Spec racing is pure driving 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:49.799 skill. Exactly. because your wallet cannot buy 00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:51.980 you an advantage. The only difference between 00:16:51.980 --> 00:16:54.620 first and last place, the organic meat sack sitting 00:16:54.620 --> 00:16:57.440 behind the steering wheel. The driver. But as 00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:59.620 fascinating as all this engineering is, I have 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:01.600 a massive bone to pick with the next category 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:05.039 on our list, the junior class. Ah, the incubator 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:07.160 of Irish motorsport. Incubator is a very polite 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:09.940 word for it. Let's look at the facts here. In 00:17:09.940 --> 00:17:12.839 2018, the junior podium was Jack Byrne, Connor 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:15.740 Kehoe, and Michael Ryan. This class is strictly 00:17:15.740 --> 00:17:18.599 for 14 to 16 year olds. Young talent. We are 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:22.220 putting 14 year olds into stripped down standard 00:17:22.220 --> 00:17:25.259 one liter cars and sending them out onto a mixed 00:17:25.259 --> 00:17:28.920 surface track at high speeds alongside a pack 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:32.220 of other highly aggressive teenagers. I have 00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:34.559 to challenge you on this. Okay, go ahead. A 14 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:36.640 -year -old's brain is literally still developing. 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:39.339 They lack impulse control. I mean, they can't 00:17:39.339 --> 00:17:41.859 legally drive to the grocery store, yet we expect 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:44.940 them to make split -second life -or -death decisions 00:17:44.940 --> 00:17:48.039 while hurtling toward a concrete barrier at 80 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:50.730 miles per hour. How is this sanction, let alone 00:17:50.730 --> 00:17:52.410 safe? I mean, think about what you were doing 00:17:52.410 --> 00:17:55.589 at 14 compared to these kids. Look, I completely 00:17:55.589 --> 00:17:57.430 understand the hesitation. From the outside, 00:17:57.569 --> 00:17:59.910 it sounds like absolute madness. It really does. 00:18:00.230 --> 00:18:02.049 But let's look at the reality of the physics, 00:18:02.369 --> 00:18:04.289 the safety regulations, and the psychology of 00:18:04.289 --> 00:18:06.809 driver development. First, consider the environment. 00:18:07.190 --> 00:18:10.230 A racetrack is a closed, strictly controlled, 00:18:10.589 --> 00:18:12.450 unidirectional environment. Meaning everyone 00:18:12.450 --> 00:18:14.710 goes the same way. Everyone is going the same 00:18:14.710 --> 00:18:17.170 way. There are no intersections, no pedestrians, 00:18:17.609 --> 00:18:21.450 no oncoming traffic, no stoplights. From a purely 00:18:21.450 --> 00:18:24.569 statistical standpoint, hurtling down the Mandela 00:18:24.569 --> 00:18:27.210 straight at 80 miles per hour in a heavily modified 00:18:27.210 --> 00:18:29.890 race car is significantly safer than driving 00:18:29.890 --> 00:18:32.710 60 miles per hour on a rural public road in the 00:18:32.710 --> 00:18:35.049 rain. Because of the safety gear, I assume. Exactly. 00:18:35.150 --> 00:18:37.190 These aren't standard one liter cars you'd find 00:18:37.190 --> 00:18:40.400 at a dealership. Yes, the engine is standard. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:42.980 It produces very little horsepower, maybe 60 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:46.759 or 70 horsepower cops. But the interior is completely 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:49.960 gutted. It is reinforced with a heavily engineered 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:52.680 steel roll cage. So it was basically a shell. 00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:56.000 A very strong shell. The teenage driver is strapped 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.539 into a specialized racing seat with a five -point 00:18:58.539 --> 00:19:01.680 harness, wearing a fireproof suit, a fireproof 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:05.589 balaclava, a homologated crash helmet, And a 00:19:05.589 --> 00:19:08.049 Hans device. What's a Hans device? It's a head 00:19:08.049 --> 00:19:10.410 and neck support system. It prevents their neck 00:19:10.410 --> 00:19:12.910 from snapping forward in a severe impact. The 00:19:12.910 --> 00:19:15.450 cars are built like tanks. But more importantly, 00:19:15.529 --> 00:19:17.349 let's talk about what the lack of horsepower 00:19:17.349 --> 00:19:19.170 actually teaches them. Right, because they can't 00:19:19.170 --> 00:19:21.890 rely on brute force to get out of trouble. Precisely. 00:19:22.329 --> 00:19:25.930 If you put a teenager in a 600 horsepower supercar, 00:19:26.150 --> 00:19:29.529 yes, that is a recipe for disaster. But in a 00:19:29.529 --> 00:19:33.049 one liter junior car, the acceleration is incredibly 00:19:33.049 --> 00:19:36.990 slow. The entire art of racing that car is about 00:19:36.990 --> 00:19:39.130 maintaining momentum. Don't touch the brakes 00:19:39.130 --> 00:19:41.950 unless you have to. Exactly. If a 14 -year -old 00:19:41.950 --> 00:19:44.029 panics and brakes too hard entering a corner, 00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:45.930 they don't just lose a fraction of a second. 00:19:46.269 --> 00:19:48.789 The car bogs down and it takes them halfway down 00:19:48.789 --> 00:19:51.029 the next straightaway just to build their speed 00:19:51.029 --> 00:19:53.890 back up. They get passed by five cars instantly. 00:19:54.109 --> 00:19:56.839 So it punishes bad driving. It forcibly teaches 00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:59.460 them the physics of weight transfer. They learn 00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:01.319 how to balance the car on the edge of traction 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:03.759 without scrubbing off speed. They learn how to 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:06.319 read the dirt, how to anticipate the slide. It's 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:08.819 all about finesse. Yes. By the time someone like 00:20:08.819 --> 00:20:11.660 Jack Byrne reaches the age of 17, his synaptic 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:14.539 responses to a vehicle losing traction are hardwired. 00:20:14.839 --> 00:20:16.579 He doesn't have to think about correcting a slide. 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:19.240 His hands just do it automatically. It's instinctive. 