A lot has happened in more than 10 years of Shannons Nationals competition.
There have been more than 1,600 races staged, more than 20,000 competitive racing laps battled and a remarkable array of more than 600 drivers participating—so surely finding 99 memorable moments wouldn’t be a hardship?
You would, however, be surprised. The sheer amount of stuff going on means that races that occurred in 2006 now seem like a very distant memory from more recent affairs.
So to chart the history books and pinpoint some of the most significant moments that made us, we locked Garry O’Brien and Richard Craill in the Media Centre (and by Media Centre, we mean a bar) and set them to work.
With 197 rounds between them (Craill, the slacker, missed one but ‘Garry Was There’ for them all), between them there’s enough grey matter left to pinpoint some of the biggest moments from the last 99 rounds.
Genesis, Wakefield Park 2006
Wakefield Park, on reflection, seems like the perfect place to launch the Nationals.
Low key enough to let people go about their business to establish something new, but with that great family vibe that really engages people.
Turned out it worked too, with Formula 3, Production Cars, Commodore Cup, Saloon Cars and Sports Sedans forming a core group of categories.
With the series under Rob Curkpatrick’s stewardship it marked the early years of a something that would grow much bigger than ever.
