Were you there the day they brought racing cars to Ballyfinnane?- one week on and competitors have sent in great reviews of the event

Were you there?

Photos by Mad4Tar

Were you there the day they brought racing cars to Ballyfinnane

There is no doubt that last Sunday’s Brian O’Neill Garden Equipment and Trailers Ballyfinnane Hillclimb will go down in Kerry motorsport history.

Kerry Motor Club and the Ballyfinnane Community Hall Association joined forces to mark the 120^th anniversary of the first motorsport event in the country.

Since the historic occasion, competitors have been lining up to sing the event’s praises.

Writing on Facebook, event winner John Donnelly said:

“Now that the dust has settled after our hillclimb weekend, it’s time to give a massive shoutout to Kerry Motor Club and the Ballyfinnane Community Hall Association for a fantastic weekend’s motorsport.  A big thank you to all the volunteers, marshals, timekeepers, ambulance, rescue and everyone involved in the organising and running of the hill.  It was a privilege to take part in such a historic event and made all the better by coming away with the win! 

“The enormous amount of effort which had gone into organising the event was plain to be seen, resulting in an exceptionally well-run day where even the weather couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm.   It was great to see how involved the local community were and the sheer number of spectators despite the inclement weather.

It’s fantastic to be fit to bring a cup out of Kerry and back home to Tyrone!”

Runner-up Ben Brien said:  “A huge well done to all involved in the Ballyfinnane Hillclimb Sunday gone.

“A tremendous effort from Kerry Motor Club resulted in five timed runs in by 3.30pm in unimaginable conditions. It’s been a while since I have seen so many spectators at a hill. You put a great event together and should be very proud!”

Galway’s John McNamara said: “Thanks so much to you and all the organising committee and especially the Ballyfinnane community for organising the special event on Sunday. I really enjoyed the weekend and even though the weather was not good for you or us it was special. I was amazed with the amount of spectators that attended the event and it was brilliant to chat with them.

“It’s not easy to run such an event but fair play ye pulled off one to remember and thankfully I got a piece of memorabilia to mark the occasion. Thanks again to everyone involved.”

“A brilliant event and many thanks for all your hard work,” added Michael Tumulty while Mike Dean said it was “an excellent weekend,” and Aidan Mulchay said: “Thanks for putting on a great weekend.”

Clerk of the course Sean Moriarty said: “We all made history on Sunday,

“Just over a year ago myself and a few more people in Kerry Motor Club had a mad notion and said let us bring racing cars to Ballyfinnane to mark the 120^th anniversary of closed road motorsport in Kerry.

“Collectively, we did that. We all brought racing cars to Ballyfinnane.

“It was the first time since 2000 or 2001 that Kerry Motor Club ran a hillclimb and that was a shared event with Limerick Motor Club in County Limerick.

“It was the first time since the mid-1980s that any  Formula racing car ran at any event in Kerry

“It was the first time since July 15, 1903, that racing cars were in Ballyfinnane

“Thank you for supporting it and making your own bit of history

“This event would not have happened only for the huge support within the local community – they along with Kerry and other motor clubs made it happen.

“What is next, who knows, but hopefully in 120 years’ time people will be talking about us in the same way we are talking about Charles Rolls.”

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