00:20:19.309 --> 00:20:22.470 This class is the exact reason why Irish drivers 00:20:22.470 --> 00:20:24.849 are so formidable on the international stage. 00:20:25.250 --> 00:20:27.970 They learn the absolute limits of vehicle dynamics 00:20:27.970 --> 00:20:30.289 years before they ever set foot in a driving 00:20:30.289 --> 00:20:32.890 school. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. You 00:20:32.890 --> 00:20:35.769 are teaching them the grammar of racing before 00:20:35.769 --> 00:20:37.930 giving them the megaphone of horsepower. Beautifully 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:40.430 put. And they need every ounce of that foundational 00:20:40.430 --> 00:20:43.109 skill because rallycross is an outdoor sport 00:20:43.109 --> 00:20:45.849 and nature has a nasty habit of throwing the 00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:48.319 rule book out the window. Which brings us right 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:50.640 into the narrative core of our deep dive today. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:54.700 The wildly tumultuous 2019 season. Oh, 2019. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:56.960 What a year. If you were writing a movie script 00:20:56.960 --> 00:20:59.099 about institutional resilience, you would base 00:20:59.099 --> 00:21:02.740 it on the IRX in 2019. It began with this overwhelming 00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:06.019 sense of optimism. On February 17th of 2019, 00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:08.440 the organizers held a massive media launch at 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:11.759 Mandela Park. Big event. Huge. The championship 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:14.589 manager... Leo Nolte stood up and confidently 00:21:14.589 --> 00:21:16.890 declared that the IRX was in its best position 00:21:16.890 --> 00:21:19.410 in many years. And he really had the receipts 00:21:19.410 --> 00:21:21.750 to prove it. They had locked down a massive roster 00:21:21.750 --> 00:21:23.730 of sponsors. Which is lifeblood for a series. 00:21:24.230 --> 00:21:26.529 Completely. Parts4Car has stepped up as the title 00:21:26.529 --> 00:21:28.930 sponsor, which is a massive injection of capital. 00:21:29.549 --> 00:21:31.990 They were joined by Diamondbrite, IPRS Limited, 00:21:32.970 --> 00:21:36.890 Riggs, 4Gigs, and MRCM Roofing. The grids were 00:21:36.890 --> 00:21:39.950 healthy, the marketing was polished, and everyone 00:21:39.950 --> 00:21:42.930 was ready for a golden era to begin. When a grassroots 00:21:42.930 --> 00:21:45.690 motorsport organization secures that level of 00:21:45.690 --> 00:21:48.609 corporate backing, it completely changes the 00:21:48.609 --> 00:21:50.910 atmosphere in the paddock. The organizers can 00:21:50.910 --> 00:21:52.670 stop worrying about how to pay for the track 00:21:52.670 --> 00:21:54.849 marshals and the ambulances, and they can start 00:21:54.849 --> 00:21:57.210 focusing on improving the spectacle of the racing. 00:21:57.349 --> 00:22:00.190 The drivers feel validated, too. Exactly. But 00:22:00.190 --> 00:22:02.390 motorsport, at its core, is a battle against 00:22:02.390 --> 00:22:04.410 the elements, and the elements decided to test 00:22:04.410 --> 00:22:07.559 that optimism immediately. Nature completely 00:22:07.559 --> 00:22:10.500 rejected their script. Exactly two weeks after 00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:12.980 that sunny, optimistic media launch, everyone 00:22:12.980 --> 00:22:15.200 arrived back at the Mandela Park Short Circuit 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:17.599 for round one on March 3rd, and they were met 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:19.960 with an absolute freezing nightmare. Snow. A 00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:22.240 massive snowstorm hit the track. The temperature 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:24.720 plummeted. The event had to be completely abandoned 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:26.920 and canceled midway through the day, right after 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:29.980 the first round of semifinals. Try to conceptualize 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:32.680 what it takes to drive a race car in a snowstorm. 00:22:33.230 --> 00:22:36.150 We talked earlier about the challenge of transitioning 00:22:36.150 --> 00:22:40.109 from smooth tarmac to loose dirt. Now introduce 00:22:40.109 --> 00:22:42.589 sub -zero temperatures. The track must be like 00:22:42.589 --> 00:22:45.349 glass. The smooth tarmac isn't just cold, it 00:22:45.349 --> 00:22:49.009 becomes a literal layer of black ice. The specialized 00:22:49.009 --> 00:22:51.410 racing tires these drivers use are designed to 00:22:51.410 --> 00:22:53.950 heat up and become sticky, like chewing gum to 00:22:53.950 --> 00:22:57.009 grip the road. In a snowstorm, those tires turn 00:22:57.009 --> 00:23:00.670 to hard plastic. They offer absolutely zero friction. 00:23:00.750 --> 00:23:03.430 And what about the dirt section? It freezes solid. 00:23:03.660 --> 00:23:06.859 The mud ruts become jagged, concrete -like trenches 00:23:06.859 --> 00:23:08.940 filled with snow. Can I imagine visibility drops 00:23:08.940 --> 00:23:12.140 to zero? It's terrifying. You have mud, sleet, 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:14.759 and freezing rain being violently thrown directly 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:16.740 at your windshield by the spinning tires of the 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:19.140 car in front of you. The windshield wipers are 00:23:19.140 --> 00:23:21.640 freezing to the glass. The poor mechanics? The 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:23.599 mechanics in the paddock are frantically trying 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:25.660 to figure out how to keep the engine oil from 00:23:25.660 --> 00:23:28.309 turning to sludge. The fact that the drivers 00:23:28.309 --> 00:23:30.309 managed to navigate those conditions all the 00:23:30.309 --> 00:23:32.829 way through the semifinals without a major catastrophe 00:23:32.829 --> 00:23:35.769 is a monumental testament to their car control. 00:23:36.329 --> 00:23:39.349 And, incredibly, the officials decided that the 00:23:39.349 --> 00:23:42.390 results from those frozen semifinals would actually 00:23:42.390 --> 00:23:44.730 stand for the championship points. They had to 00:23:44.730 --> 00:23:47.329 take something away from the day. Right. Derek 00:23:47.329 --> 00:23:49.750 Toehill managed to slide his way to the supercar 00:23:49.750 --> 00:23:53.039 in superfinal points. Michael Cohen survived 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:55.519 to take the modified points. Thomas O 'Rafferty 00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:58.299 took rally cars. Padrake McHale won the buggies. 