Name: Paddy McGrath
Location: Waterford, Ireland.
Career Path: Graphic Designer / Photographer
Previous Career Paths: Student
Notable
Projects/Wins: Currently helping to develop Wexican Motorsport into an
internationaly recognised tuning company. I’ve also been rubbed by a
boot spoiler attached to a 450bhp S14 travelling sideways at around 80mph and I’m still here if that counts ?
Drives: Women Wild
Next Car: RPS13 180SX or a tidy Japanese spec AE86.
Car
Passions: I’ve dedicated my life thus far and my future career to
motoring, which I think says a lot. Have grown up around cars and hope
to make a successful career out of doing what I love.
Personal Style: Baggy Jeans, dark hoodies and DC Shoes.
Favourite Band of the Moment: Metallica
Personal Motto: Work smart, not hard.
3,946
Posted
Mar 06 2010, 09:32 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 22 comment(s)
Hot off the press, current Prodrift Super Series champion Dean 'Karnage' Kearney will compete in the 2010 Formula D championship. Rumours of the move increased when Dean put his championship winning S13 Onevia up for sale mid-week. It's now offficial,check out the links below for more details on the announcement - Paddy Intec Racing Dean Kearney
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Posted
Mar 03 2010, 08:29 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 3 comment(s)
Stephane from Clash just re-released this video of Sumo Powers 950HP R33 Skyline running an 8.27 1/4 mile at Santa Pod.
Thought it would be fitting on R33 day, enjoy !
- Paddy
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3,946
Posted
Mar 02 2010, 07:04 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 5 comment(s)
As a small contribution to R32 day, head over to the desktops section to grab this wallpaper of Bon decimating another set of Federal tyres. - Paddy
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Posted
Jan 31 2010, 02:16 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 23 comment(s)
A word of warning. This post contains no JDM material. Nada. Zilch. Reader discretion is advised. 'Concours' is a word not often discussed on these very pages. Although it literally translates to 'contest', the word connotes cleanliness, originality and even a certain level of perfection. We've become obsessed with modifications as a reflection of our own personalities. We all all want to be identified as unique, as our own selves which is of course is perfectly natural. But when...
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3,946
Posted
Jan 10 2010, 07:39 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 25 comment(s)
Unlike my North American counterparts, we're not really used to this much snow and ice here in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Just going to take this post to urge our readers who are being affected by this weather, to take it easy on the roads during this cold spell. It's far too easy to under estimate how dangerous these conditions can be. Please stay alert when driving, leave as much room as possible between you and the car in front and only travel if it's absolutely necessary. Take...
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Posted
Jan 09 2010, 11:15 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 9 comment(s)
As requested, you can head over to the Desktops section and grab both the regular and wide version of Pat McDonagh's Sierra Cosworth - Paddy
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3,946
Posted
Jan 09 2010, 09:02 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 53 comment(s)
I might be miles behind the times but I just found this video on the Driftworks forum and was absolutely blown away by these last few laps in the ALMS GT2 class at Laguna Seca between Jorg Bergmeister and Jan Magnussen. I'll be making a point of following this series in 2010.
The main question is, who do you think was right or wrong on the last corner of the last lap ?
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Posted
Jan 08 2010, 11:12 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 9 comment(s)
Just simply awesome.
- Paddy
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3,946
Posted
Jan 08 2010, 05:59 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 31 comment(s)
To this day I remain adamant that Ford were the real creators of drifting, from the Escorts through to the Cosworths, they made sliding cool long before we put a name on it. I present to you Exhibit D, Pat McDonaghs road legal Prodrift Series car, the Ford Sierra Cosworth. It just looks so at home travelling on opposite lock.
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Posted
Jan 08 2010, 01:30 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 29 comment(s)
The Prodrift Series grid has seen some really innovative swaps over the last few years. Some swaps are done as the easiest route to more power, others are done for reliability and others are done to conform to a tight budget. Here is what I think to be the ten best swaps to grace the Prodrift grid since the series was founded. (above) #10 - James Deane's SR20 Mazda RX7 FD3S - It's one of the bravest conversions that I can remember, swapping out the much loved 13B rotary for the reknowned...
