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Posted
Jan 03 2012, 01:00 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 2 comment(s)
I'm certain that any of you familiar with the World Rally Championship will recognise the name 'Kris Meeke'. Asides from being the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Champion, Meeke made his WRC debut last year behind the wheel of the new Mini JCW WRC and scored his first WRC points at Catalunya. Before his rally career went into overdrive, Meeke tried his hand at drifting at the opening round of the 2008 Prodrift Series. Behind the wheel of the WKD Imports RPS13, Meeke, who had never drifted...
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Posted
Sep 19 2011, 06:55 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 10 comment(s)
Darren: There’s no smoke without fire...
Fredric: Right on the money! The Prodrift Mondello finals were definitely one for the books. I'll start where we left off in part 1 – at the very moment we lined up for the Top 16 driver introductions. The crowd was crazy loud! The Irish certainly knows how to put on a warm welcome! I stood right next to my top 16 battle opponent Mike Deane, and just like the rest of the Deanes (there's a lot of them!) he brings a great vibe. With all the anticipation in the air and Mike looking like a young Robert Redford it kind of felt like we were at the grid for a 60's Le Mans race!...
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Posted
Sep 17 2011, 05:26 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 11 comment(s)
Fredric: Hello Speedhunters! Here's part one of our writeup from the Prodrift Finals at Mondello Park in Ireland. It was an absolutely incredible weekend and in all seriousness it was one of the absolutely best drifting events I have ever attended. Every time I have met my Irish friends around the world they have always put a smile on my face, but visiting them at their home turf took it to a whole new level. It was about to get crazy. Fredric: The Prodrift Finals at Mondello Park was the second...
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Posted
Sep 16 2011, 08:00 PM
by
Ross Ianson
with 5 comment(s)
Believe it or not my recent visit to the the Prodrift Finals was my first ever attendance at an Irish drift event. Crazy I know. Over the last decade Ireland has produced some of Europe's - and dare I say it, the World's - finest drifters. Names like McNamara, Deane, Kerney, Luney, Colfer are among the truly great names in drifting. I met up with Paddy and Rod at Mondello Park to have a look at the new blood coming through the Prodrift ranks in the form of the top 32 Semi-Pro finals. There...
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Posted
Sep 15 2011, 10:00 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 9 comment(s)
For the majority of the Need for Speed team, this was their first Irish Prodrift event. Rod, Ross and Fredric had never experienced the Prodrift machine in action on its home soil. Ireland may only have one international standard race circuit and even at that only has two layouts suitable for a competitive drift event but it has never stopped our drivers' developing to a level where they are competitive on an international scale. Even current Formula D points leader, Dai Yoshihara, commented...
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Posted
Sep 11 2011, 10:00 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 22 comment(s)
After what must have been the toughest and closest fought drift event I've ever witnessed on these shores, James Deane eventually emerged victorious in the Low Brain Drifter's PS13. The event which saw some serious upsets during qualifying came down to a final between James and our own D-Mac. However, upon initiation Darren cut the first turn slightly, damaging the sump of the Need for Speed '86. Shortly after the escaping engine oil erupted in a lick of flame before extinguishing itself...
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Posted
Sep 10 2011, 04:00 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 5 comment(s)
It's not long now before the Irish leg of our little Team NFS drift tour kicks off in full effect. I really have no idea what is going to happen tomorrow! There is so much talent converging on Mondello Park that the name of the victor could be anyone's guess. In the meantime, I've packaged up a few images from today's practice session to wet your appetite. Speaking to Fredric Aasbo this evening, he seems very happy the competitiveness of the Supra. In this shot, he's following...
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Posted
Sep 10 2011, 11:00 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 11 comment(s)
It really is amazing. A couple of years back - maybe 2007/8 - I watched and photographed Darren unloading his SR86 onto Irish soil for the first time since he made his name in the US. It was also here back in 2005 I believe that Darren unveiled his SR86 for the very first time. I don't think either of us could have imagined just how far things have some in the space of these short few years. This weekend at Mondello Park, we will be wrapping up the Team Need for Speed UK & Ireland tour. After...
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Posted
Jun 16 2011, 03:00 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 4 comment(s)
Whilst searching through my archives for a photograph, I got sidetracked by some old Prodrift photographs from 2008. Although it has only been three years, it's amazing to see how far both of these drivers have come along. With Eric O'Sullivan now driving for Gardella Racing and Frederic being one of our own Team Need for Speed guys, I don't think either driver could have envisioned then where they are now. I wonder will we get to see a repeat of this battle during the 2011 Formula D...
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Posted
Apr 23 2011, 07:30 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 18 comment(s)
Neil Shen from Irish car culture site JuiceBox for You just dropped his interpretation of the first 2011 Prodrift round. The event took place in Ennis, Ireland last weekend where SR86 pilot Alan Sinnott took the overall win. We'll be keeping an eye on Prodrift where we can and have planned coverage of the series later in the year. This video is worth purely for the sound of John Paul McCarthy's E39 M5 powered E36 saloon at the end.