00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:00.859 Dennis McCrudden took the fiestas. And young 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:03.240 Jack Byrne navigated the ice to win the juniors. 00:24:03.579 --> 00:24:05.420 Surviving the ice. They scraped their points 00:24:05.420 --> 00:24:07.619 together and tried to keep the momentum going. 00:24:07.900 --> 00:24:10.579 In April, for round two, they packed up and moved 00:24:10.579 --> 00:24:13.339 west to the Palace Karting Track in Tyna, where 00:24:13.339 --> 00:24:15.559 Noel Green actually managed to upset Toehill 00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:18.039 and the Supercars, and Willie Coyne took the 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:20.079 modified win. Little change of scenery. Yeah. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.200 And they returned to Mandela in May for round 00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:24.500 three on a reverse short circuit, where Toehill 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:27.440 resumed his reign. In July, they ran round four 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:30.460 as a highly marketed Retro Mania event. Toehill 00:24:30.460 --> 00:24:33.319 won again, Padraig Leeson took modified, and 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:35.799 Brendan McCaugen won the juniors. But beneath 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:38.460 the surface of these results, a slow moving crisis 00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:41.500 was developing. The enthusiasm was fading. The 00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:44.599 enthusiasm from February was bleeding out. Grid 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:47.920 numbers were dropping. And then on October 15th, 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:51.099 the bottom completely fell out. This is the brutal, 00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:54.259 unspoken economic reality of running a national 00:24:54.259 --> 00:24:56.759 racing championship. Mandela Park was forced 00:24:56.759 --> 00:24:59.359 to release a statement announcing the absolute 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:01.819 unthinkable. They were officially cancelling 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:04.319 rounds five and six, which were heavily promoted 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:07.019 as a double -header weekend. The devastating. 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:10.220 The stated reason. Alarmingly low entry numbers. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:13.440 Despite the title sponsors and the media push, 00:25:13.859 --> 00:25:15.859 they simply didn't have enough cars turning up 00:25:15.859 --> 00:25:18.480 to fictically run the races. This is the dreaded 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:21.000 domino effect in grassroots motorsport. Let's 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:23.400 break down why grids shrink mid -season. It usually 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:26.160 comes down to attrition. Parts breaking. Right. 00:25:26.500 --> 00:25:28.380 In round one and two, everyone's car is fresh. 00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:31.559 By round four, engines have blown up, gearboxes 00:25:31.559 --> 00:25:33.839 have shattered, suspensions have been bent against 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:36.680 concrete walls. Rebuilding a competitive rally 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:39.380 -cross car mid -season requires a massive injection 00:25:39.380 --> 00:25:41.839 of cash. Cash that a lot of these weekend racers 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.660 just don't have. Exactly. If a driver runs out 00:25:44.660 --> 00:25:47.319 of budget in July, they don't show up in October. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:50.660 When a few key drivers drop out, the grid looks 00:25:50.660 --> 00:25:53.680 thin. When the grid looks thin, the racing becomes 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:55.859 a procession rather than a dogfight. And the 00:25:55.859 --> 00:25:58.539 fans notice. The spectators notice this, and 00:25:58.539 --> 00:26:00.920 they stop buying tickets. When the spectators 00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:03.700 stop showing up, the local sponsors start questioning 00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:06.480 their investment. It's a vicious accelerating 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:09.380 cycle. Canceling the penultimate rounds of a 00:26:09.380 --> 00:26:11.640 season isn't just a logistical hiccup. It is 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:14.259 a massive distress flare. It signals the ship 00:26:14.259 --> 00:26:16.839 is sinking. It signals to the entire motorsport 00:26:16.839 --> 00:26:19.200 community that the championship is structurally 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:21.759 failing. It was a code red emergency for the 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:24.500 organizers. If they canceled the final round, 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:28.000 the 2019 season would end on a whimper, the sponsors 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:30.680 would likely walk away, and the entire IRX could 00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:33.500 have collapsed. The very next week, the Motorsport 00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:35.880 Ireland Rally Cross Commission held an urgent 00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:38.140 crisis meeting. They had to do something. They 00:26:38.140 --> 00:26:40.019 had to figure out a way to save the final round 00:26:40.019 --> 00:26:43.140 scheduled for November 24th. And what they engineered 00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:46.059 in that room is... For my money, one of the most 00:26:46.059 --> 00:26:48.339 brilliant administrative pivots in modern racing. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:50.900 I agree completely. I call it the midnight miracle. