WHEN IRISH EYES ARE SMILING!
The St. Patrick's Day weekend became a special weekend for a few of our Brentwood drivers. Midge organised a trip to Northern Island, to the Ballymoney Oval Carpet Racers Club in Belfast. Heading off at silly o'clock Friday morning (17th March), the boys headed to the docks in Liverpool to board the ferry for the eight hour crossing to Belfast, where they then drove for another hour before reaching their hotel near to the club. Taking this epic journey was Simon "Midge" Alexander himself, along with Darren "Divvy" Goldberg, Darren "Ginge" Howard, Alan Trickett, Ross Mason, Jimmy Spicknell, Dylan "Bellend" Ellis and Michael Collins.
With the early start, many took advantage of the eight hour crossing to catch up with some sleep as well as enjoying an on-board breakfast.
The guys promised to keep us updated with their journey and they didn't disappoint, posting regular updates and photographs to the clubs Facebook page, many of which I will use here today.
Having rested and refreshed themselves, the guys then headed out for the evening to join the celebrations for St Patrick's day!
On Saturday, with some feeling the after effects of all that Guinness, they headed to the Ballymoney club for a day of racing, then back to the hotel for a shower and change, before heading out for a meal and another celebration, this time, Divvy's birthday!
On Sunday, having breakfasted and loading up once again, they then made the long journey home to England, again via the Ports of Belfast and Liverpool, before the long drive home, crawling into their own beds late on Sunday evening!
This is their journey.
PREPARING FOR THE TRIP
Preparations started long in advance, with the guys taking special care to build their cars and have their bodyshells signwritten. And I have to say, their efforts were fantastic!
THE OUTWARD BOUND JOURNEY
An early start on Friday and a four hour drive to Liverpool Docks, was a little overwhelming for some!
Once on board the ferry, with eight hours to kill, it was time for some breakfast, some male bonding for Divvy and Dylan, a little recreation and then some time to catch up on those missing zzzzzzzzzzzzz's!
Having survived the long crossing, the boys then had another hour's drive before reaching their hotel. Once unpacked, showered and refreshed, it was now time to head out for dinner and an evening of St. Patrick's Day celebrations!
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SATURDAY MORNING AND IT'S RACE DAY!
On Saturday morning the guys woke early and refreshed (after all that Guinness? Yeah, right! lol). After a hearty breakfast, they all headed off to the Ballymoney Carpet Oval Racers Club to familiarise themselves with the track, and to meet the guys they'd been in contact with over the past few weeks.
There was some excellent tin on display for the Grand Parade, and CONGRATULATIONS have to go to Ginge, who was presented with the Smart Car Award! Well done Darren, a worthy recognition of all your hard work on that brilliant shell!
SHAMWRECK CHAMPIONSHIP
Racing was soon underway, and the first race of the day was the Shamrock Championship. Michael completed just 7 laps before taking a flying lesson, over the fence and out of the race! Midge managed just 2 more laps than Michael, then found himself on his roof in the track centre! (Oh my, this wasn't supposed to happen!) Jimmy fared a little better and managed 23 laps to finish in 15th place. Allan came home in 14th place with 28 laps, and Ross completed 34 laps to finish in 11th place. (Getting better!). Things really improved then with the racers of the group managing to get higher up in the results. Dylan came home in 5th place with 51 laps, and with 54 laps, Divvy finished in 4th place, just losing out on splits from Ginge, who clinched 3rd place. (That's more like it!). Congratulations to local men, Peter Greer who took 2nd place, and the Shamwreck winner, Kieran McIvor.
IRISH OPEN BANGER CHAMPIONSHIP
The Shamwreck Championship race was also classed as round one of the Irish Open, so we move on to round two. Ross failed to register any laps (we think because he forgot to give race control his new transponder number!). It was Dylan's turn to take flying lesson, and after completing 18 laps, he too found himself the wrong side of the fence! Midge completed 29 laps and finished in 11th place, with Jimmy just one lap, and one place in front of him. Michael came home in 8th place with 42 laps, and Alan came home in 4th place with 49 laps. Ginge finished in 2nd place with 61 laps, and coming home to take the chequered flag with a resounding 64 laps was our very own Divvy! Well done Divvy, great news!
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In round three, Dylan completed the heats with yet another disastrous race, and completed just 8 laps! Midge managed 20 laps and finished in 14th place, whilst Jimmy finished 12th with 31 laps. Ross came home in 10th place with 43 laps, and Alan completed 54 laps to finish 7th. Michael took 6th place on splits from Alan, and Ginge came home in 4th place with 56 laps. But with 63 laps, 5 laps ahead of the 2nd place man was our Divvy once again! Another great finish Divvy, keep it up!
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Sadly, Ross failed to make it out for the Final, and had to watch the action from the comfort of the pits. High on his success of two heat wins, Divvy was running for gold, but met an unfortunate early end to the race when disaster struck, having completed just 7 laps! Midge finished in 13th place with 15 laps, with Ginge clinching 12th place on splits! Michael completed 29 laps to finish in 11th place, and 9th place went to Alan with 36 laps. Jimmy finished in 8th place with 41 laps, but flying home, determined to make amends for his failures in the heat, Dylan completed 62 laps to cross the winning line in 1st place and so lifted the tin as the new Irish Open Banger Champion! Congratulations Dylan, not such a bellend after all! Amazing achievement!
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To top off the day's racing, the DD saw the Irish boys drop out, one by one, eventually leaving just Divvy and Jimmy to battle it out. Divvy then made a huge mistake, by rolling himself on to his roof, rendering him helpless and handing the win to Jimmy! Well-done Jim, you're rapidly becoming the away-day DD king!
1300 STOCK CARS
Also racing today were our popular 1300's. Twenty one drivers took part in the mixed heats, with just the top seven going into the A Final. Ginge managed 4th, 6th, and 6th; Ross got 7th, 7th, and DNS; Divvy was placed 3rd, 6th, and 1st; Midge managed 7th, 6th, and 7th; and Michael achieved 4th, 7th, and 3rd. Despite what looks fairly good results, none of our boys made it into the A Final.
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So the guys had a great day's racing, and would like to express their heartiest gratitude to everyone in Ireland, who had made them all feel extremely welcome. And we look forward to returning the favour, when the Irish lads visit Brentwood later in the year!
Happy with their achievements of the day, it was time for a sociable evening. Michael and Ginge had a lovely meal at the hotel with their long suffering wives, whilst Divvy, Midge, Jimmy, Alan, and Ross headed out for a meal, then onto a nightclub to celebrate Divvy's birthday! (Photos from this point on remain private! lol). Dylan chose not to join them, opting instead to stay in the hotel and take care of his hard earned shield!
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They then spent the day on Sunday making the return journey and finally collapsed into their own beds late Sunday evening, very tired, but very satisfied with an excellent weekend of racing and jovial banter!
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Welcome home lads! And once again, congratulations
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DYLAN ELLIS - IRISH OPEN BANGER CHAMPION 2017!
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I guess you'll be booking your return trip for next year to defend your title?
