THE picturesque village of Adare will host the first ever Irish Festival of Speed (IFS) during the Bank Holiday weekend, (Sunday, July 31).
Organised by a group of motor sport and motoring enthusiasts, it will commemorate the region’s rich racing heritage, in particular, the 75th anniversary of the 1936 Limerick Grand Prix and the creation of the Limerick Motor Club in 1907 by Lord Dunraven.
A spokesman for the IFS said:
“The quaint village of Adare and the grounds of the 5-Star Adare Manor Hotel, were chosen as the perfect location for the Festival and in keeping with the venue, the event will be a first class one, particularly in the quality of our competition and display cars, as well as the numerous family attractions”.
The festival partner is the tyre manufacturer, Dunlop Tyres, which has supplied many Grand Prix, Le Mans and TT winners over the years.
Among the many events, the feature will be the Limerick Motor Club Sprint - a competition sprint of about 1.5kms on the IFS asphalt race track with over 80 cars taking part.
Formula 1 racing will be represented in the form of Rubens Barrichello’s Jordan F1 car along with the R5 Jaguar F1 car, as driven by David Coulthard and Mark Webber. One of the cars will be used for track demonstrations, while the other will be put to use in the Charity Pit-Stop Challenge.
British manufacturer Morgan, will display its new 3 Wheeler, Aero SuperSports and Plus Four at the event for the first time in Ireland and Maserati’s new GranTurismo MC Stradale will also be unveiled in Ireland for the very first time.
Among the other attractions taking place are Classic Car displays: the Concours d’Elegence competition which welcomes a host of visitors from around the world to celebrate the finest automobiles: owner clubs will be attending, including Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, BWM, Ford RS and many others: Aerobatic Air Display with two of Ireland’s top stunt pilots: Model Aircraft flying: Trade exhibitors: Numerous Family Fun events, music and more… Prizes sponsored by Keane’s Jewellers and TAG Heure watches.