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.039 On November 7th, they announced that the final 00:26:54.039 --> 00:26:56.960 round was back on, but they didn't just apologize 00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.279 and run a standard Sunday afternoon race. First, 00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:02.839 they slashed the entry fees to drastically lower 00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:05.559 the financial barrier and coax the broken teams 00:27:05.559 --> 00:27:07.680 back out of their carriages. Get the cars back 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:09.900 on the grid. But the masterstroke was that they 00:27:09.900 --> 00:27:12.079 introduced the first ever race into the night 00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:15.859 in the history of the IRX. They rented massive 00:27:15.859 --> 00:27:18.579 stadium floodlights and illuminated the Mondello 00:27:18.579 --> 00:27:20.940 track against the pitch -black November sky. 00:27:21.099 --> 00:27:23.220 Brilliant marketing. So what does this all mean? 00:27:23.660 --> 00:27:26.339 Stepping back for a moment, how exactly does 00:27:26.339 --> 00:27:28.759 plunging a racetrack into darkness change the 00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:31.119 physical reality of the sport? It completely 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:34.140 rewrites the sensory experience of racing. The 00:27:34.140 --> 00:27:36.259 transition from daylight to floodlights is not 00:27:36.259 --> 00:27:39.140 just an aesthetic change, it alters the fundamental 00:27:39.140 --> 00:27:41.500 physics of the track. Like the temperature. First 00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:43.940 thing. When the sun goes down in Ireland in late 00:27:43.940 --> 00:27:46.480 November, the track temperature plummets instantly. 00:27:46.859 --> 00:27:49.220 As the tarmac cools down, the tires lose their 00:27:49.220 --> 00:27:51.680 grip. The dirt section, deprived of sunlight, 00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:54.740 begins to gather dew and becomes incredibly slick. 00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:57.259 So it's like a different track entirely. The 00:27:57.259 --> 00:27:59.420 drivers suddenly find themselves driving on a 00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:02.240 surface that has vastly less friction than it 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:04.579 did during their daytime practice sessions. So 00:28:04.579 --> 00:28:06.740 the car behaves completely differently. But what 00:28:06.740 --> 00:28:09.000 about the human element? What happens to the 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:11.180 driver's brain? That is where the real challenge 00:28:11.180 --> 00:28:14.640 lies. The human eye relies on shadows to judge 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:18.220 distance and depth. Under artificial stadium 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:21.720 floodlights, shadows stretch in bizarre, unnatural 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:23.559 directions. They get distorted. They flicker 00:28:23.559 --> 00:28:26.140 through the roll cage. The apex of a corner, 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:28.599 the exact millimeter where a driver needs to 00:28:28.599 --> 00:28:30.859 turn the steering wheel, suddenly looks like 00:28:30.859 --> 00:28:33.799 it's 10 feet further away than it actually is. 00:28:33.940 --> 00:28:36.390 Your eyes are lying to you. Your depth perception 00:28:36.390 --> 00:28:38.430 is constantly being lied to by the lighting. 00:28:39.289 --> 00:28:41.250 The drivers essentially have to rely on their 00:28:41.250 --> 00:28:43.329 peripheral vision and the tunnel of light cutting 00:28:43.329 --> 00:28:45.410 through the darkness. What the spectacle of it. 00:28:45.549 --> 00:28:47.990 What makes this pivot so utterly brilliant from 00:28:47.990 --> 00:28:50.869 a marketing standpoint is the atmosphere it creates. 00:28:51.509 --> 00:28:54.109 Rallycross is already violent, but at night it 00:28:54.109 --> 00:28:56.970 becomes a cinematic spectacle. The visuals must 00:28:56.970 --> 00:29:00.309 be insane. The brake discs heat up to 800 degrees 00:29:00.309 --> 00:29:03.549 and glow cherry red in the dark. Unburned fuel 00:29:03.549 --> 00:29:06.049 from the exhaust hits the hot exhaust pipe and 00:29:06.049 --> 00:29:08.910 spits massive bright orange flames into the night 00:29:08.910 --> 00:29:12.230 sky on every single downshift. Wow. The sparks 00:29:12.230 --> 00:29:14.190 from the cars bottoming out over the dirt ruts 00:29:14.190 --> 00:29:17.109 look like fireworks. The organizers didn't just 00:29:17.109 --> 00:29:20.329 save a race. They manufactured a gladiatorial 00:29:20.329 --> 00:29:23.410 spectacle that was so viscerally compelling the 00:29:23.410 --> 00:29:25.809 drivers physically couldn't resist showing up 00:29:25.809 --> 00:29:28.750 and the fans had to be there to witness it. And 00:29:28.750 --> 00:29:31.299 it worked flawlessly. The grid filled back up, 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:34.059 the fans returned, and the November 24th finale 00:29:34.059 --> 00:29:37.160 was a massive success. Derek Toehill, proving 00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:39.039 he could master the dark just as well as the 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:41.660 snow, won the night race, locking up the 2019 00:29:41.660 --> 00:29:44.220 supercar and superfinal championships. A true 00:29:44.220 --> 00:29:46.880 champion's drive. Willie Coyne danced his modified 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:49.480 car under the lights to secure his title. Shane 00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:51.500 Stanley won the final rally car race, although 00:29:51.500 --> 00:29:53.220 Thomas O 'Rafferty had already built up enough 00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:55.579 points to win the championship. Pat Ballou won 00:29:55.579 --> 00:29:57.880 the buggies, helping Padrake McHale secure that 00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:01.039 title. Mark Minahan took the Fiesta win, cementing 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:03.259 Dennis McCrudden's overall championship. Everyone's 00:30:03.259 --> 00:30:05.420 showing up when it matters. And in the juniors, 00:30:05.700 --> 00:30:08.039 Michael Ryan won the dramatic night race, while 00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:10.039 Jack Byrne, the kid who won in the snowstorm, 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:12.700 was crowned the overall 2019 junior champion. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:15.619 They survived the elements, they survived the 00:30:15.619 --> 00:30:18.619 economic slump, and they ended 2019 on a massive 00:30:18.619 --> 00:30:21.140 high. But they had absolutely no idea what was 00:30:21.140 --> 00:30:23.519 looking just around the corner in 2020. Nobody 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:26.019 in the world did. Right. We move into the COVID 00:30:26.019 --> 00:30:29.670 -19 era. 2020 and 2021. This period is defined 00:30:29.670 --> 00:30:32.930 by a brutal forced pause, but not before the 00:30:32.930 --> 00:30:35.829 sport delivered incredible tease of what the 00:30:35.829 --> 00:30:37.809 momentum from that night race had built. The 00:30:37.809 --> 00:30:40.769 2020 opener. The 2020 season kicked off on March 00:30:40.769 --> 00:30:43.609 8th on the Mondello clockwise circuit. The energy 00:30:43.609 --> 00:30:46.470 was electric. There was a massive 48 car grid. 00:30:46.549 --> 00:30:48.630 Which is huge. Just to put that in perspective, 00:30:48.750 --> 00:30:51.150 the modified