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3,946
Posted
Dec 06 2009, 01:36 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 37 comment(s)
2009 has been a difficult year. Graduating from college to enter a world where no work is available has been tough. Watching others struggle on in the same vein, was quite disheartening. I'm sure a lot of you guys will share similar experiences but I hope that when you look back, like me, those everyday niggles cannot compare with hanging out with your mates, bearing the burden together. It might be financially tough, but once the craic is had, it's always worth it. I wouldn't change...
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Posted
Nov 07 2009, 01:22 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 25 comment(s)
When I met Darren for his headshots for the DMac retrospective , he had only just put the finishing touches to the latest incarnation of the MCNSport AE86. It's been several months since I last saw the car tucked away at the MCNSport shop; before that it was at an AE86 trackday at Mondello Park. I'd heard a few rumours circulating around for a while that the guys were planning all sorts of different engine conversions for the lightweight Trueno. 20V's and Formula Atlantic 4AGE's were...
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3,946
Posted
Oct 31 2009, 10:53 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 8 comment(s)
There aren't too many drift dynasties around. Let alone one quite as successful as these two brothers. Born and raised in County Cork, in the south of Ireland, James (L) and Mike (R) are the most successful brothers in the European drifting world. To get a better view of this story, we need to go back to 2004, where I first saw Mike competeing in an E30 325 BMW. . Like pretty much all Irish drift stories, this one again begins at the home of Irish drifting, the Rosegreen / Tipperary International...
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Posted
Oct 22 2009, 09:51 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 13 comment(s)
I have been lucky enough to be involved in Irish drifting from pretty much the beginning. This means that I have been even luckier to watch the rise of some of the best drifters to emerge from this green isle. For drivers month I'm going to be preparing two stories for you all to read. The first of which is the story of a man who surely needs little introduction; Darren McNamara ... Going back to 2004, I got to cover my first ever drift event. Armed with a Fuji 'point & shoot' camera...
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3,946
Posted
Sep 19 2009, 11:00 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 4 comment(s)
Dean “Karnage” Kearney, the 2009 Prodrift Super Series champion, has confirmed he'll be competing in Formula D next month. The final round of the 2009 American drifting championship will be staged at the Toyota Speedway -more popularly known as the “House of Drift”- in Irwindale, California on October 16h & 17th. Dean's ambition to compete in the USA came after witnessing the REDBULL Drifting World Championships in 2008 at the port of Long Beach and he wanted to...
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Posted
Sep 14 2009, 11:30 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 9 comment(s)
I spotted this car last year whilst at the Swedish round of the Prodrift European Series. It all looks very ordinary, but under the hood lies an S62 4.9L V8 pumping out 400 horsepower. On the flight back I was talking to our guy who works the startline and when the car first rolled up, he thought the car was down a cylinder (not knowing about the V8 conversion) He signalled this to the driver who smiled and replied that it wasn't down one; but up four. - Paddy
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3,946
Posted
Sep 01 2009, 02:45 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 37 comment(s)
Since I started contributing to Speedhunters, my main area of focus has always centred around drifting and with that, predominantly its been about the Prodrift Series. Of course I have no complaints about this area of work, but I often find myself wanting outside of these tight JDM orientated circles. When Rod dropped me the line to say that September was to be BMW Month, I knew, I just knew I had to find an M3. I don't know a whole lot about the history of BMW but I do know what I like. With...
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Posted
Aug 05 2009, 04:12 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 14 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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3,946
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
Jul 11 2009, 05:21 PM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 17 comment(s)
‘The side numbers were usually the first thing that spectators saw of my Escorts.’ These words from motoring legend Ari Vatanen, are for most, what epitomize the story of the Ford Escort. They were always driven the hardest and usually, the most sideways. In their prime, the Escorts won more rallies, races and rallycross events than any other car in the world. They were driven by some of the biggest names in rallying; Timo Makinen, Roger Clark, Hannu Mikola, Bjorn Waldegard, Ari Vatanen...
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