Cork's Conor Shanahan aiming to repeat 20-year drifting success at Mondello
Europe’s next Drift champion, Cork drifter and Red Bull Athlete Conor Shanahan at Mondello Park. ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
CONOR Shanahan admits his dad John initially hated his sporting choice, even though he’s an expert himself in flooring a pedal and tearing into hairpins as a multiple Irish rally champion.
His mother Valerie was also the only Irishwoman to win a national Autoglass championship so they’re not the kind of parents to baulk at their kids spinning doughnuts in the back-yard in Mallow.
Yet even they initially raised an eyebrow at Drifting.
It's basically a 30-second sprint through chicanes, shoulder-to-shoulder with an opponent but travelling at over 100 miles an-hour, often blinded by the smoke of their burning rubber.
Not only are you deliberately shunting your car into an oversteer to slide around tight corners, this ear-splitting mechanical tango is not a first-past-the-post tussle, it’s a judged event.
Three judges mark the drivers on angle, speed and their ability to keep the best line.
If you’re the chaser you’re trying to anticipate and replicate your opponent’s, getting door-to-door with while not touching them.
The Shanahan boys don’t just love drifting - they excel at it.
Jack is already a two-time British champion and now Conor (19), four years younger, is looking to become the youngest ever winner of the Drift Masters European Championships (DMEC).
The six-leg series usually ends in Kildare’s Mondello Park but it’s actually starting there this weekend, where Conor, runner up to Poland’s Piotr Wiecek for the European title last season, has more pressure than usual on his young shoulders.
First up Irish drivers have always won the Irish leg.
“There’s a streak of 20 years that can be lost here so every Irish fan in the grandstand will be hoping that doesn’t get broke on Sunday,” he explains.
He’s remarkably cool for a 19 year-old, in and out of his Toyota GT86, with a Red Bull sponsorship franking his personality and their targeted demographic.
Like all motorsport, you must push technology to improve and, with that, comes big risk.
To try to get a jump on Wiecek, Shanahan has just switched to the experimental tyres that his rival debuted last season: “They’re like chewing gum, so soft!.
That causes understeering and, in this high-octane tango, can play havoc with steering.
That, alone, is a high-wire act but, with the world’s supply chains in tatters, his new wheels aren’t arriving until today (Thurs), giving him minimal testing time.
That’s not down to bad planning.
Shanahan had actually intended to move circuits to race in the prestigious Russian Drift Series this year (which Jack won in 2021).
He was actually due to race with a Ukrainian team there but his car livery now has several ‘Stand with Ukraine’ stickers.
"It was a bit of a sickener. We literally had a contract almost signed,” he reveals. “In the space of three weeks we had to pull a full European budget together so it has been a stressful couple of weeks to get here, we hadn't planned on doing the full championship.” The international federation (FIA) has, noticeably, also pulled its big drifting event from Russia this year so he’s had a quick lesson in the geopolitics of sport and admits that, once the war started “I don't think as an athlete I'd drive there.” So even someone as laid-back as Shanahan – who starting racing at this level in his early teens and, at 15, made a cameo appearance on ‘The Grand Tour’ with Jeremy Clarkson – is a little edgy ahead of this season opener.
Up to 8000 fans are expected to flock to the home of Irish motorsport this weekend, not least because domestic drivers have had so much success already in this burgeoning sport.
The Shanahans live two minutes away from the Deanes – James and Mike – and James is already a multiple European champion who has won three races on the American circuit.
Jack Shanahan is also close to Thomas Kiely, a driver who is now returning to the drifting circuit.
"My dad hated the sport at the start, he had no interest in it and didn't want to be involved. Thomas and my brother were best friends growing up racing together. One day they decided to buy a BMW and just start messing around.
"In the space of four years they were fighting for a pro championship in two of the best cars in Irish Drifting. It kind of went from nothing to all in.” Conor played soccer at county level for Cork and also a bit of hurling.
He initially competed in karting and loved circuit racing but, watching his brother do well in an event in Poland when he was in his early teens, flicked the switch.
“"Back then it (circuit racing) wasn't an opportunity. We didn't have the financial support to do it so I'm glad that I picked a sport where I could try and make a name for myself and obviously pick up sponsors along the way and get recognised.
“I'm starting to look at different options now, to see if I can go back into the likes of circuit racing or do some rallying.” But first he wants to conquer European drifting and his parents, at least, have been converted.
"We turned Dad around big time,” he grins. “Once he was in, he was all in. He still drives the truck all around Europe for most of the events.” What happens when it’s brother-v-brother at this level?
"We've both pushed each other and for people who are so competitive, we've never really had a falling out over motorsport, which is a great thing.
“We do have battles (head-to-heads). It’s OK if it's a final because you know you're both getting on the podium but, last year, a couple of times we battled early on. Once we leave the pits, put the helmet on and put it in gear, he's a rival the same as anybody else.” And what about their parents, especially if their sons ever meet in a final?
"I think they'd close their eyes, go to the podium and see who wins! I don't think they'd be cheering for anybody!” he laughs.
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