class alone had 12 cars lined up. 00:30:51.549 --> 00:30:53.799 The Midnight Miracle had worked. The sport was 00:30:53.799 --> 00:30:56.099 healthy again, but there was a glaring, bizarre 00:30:56.099 --> 00:30:58.259 anomaly in the paddock that morning. Toehill's 00:30:58.259 --> 00:31:01.119 choice of car. Yes. Derek Toehill, the reigning, 00:31:01.339 --> 00:31:04.519 undisputed, all -conquering 2019 champion, showed 00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:06.940 up to defend his title. But he didn't bring his 00:31:06.940 --> 00:31:09.799 monstrous 600 -horsepower, unlimited four -wheel 00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:13.299 drive supercar Fiesta out onto the grid. He left 00:31:13.299 --> 00:31:15.779 it at home. Instead, he completely dropped down 00:31:15.779 --> 00:31:18.599 a tier. He entered the modified class, driving 00:31:18.599 --> 00:31:22.059 a significantly less powerful, naturally aspirated, 00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:24.920 two -wheel drive Fiesta. It was a shock to everyone. 00:31:25.140 --> 00:31:27.819 And incredibly, fighting against a massive grid 00:31:27.819 --> 00:31:31.140 of specialized 2WD cars, he still managed to 00:31:31.140 --> 00:31:34.359 finish on the podium in third place. Meanwhile, 00:31:34.700 --> 00:31:37.559 with the apex predator out of the supercar class, 00:31:38.200 --> 00:31:40.480 Tommy Graham seized the opportunity and took 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:43.109 the round one supercar victory. Good for Tommy. 00:31:43.410 --> 00:31:45.349 What this tells us about the wider sport and 00:31:45.349 --> 00:31:47.450 about tow hills specifically is fascinating. 00:31:48.250 --> 00:31:50.750 Why on earth does a dominant champion at the 00:31:50.750 --> 00:31:53.650 peak of his powers deliberately handicap himself 00:31:53.650 --> 00:31:55.930 at the start of a new season? It is one of the 00:31:55.930 --> 00:31:58.069 most intriguing psychological moves a driver 00:31:58.069 --> 00:32:00.769 can make. When you have access to the most technologically 00:32:00.769 --> 00:32:03.250 advanced dominant piece of machinery in the country 00:32:03.250 --> 00:32:05.690 and you choose to leave it in the garage to wrestle 00:32:05.690 --> 00:32:08.470 a two wheel drive car in a lower class, you are 00:32:08.470 --> 00:32:10.809 making a profound statement. What's the statement, 00:32:10.970 --> 00:32:13.329 though? Was his main car just broken? We can 00:32:13.329 --> 00:32:15.410 look at this from a few different angles. The 00:32:15.410 --> 00:32:18.170 most pragmatic explanation is mechanical failure. 00:32:19.009 --> 00:32:20.930 Perhaps the supercar suffered a catastrophic 00:32:20.930 --> 00:32:23.529 engine issue on the dyno the night before, and 00:32:23.529 --> 00:32:26.789 the 2WD modified car was simply his backup vehicle. 00:32:27.250 --> 00:32:29.109 If you want to score championship points, you 00:32:29.109 --> 00:32:31.150 drive whatever has four wheels and an engine. 00:32:31.509 --> 00:32:35.369 True. But there might be more to it. Let's look 00:32:35.369 --> 00:32:38.009 deeper at the psychology of a champion. Once 00:32:38.009 --> 00:32:41.130 you have completely mastered a four -wheel drive 00:32:41.130 --> 00:32:43.789 supercar, once you have proven you can win in 00:32:43.789 --> 00:32:46.349 the snow and win in the dark, the challenge starts 00:32:46.349 --> 00:32:49.069 to fade. You're bored. Right. Driving a highly 00:32:49.069 --> 00:32:51.349 tuned two -wheel drive car on a mixed surface 00:32:51.349 --> 00:32:54.450 track is, in many ways, a purer, more difficult 00:32:54.450 --> 00:32:58.289 test of raw car control. A 4WD system can mask 00:32:58.289 --> 00:33:00.569 a driver's mistakes. It corrects for you. Exactly. 00:33:00.609 --> 00:33:03.150 If you enter a corner too hot, the front differentials 00:33:03.150 --> 00:33:05.640 can pull you out of the slide. In a 2WD car, 00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:08.259 if you break traction, you are entirely reliant 00:33:08.259 --> 00:33:10.339 on your own steering inputs and throttle balance 00:33:10.339 --> 00:33:13.039 to save the car. It's all on you. Cole Hill might 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:15.859 have dropped down simply in pursuit of that pure 00:33:15.859 --> 00:33:19.019 unadulterated driving challenge. He wanted to 00:33:19.019 --> 00:33:20.779 prove that his dominance wasn't just a product 00:33:20.779 --> 00:33:23.039 of an expensive engine, but of his own fundamental 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:25.859 skill. And taking third place in a 12 -car grid 00:33:25.859 --> 00:33:28.819 in a lower class absolutely proves that point. 00:33:29.220 --> 00:33:31.619 It's a brilliant storyline. The champion testing 00:33:31.619 --> 00:33:34.720 his own mortality. But we will never know how 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:36.579 that season would have played out because just 00:33:36.579 --> 00:33:39.400 four days after that massive triumphant 48 car 00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:42.259 race, the world stopped turning. Everything shut 00:33:42.259 --> 00:33:46.319 down. On March 12, 2020, Motorsport Ireland issued 00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:48.599 an urgent statement postponing all Motorsport 00:33:48.599 --> 00:33:51.400 events due to the rapidly escalating coronavirus 00:33:51.400 --> 00:33:54.599 pandemic. Eight days later on March 20th, a final 00:33:54.599 --> 00:33:57.059 grim statement suspended all events until at 00:33:57.059 --> 00:33:59.519 least June. And that stretched much longer. As 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:01.920 the reality of lockdown set in, the entire remainder 00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:05.299 of the 2020 IRX calendar, the April, July, October, 00:34:05.380 --> 00:34:07.500 and November rounds, were completely wiped off 00:34:07.500 --> 00:34:10.039 the board. The track went entirely silent. The 00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:12.980 contrast must have been jarring. Mondello Park 00:34:12.980 --> 00:34:15.820 is a place defined by violent noise and constant 00:34:15.820 --> 00:34:19.699 motion. To have it locked down, empty, with grass 00:34:19.699 --> 00:34:21.840 starting to grow through the cracks in the paddock. 00:34:21.980 --> 00:34:25.260 is a stark image. It's very apocalyptic. For 00:34:25.260 --> 00:34:27.500 the drivers and the mechanics, this wasn't just 00:34:27.500 --> 00:34:30.320 the loss of a hobby. Grassroots Motorsport is 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:32.539 a deeply ingrained community. It's where you 00:34:32.539 --> 00:34:34.400 see your friends. It's where you blow off steam. 