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Paddy McGrath
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Posted
Sep 28 2010, 02:35 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 8 comment(s)
Formula D regular James Deane picked up his second Prodrift Series title this weekend gone. The reigning 2008 champion made it look all too easy, picking up two wins from the first three events before topping it off with a win at the final round in Fermoy on Sunday. The event saw him take down his team mate Christy Carpenter in an epic top four battle before eliminating Damien Shortt in the final. All of us at Speedhunters would like to congratulate James on his success and wish him the best of luck...
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Posted
Mar 17 2010, 10:33 AM
by
Ross Ianson
with 47 comment(s)
As its St Patricks day its only right we should feature a Irish driver to mark the occasion. Dublin based Danni Murphy is now in her 3rd year of competitive drifting was the first and so far only woman to have been granted a pro license in Ireland -backing up her licensing performance with consistent top 16 qualifying in her first 3 Prodrift Ireland events. She's now here in the UK making her mark as one of the up-and-coming stars of UK drifting. Danni made her UK debut in the 2009 BDC semi pro...
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Posted
Aug 05 2009, 04:12 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 15 comment(s)
When Rod asked the staff to come up with an '86 related feature for 86 Day, I admit I did have to spend some time considering what to shoot. Ireland has quite an illustrious past with the wee hachi-roku, most commonly refered to as a 'twin-cam' or 'cam' in these parts. My first plan was to roll back the years on some of the most famous '86s that have emerged from this small island. DMac's infamous Falken car and Eric O'Sullivans F20C Rockstar car would obviously be...
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Posted
Aug 05 2009, 11:24 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 5 comment(s)
This weekend gone saw the third round of the Irish Prodrift Series take place at Mondello Park, the only international race circuit in Ireland. With entry speeds of 100mph and a new line for the drivers to follow, plenty of action was on the cards for those in attendance. Like previous rounds, round three was all about the outside clipping point with only one inside clipping point on the course that was situated on the first corner. The outer clipping points increased the difficulty of the course...
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Posted
Jun 08 2009, 05:02 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 12 comment(s)
I felt some sympathy for Lihnbergh and the rest of the Speedhunters team in Jersey this weekend gone, as The Wall turned into The Pool . It's a scene I'm all too familiar with, but for one weekend in May, Ireland swapped weather systems and the sun unleashed its unrelenting heat on the Prodrift Punchestown course. We spoke about the rear clipping zone in Part II and this shot of Martin Ffrench displays the difference between non-seeded pro and seeded pro class, not only do you need to get...
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Posted
Jun 08 2009, 08:19 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 8 comment(s)
Saturday morning saw the UK drivers arrive to Punchestown andit also saw the start to what was one of the hottest days in recent memory for the emerald isle.Punchestown is traditionally known as one of the worlds most famous horse racing courses. But for one weekend a year, a different kinds of horsepower takes over the Kildare countryside venue. It's not very often we see blue skies here so you'll be seeing plenty of them in this post. Team Japspeed's four car lineup along with the SkylineParts...
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Posted
Jun 07 2009, 09:20 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 6 comment(s)
One of these days, I'm going to write a report where there was no hardship involved. Where everything ran according to plan and there were no sleepless nights or tearing hair out moments. But until that day, I'm just going to keep covering them as they happen. This story starts at Wexican Motorsport where Dean 'Karnage' Kearney is just after fitting a new TD06 turbo to his Maxxis endorsed Nissan Onevia. After everything was fitted, the car needed to be mapped on the Wexican rolling...
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Posted
Apr 29 2009, 08:21 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 6 comment(s)
We got some requests from the Wall Rubbin' post for some more shots of the car, so thought it would be cool to pull Martin and the car aside for a quick spotlight ! The car is Martins T-Car, that is, it's his backup car whilst the Altezza is being completed. It's the same S14 you may remember from last year but with some minor and even major differences. The front bumper is Works 9, matched up with some URAS sideskirts and rear bumper. The rear wing is a custom buit Wexican Motorsport...
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Posted
Apr 27 2009, 12:31 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 7 comment(s)
Rain and lots of it. That is what greeted the packed out Ennis venue, where the first round of the 2009 Irish Prodrift Series took place. The inaugural round of 2009 saw rain fall on both days but heaviest on the Sunday main event. The Saturday stage of the event now hosts the qualifying session for the Pro Class for the Top 16 battles and in it's place on the Sunday is the all new Prodrift Super Lap. The Top 16 qualifiers from Saturday go through to the PD Superlap on Sunday. In order of 1,...
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Posted
Apr 25 2009, 02:51 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 9 comment(s)
Speedhunters endorsed Martin Ffrench returned to the Irish drifting scene today and nailed a perfect run to earn him number one qualifier going into tomorrows Top 16 battles of the first round of the 2009 Irish Prodrift Series. With runs as tight as this, it's not difficult to see why ! Some more coverage on Driftworks Full event coverage coming soon on Speedhunters.com !
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