Teenage racer says she fears driving on Irish roads due to speeding cars

Louise Walsh

A teenage car racer who drives at speeds up to 160km per hour on circuits says she hates being a passenger on Irish roads because of the speed of other cars.

Holly Dunnion (15) became the first ever female winner of an Irish Championship Circuit Racing (ICCR) event at Mondello Park last year and was on the podium for most of the races in her maiden year.

The young student from Duleek, who finished her Junior Certificate last month, started karting when she was just seven years old and in recent years has progressed to racing cars in her Mini Cooper.

"Motorsport has been my whole life," she said. "My granddad Mike is a rally driver and he has brought me to motorsport events all over Ireland and Europe and my dad Michael has raced karts since he was a teenager, so it is pretty much in the blood.

"Progressing from racing a kart to a car was a big challenge in mastering the gears and just managing a bigger vehicle. The fastest I have ever driven is over 160kmh but I know to slow down to go around beds and corners safely but still maintain enough speed to win.

"I have a junior circuit race licence which means that I obviously can't drive on the public roads and my race car cannot have an engine bigger than 1.6 litres.

"A few years ago, I would've probably been one of a very few females in the sport but there are more and more coming in as the years go by. Last year there was another girl and there are three more this year in my 14-17-year-old class alone.

"I think it is really important to show young girls what they can achieve in any sport and there is no reason girls can't compete on an equal basis with the boys," she says. "I get custom driving suits made because the standard suits available are more designed for men so the fit around my hips isn’t comfortable and I find the seats in the cars are more narrow for my hips and legs but too wide for my shoulders, which is a bit of a struggle. But once I'm on that track, nothing else matters. I'm focussed and that's it!

"If I'm out in my parents or anyone else's car, I'm a terrible passenger. I can't be a passenger any more.

" I just think other drivers go too fast and I know that is a weird thing to say because of the speeds I do, but I'm on a circuit with no oncoming traffic and no pedestrians or passengers. It's monitored.

"I'm probably very aware of the dangers of speed but it is all controlled on the track rather than on the roads.

"We had a break from racing this year while the teenage racing drivers sat their exams both north and south of the border, so we only got back racing in July and I am loving it. I set the fourth fastest lap time in Mondello in recent weeks and I am off to Wales to race at the start of August."