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:37.219 But the mechanical consequence of that lockdown 00:34:37.219 --> 00:34:39.519 is equally fascinating. Because they attended 00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:42.300 Tinker. Because the drivers were forced to stay 00:34:42.300 --> 00:34:45.460 home, they retreated to their garages. You had 00:34:45.460 --> 00:34:47.900 hundreds of mechanics across Ireland with nothing 00:34:47.900 --> 00:34:50.360 to do but stare at their race cars for over a 00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:52.150 year. They had the one thing they never usually 00:34:52.150 --> 00:34:55.090 have time. Exactly. In a normal season, you are 00:34:55.090 --> 00:34:57.289 rushing to patch the car together between a race 00:34:57.289 --> 00:35:00.130 in October and a race in November. You use duct 00:35:00.130 --> 00:35:03.489 tape, zip ties and hope. During the lockdown, 00:35:03.690 --> 00:35:05.929 they had time to completely strip the cars down 00:35:05.929 --> 00:35:08.889 to the bare chassis. Oh, man, the upgrades. They 00:35:08.889 --> 00:35:11.599 had time to rebuild gearboxes with. absolute 00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:14.360 precision. They had time to experiment with new 00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:17.460 suspension geometries. The lockdown essentially 00:35:17.460 --> 00:35:19.980 turned the entire IRX paddock into a tightly 00:35:19.980 --> 00:35:22.840 coiled spring of mechanical anticipation. And 00:35:22.840 --> 00:35:25.599 that spring finally, violently uncoiled in the 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:29.179 late summer of 2021. The rebirth of the championship. 00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:32.139 Due to the lingering COVID restrictions, they 00:35:32.139 --> 00:35:35.880 couldn't start until July 11, 2021. The organizers 00:35:35.880 --> 00:35:38.380 had to condense a furious five -round sprint 00:35:38.380 --> 00:35:40.739 of a season. Paul at Mondello. Running exclusively 00:35:40.739 --> 00:35:43.000 on the Mondello Park clockwise circuit between 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:45.480 July and December to minimize travel logistics. 00:35:46.159 --> 00:35:48.280 What a return it was. We have to talk about the 00:35:48.280 --> 00:35:49.940 return of the king. Toe Hill. Whatever Derek 00:35:49.940 --> 00:35:51.980 Toe Hill was trying to prove in 2020 with that 00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:54.519 two -wheel drive Fiesta, he clearly got it out 00:35:54.519 --> 00:35:57.239 of his system. Because in 2021, he wheeled the 00:35:57.239 --> 00:35:59.239 unlimited supercar back out of the garage and 00:35:59.239 --> 00:36:01.440 he unleashed absolute hell on the field. He was 00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:04.019 on a mission. He went on a rampage that is almost 00:36:04.019 --> 00:36:06.119 unprecedented. He won round one, he won round 00:36:06.119 --> 00:36:08.139 two, he won round three, he won round four, he 00:36:08.139 --> 00:36:10.880 won round five. He completely swept the season, 00:36:11.260 --> 00:36:14.099 claiming the 2021 Supercar and Superfinal championships. 00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:17.539 Tommy Graham managed to steal one single Superfinal 00:36:17.539 --> 00:36:20.090 win in round two. But other than that, Toehill 00:36:20.090 --> 00:36:23.150 was completely, utterly untouchable. That level 00:36:23.150 --> 00:36:26.289 of dominance after an 18 month hiatus is staggering. 00:36:26.769 --> 00:36:28.969 When an athlete steps away from a high speed, 00:36:29.150 --> 00:36:31.469 high reflex sport for a year and a half, you 00:36:31.469 --> 00:36:34.210 expect ring rust. You expect them to be a little 00:36:34.210 --> 00:36:36.250 slow off the line. You expect their reaction 00:36:36.250 --> 00:36:38.829 times to have slowed by a few milliseconds. You 00:36:38.829 --> 00:36:41.929 expect them to be tentative under braking. Toehill's 00:36:41.929 --> 00:36:44.190 sweep proves that he didn't let his mind or his 00:36:44.190 --> 00:36:46.670 machinery degrade during the lockdown. He came 00:36:46.670 --> 00:36:49.400 back sharper, more aggressive. and more perfectly 00:36:49.400 --> 00:36:52.360 tuned than he was in 2019. It is the absolute 00:36:52.360 --> 00:36:55.219 mark of a sporting dynasty. And he wasn't the 00:36:55.219 --> 00:36:56.820 only one who came out of the lockdown swinging. 00:36:57.159 --> 00:36:59.960 The entire paddock was rejuvenated. In the modified 00:36:59.960 --> 00:37:02.619 class, Alan Crockett drew first blood in round 00:37:02.619 --> 00:37:05.760 one. But then Peter McGarry came surging back 00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:08.380 to take rounds two and three before Philip Kelly 00:37:08.380 --> 00:37:10.400 found his rhythm and closed out the season with 00:37:10.400 --> 00:37:13.440 wins in rounds four and five. A great three -way 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:16.179 battle. It was a brilliant battle. In the production 00:37:16.179 --> 00:37:18.880 and open clubman class, Keith Kershaw took the 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:21.480 opener and Ken Power bookended it with a win 00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:24.980 in round five. The rally cars saw familiar faces 00:37:24.980 --> 00:37:27.159 with Thomas O 'Rafferty returning to win round 00:37:27.159 --> 00:37:30.340 four and Keith Power taking round five. The buggy 00:37:30.340 --> 00:37:33.210 class was intense too. Those stripped down visceral 00:37:33.210 --> 00:37:37.110 cages were incredibly fierce. Jaco Sullivan dominated 00:37:37.110 --> 00:37:38.909 the early part of the condensed season, taking 00:37:38.909 --> 00:37:41.829 the first three rounds. But Padraig Leeson adapted 00:37:41.829 --> 00:37:44.409 and took round four, and the veteran Padraig 00:37:44.409 --> 00:37:47.269 McHale returned to take round five. And the spec 00:37:47.269 --> 00:37:50.010 fiestas. In the Fiesta Zetech class, Michael 00:37:50.010 --> 00:37:52.269 Ryan secured three victories, while Christopher 00:37:52.269 --> 00:37:54.510 Grimes Jr. and Ben Mullins grabbed the others. 00:37:55.070 --> 00:37:57.929 And crucially, in the junior class, a new name 00:37:57.929 --> 00:38:00.489 stamped his authority on the sport. Yeah. Laughlin 00:38:00.489 --> 00:38:02.989 Farrell won three rounds and claimed the 2021 00:38:02.989 --> 00:38:05.210 junior championship. Showing that the pipeline 00:38:05.210 --> 00:38:07.769 of young talent had survived the pandemic intact. 00:38:08.090 --> 00:38:10.510 Damian Farrell also grabbed a junior win and 00:38:10.510 --> 00:38:13.010 Davey Aiken took a victory in the retro RX class. 00:38:13.349 --> 00:38:15.849 It was a massive desperately needed injection 00:38:15.849 --> 00:38:18.889 of life back into Mandela Park. It proved that 00:38:18.889 --> 00:38:21.289 the heart of the sport was still beating and 00:38:21.289 --> 00:38:24.050 that momentum carried seamlessly forward. It 00:38:24.050 --> 00:38:27.389 exploded forward into 2022. As the final COVID 00:38:27.389 --> 00:38:30.269 -19 restrictions were lifted, the IRX returned 00:38:30.269 --> 00:38:33.489 to complete normality. The organizers boldly 00:38:33.489 --> 00:38:36.489 scheduled a full, grueling seven -round season, 00:38:36.949 --> 00:38:39.789 all anchored at the Mandela Park Rallycross Circuits, 00:38:40.030 --> 00:38:42.610 stretching from a freezing February 13th opener 00:38:42.610 --> 00:38:46.389 all the way to a December 11th finale. And the 00:38:46.389 --> 00:38:49.449 Toehill dynasty simply refused to yield. The 00:38:49.449 --> 00:38:51.869 records show Derek Toehill picking up the exact 00:38:51.869 --> 00:38:54.920 same sledgehammer he was swinging in 2021. He 00:38:54.920 --> 00:38:57.300 won the supercar and superfinal classes in the 00:38:57.300 --> 00:39:00.119 opening rounds of 2022, absolutely cementing 00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:02.639 his legacy as the defining driver of this modern 00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:05.619 era of Irish Rallycross. No ring rust, no mercy. 00:39:05.860 --> 00:39:07.719 We saw the intense rivalries continue across 00:39:07.719 --> 00:39:10.159 the board. Philip Kelly and Peter McGarry resumed 00:39:10.159 --> 00:39:12.820 their dogfight in the modified class. Keith Kershaw 00:39:12.820 --> 00:39:14.860 and Jason McConnan were battling in the open 00:39:14.860 --> 00:39:17.539 clubmen at VSA Zetec classes. Good racing everywhere 00:39:17.539 --> 00:39:19.800 you looked. Patricia Denning and Shane Mulligan 00:39:19.800 --> 00:39:21.980 were trading victories in the heavy rally cars, 00:39:22.360 --> 00:39:24.980 while Padre Gleason and Connor Shaw took the 00:39:24.980 --> 00:39:27.619 early spoils in the buggy class. And the next 00:39:27.619 --> 00:39:30.599 generation continued to evolve with Joshua Power 00:39:30.599 --> 00:39:33.219 emerging to absolutely dominate the early rounds 00:39:33.219 --> 00:39:36.599 of the junior class. The ecosystem had completely 00:39:36.599 --> 00:39:39.880 healed. It had. But before we conclude this journey, 00:39:40.260 --> 00:39:42.280 we have to recognize that the Irish Rallycross 00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:45.400 Championship with all its deep complexities and 00:39:45.400 --> 00:39:48.099 gripping narratives does not exist in a vacuum. 00:39:48.440 --> 00:39:51.380 No, it is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. 00:39:51.610 --> 00:39:54.550 To truly appreciate what makes the IRX special, 00:39:54.909 --> 00:39:57.170 we need to take a step back and examine the broader 00:39:57.170 --> 00:39:59.769 landscape of Irish motorsport. Which is vast. 00:39:59.989 --> 00:40:02.289 The documentation we have outlines the active 00:40:02.289 --> 00:40:04.349 motorsport championships across the Republic 00:40:04.349 --> 00:40:06.809 of Ireland, and the sheer volume and variety 00:40:06.809 --> 00:40:09.110 of racing happening on that island is staggering. 00:40:09.510 --> 00:40:12.329 It is a deeply embedded, culturally significant 00:40:12.329 --> 00:40:15.070 obsession. It really is. We aren't just talking 00:40:15.070 --> 00:40:17.530 about a few guys racing on a Sunday. There is 00:40:17.530 --> 00:40:20.690 a deeply organized, massive infrastructure. Precisely. 00:40:20.880 --> 00:40:24.059 Let's organize this dizzying array of leagues 00:40:24.059 --> 00:40:27.559 to understand the scale. First, you have an entire 00:40:27.559 --> 00:40:30.360 world dedicated to open wheel racing, cars that 00:40:30.360 --> 00:40:32.739 look like miniature Formula One cars. You have 00:40:32.739 --> 00:40:35.239 the Formula V championships, Boss S Ireland, 00:40:35.460 --> 00:40:38.739 and the Irish Strikers. These are pure aerodynamic 00:40:38.739 --> 00:40:40.940 track weapons. Very fast, very technical. Then 00:40:40.940 --> 00:40:43.900 you shift over to the saloon and sports car categories, 00:40:43.940 --> 00:40:46.659 which is massive. You have the Irish supercars, 00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:49.719 the ITCC Future Classics Racing for the vintage 00:40:49.719 --> 00:40:52.980 purists. You have the SEAT Super Cup, massive 00:40:52.980 --> 00:40:56.519 grids of Fiesta Zetec and Fiesta STs, the Geneta 00:40:56.519 --> 00:40:58.920 Junior Ireland Series, and the Global Lights. 00:40:59.219 --> 00:41:01.059 And that's just the circuit racing. Exactly. 00:41:01.400 --> 00:41:03.840 Step off the smooth tarmac, and you enter the 00:41:03.840 --> 00:41:06.440 massive world of Irish rallying. This is where 00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:08.619 drivers race against the clock on closed public 00:41:08.619 --> 00:41:10.940 roads and forest trails. You have the National 00:41:10.940 --> 00:41:13.840 Rally Championship, the iconic Irish Tarmac Rally 00:41:13.840 --> 00:41:16.780 Championship, the gritty Irish Forest Rally Championship, 00:41:17.159 --> 00:41:19.539 and an entire network of regional battles. Like 00:41:19.539 --> 00:41:22.590 the Southeast Ages. the Midlands East, West Coast, 00:41:22.769 --> 00:41:25.570 and the Border Rally Championship. And the motorsport 00:41:25.570 --> 00:41:28.630 diversity keeps expanding. You have precise technical 00:41:28.630 --> 00:41:30.610 hill climbs and sprints up mountain roads. You 00:41:30.610 --> 00:41:33.250 have endurance racing. You have high speed sideways 00:41:33.250 --> 00:41:35.969 drifting with the Drift Games Nationals. You 00:41:35.969 --> 00:41:38.429 have grassroots autocross happening on loose 00:41:38.429 --> 00:41:40.909 gravel and wet glass fields. There's something 00:41:40.909 --> 00:41:43.510 for everyone. And then sitting right alongside 00:41:43.510 --> 00:41:46.309 our Rallycross deep dive, you have a massive 00:41:46.309 --> 00:41:48.849 stock car and oval racing scene. You have the 00:41:48.849 --> 00:41:51.070 legends, the hot rods. the national and premier 00:41:51.070 --> 00:41:53.829 classes, production classes, and my absolute 00:41:53.829 --> 00:41:56.750 personal favorite category name in all of motorsport, 00:41:57.170 --> 00:42:00.650 the nudge and spin class. You cannot beat a class 00:42:00.650 --> 00:42:03.710 officially titled nudge and spin. It perfectly 00:42:03.710 --> 00:42:06.269 captures the chaotic joy of grassroots racing. 00:42:06.710 --> 00:42:09.340 But what does all of this actually mean? Why 00:42:09.340 --> 00:42:11.960 does a relatively small island nation have such 00:42:11.960 --> 00:42:14.739 a massive, sprawling obsession with making cars 00:42:14.739 --> 00:42:17.340 go fast? It speaks to a deeply rooted mechanical 00:42:17.340 --> 00:42:20.119 culture. In Ireland, knowing how to fix an engine, 00:42:20.320 --> 00:42:22.500 how to tune a suspension, and how to drive a 00:42:22.500 --> 00:42:24.980 car on the ragged edge of control is viewed with 00:42:24.980 --> 00:42:27.219 immense cultural respect. It's an athletic pursuit. 00:42:27.389 --> 00:42:30.170 Motorsport isn't just a fringe hobby. It is a 00:42:30.170 --> 00:42:33.730 respected athletic and engineering pursuit. And 00:42:33.730 --> 00:42:36.510 the infrastructure supports that. This entire 00:42:36.510 --> 00:42:40.269 ecosystem feeds into prestigious nationally recognized 00:42:40.269 --> 00:42:43.210 awards. The trophies. You have historic hardware 00:42:43.210 --> 00:42:45.710 like the Hawthorne Trophy and the Leinster Trophy. 00:42:45.969 --> 00:42:48.210 You have the Billy Coleman Award, which honors 00:42:48.210 --> 00:42:50.849 the Young Rally Driver of the Year and the Sexton 00:42:50.849 --> 00:42:52.869 Trophy for the Young Racing Driver of the Year. 00:42:52.949 --> 00:42:55.210 Those are huge deals. These aren't just plastic 00:42:55.210 --> 00:42:57.829 cups handed out in a parking lot. These are highly 00:42:57.829 --> 00:43:00.170 coveted honors that can launch a young driver, 00:43:00.469 --> 00:43:02.449 perhaps one of those 14 -year -olds we talked 00:43:02.449 --> 00:43:05.030 about in the junior Rallycross class, into a 00:43:05.030 --> 00:43:08.710 professional international racing career. Rallycross, 00:43:08.889 --> 00:43:11.369 with all of its mud, its noise, and its glory, 00:43:11.429 --> 00:43:14.909 is just one incredibly bright facet of this massive 00:43:14.909 --> 00:43:17.710 cultural diamond. It is a remarkable ecosystem. 00:43:18.250 --> 00:43:20.510 And when you look back at the journey the IRX 00:43:20.510 --> 00:43:23.289 has taken, you begin to understand why it survives. 00:43:24.050 --> 00:43:27.369 This is a championship that faced a literal freezing 00:43:27.369 --> 00:43:29.929 snowstorm that turned the track into a hockey 00:43:29.929 --> 00:43:33.110 rink in March of 2019. It survived that. It faced 00:43:33.110 --> 00:43:35.769 dwindling grid numbers and economic realities 00:43:35.769 --> 00:43:38.710 that forced the terrifying cancellation of events. 00:43:39.449 --> 00:43:42.130 It survived the unprecedented silent shutdown 00:43:42.130 --> 00:43:44.809 of a global pandemic that kept the cars locked 00:43:44.809 --> 00:43:48.030 in their garages for over a year. And it didn't 00:43:48.030 --> 00:43:50.750 just survive those crises, it actively innovated 00:43:50.750 --> 00:43:53.090 its way out of them. It got stronger. When things 00:43:53.090 --> 00:43:55.449 looked the absolute bleakest, the organizers 00:43:55.449 --> 00:43:58.250 had the vision to pivot. They slashed entry fees, 00:43:58.570 --> 00:44:00.969 they rented stadium lights, and they engineered 00:44:00.969 --> 00:44:03.449 a breathtaking night race to save the season. 00:44:03.570 --> 00:44:06.250 That midnight miracle. It is a sport driven by 00:44:06.250 --> 00:44:09.230 a passion that spans generations. From the veteran 00:44:09.230 --> 00:44:11.329 engineers trying to tame unlimited four -wheel 00:44:11.329 --> 00:44:14.159 -drive supercars, all the way down to the 14 00:44:14.159 --> 00:44:16.920 -year -old kids in one -liter hatchbacks desperately 00:44:16.920 --> 00:44:18.920 learning how to master momentum and traction 00:44:18.920 --> 00:44:20.760 in the junior class. And I think that brings 00:44:20.760 --> 00:44:22.800 us to the core takeaway for all of us, whether 00:44:22.800 --> 00:44:24.780 we ever sit behind the wheel of a race car or 00:44:24.780 --> 00:44:27.219 not. Progress, whether it is in maintaining a 00:44:27.219 --> 00:44:29.119 national motorsport championship or navigating 00:44:29.119 --> 00:44:31.800 our own lives, rarely happens on a perfectly 00:44:31.800 --> 00:44:34.599 smooth, perfectly swept, predictable track. Life 00:44:34.599 --> 00:44:37.659 is messy. Progress often requires a violent pivot. 00:44:37.869 --> 00:44:40.469 Just like those organizers did when they decided 00:44:40.469 --> 00:44:42.769 to light up the night sky, sometimes you have 00:44:42.769 --> 00:44:44.670 to completely change your paradigm to survive 00:44:44.670 --> 00:44:47.690 a crisis. And much like the drivers in Rallycross, 00:44:48.010 --> 00:44:49.989 learning to master the different surfaces in 00:44:49.989 --> 00:44:52.150 life, knowing when to put your foot down on the 00:44:52.150 --> 00:44:54.369 smooth stretches and knowing how to delicately 00:44:54.369 --> 00:44:56.550 balance the throttle when you hit the sliding, 00:44:56.789 --> 00:44:59.389 muddy, chaotic moments is what builds ultimate 00:44:59.389 --> 00:45:02.110 resilience. Mastering the transitions. Knowing 00:45:02.110 --> 00:45:04.530 how to carry your momentum from the tarmac into 00:45:04.530 --> 00:45:07.860 the dirt without losing control. Precisely. But 00:45:07.860 --> 00:45:09.599 before we close the book on this deep dive, I 00:45:09.599 --> 00:45:11.880 want to leave you with one final slightly provocative 00:45:11.880 --> 00:45:15.099 thought to mull over. We have spent this entire 00:45:15.099 --> 00:45:17.300 hour marveling at the mechanics and the soul 00:45:17.300 --> 00:45:19.860 of this sport. We have talked extensively about 00:45:19.860 --> 00:45:22.800 those roaring, fuel -heavy, fire -spitting 600 00:45:22.800 --> 00:45:24.820 horsepower combustion engines. The loud ones. 00:45:25.179 --> 00:45:27.800 But we are living in a world defined by the rapid, 00:45:28.059 --> 00:45:30.500 seemingly unstoppable advancement of electric 00:45:30.500 --> 00:45:33.940 vehicles. It is only a matter of time. How long 00:45:33.940 --> 00:45:36.199 will it be before those screaming, violently 00:45:36.199 --> 00:45:38.619 loud combustion engines in the Irish Rallycross 00:45:38.619 --> 00:45:41.840 Championship are forced by regulation to transition 00:45:41.840 --> 00:45:45.559 to silent, instant -torque electric motors? And 00:45:45.559 --> 00:45:48.039 when that happens, what changes? Will a fully 00:45:48.039 --> 00:45:51.280 electric IRX lose its gritty, visceral, deafening 00:45:51.280 --> 00:45:54.619 soul? Or, because electric motors deliver 100 00:45:54.619 --> 00:45:56.920 % of their torque instantly to all four wheels, 00:45:57.420 --> 00:45:59.659 will the racing become even faster, even more 00:45:59.659 --> 00:46:02.059 violent, and even more thrilling? That is an 00:46:02.059 --> 00:46:04.400 incredible visual to ponder. Imagine standing 00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:06.920 against that concrete barrier, watching a pack 00:46:06.920 --> 00:46:09.179 of supercars launch off the tarmac into the mud, 00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:12.019 throwing gravel everywhere, drifting inches from 00:46:12.019 --> 00:46:14.340 each other in complete eerie silence. It would 00:46:14.340 --> 00:46:16.780 be a totally different breed of monster. We will 00:46:16.780 --> 00:46:19.239 have to wait and see what the future holds for 00:46:19.239 --> 00:46:22.579 the mud and tarmac of Mandela Park. Thank you 00:46:22.579 --> 00:46:24.719 so much for joining us on this massive journey 00:46:24.719 --> 00:46:27.559 into the grit. the gears, and the glory of the 00:46:27.559 --> 00:46:30.559 Irish Rallycross Championship. Keep looking closely 00:46:30.559 --> 00:46:32.719 at the sources around you, keep asking questions 00:46:32.719 --> 00:46:34.840 about how things work, and we will see you on 00:46:34.840 --> 00:46:35.739 the next Deep Dive.