Paddy McGrath Photography

Berg Cup Eschdorf

Paddy — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:55:53 +0000

I’ve always admired the Berg Cup from afar, having been introduced to it at an Autosport show some years back and more recently when visiting KW’s factory in Fichtenberg, Germany. One of the unfortunate things about the series, is the lack of coverage outside of mainland Europe. With such a vast variety of cultures and languages crammed onto one continent, this doesn’t come as a surprise. Even during my travels over the course of the last few days, one person could speak French and his neighbor German.Although the language barrier proved difficult at times, it turns out we all spoke one language in common – that certain dialect of high octane, high speed and high risks.

For full coverage of this year’s Eschdorf event, check out the stories on Speedhunters.

The Lady in Red

Paddy — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:41:55 +0000

Earlier this month, I met with a local Ford connoisseur to feature his car for a Speedhunters story. Whilst you can read the details over on SH, I thought I’d just share a couple of images here too.

Project 4848 – Part Two

Paddy — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:05:35 +0000

I’ve just landed in the door from a truly epic weekend in Luxembourg, where I was covering the first round of the Berg Cup for Speedhunters. Shortly before I left, I put the final touches to my own car and grabbed a couple of quick snaps to share with you. Since part one, I’ve made a couple of changes…

I loved the LM style wheels, they were proving a nightmare to keep and when the lacquer began to lift on one of them, I knew we would have to part ways. I always liked CSL style wheels but preferred the concavity of the rears over the flat finish on the fronts of the genuine wheels. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit a 9.5″ front wheel (especially with their offset) without reworking the front wings and probably adding coilovers to control the ride height. I had a chat with Paul in AutoAlloys and he managed to source four 9″ CSL style wheels with that concave finish for me. It’s only a subtle difference, but it really makes the car IMO.

Behind the front wheels, you’ll now notice a pair of Brembo aluminum six piston calipers with 365mm drilled and vented discs. Rebranded as ‘BMW Performance’, the brakes provide a much more reliable pedal with a lot more bite when leaned on. They were a relatively cheap upgrade too when compared with other six piston braking solutions.

I’ve also made a couple of small cosmetic changes including a full carbon fibre boot lid, a new exhaust exit and some carbon vinyl wrapping on the steering wheel trim. The car has also just received a full paint correction thanks to Larry in CleanCar.ie

Circuit of Ireland

Paddy — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:53:32 +0000

Last weekend gone saw Northern Ireland play host to the annual Circuit of Ireland rally which was also the third round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. After years and years of listening to relatives talk about the Circuit of old, I was looking forward to the challenge of my first rally in nearly a year. This is a pretty hefty post, so if you’re using 56K (does that even exist anymore?) you might want to go and make yourself a cup of tea. Full detailed coverage is available on Speedhunters …

Irish Escort Club Clare Run

Paddy — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:18:37 +0000

I recently headed out west to cover the Irish Escort Club’s annual Clare Run, which tours some of the most scenic parts of this country. I was shooting and writing for both Speedhunters and Classic Ford Magazine so it was quite a busy day but an immensely enjoyable one none the less. Be sure to check out the coverage on Speedhunters along with the upcoming feature in Classic Ford magazine.

Masters of Dirt

Paddy — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:54:50 +0000

With the start of my 2012 season rapidly approaching, I needed to get to an event to setup two new cameras and blow some cobwebs off my own skills. The Monster Energy Masters of Dirt show, which took place in City West this weekend gone, proved to be the perfect event for this task. Subjects which were fast and could change direction quickly, low light, mixed light sources and rapid action provided the perfect challenge of ‘bedding in’ my new equipment. It certainly wasn’t an easy to event to shoot. The low light forced an ISO of 2000 and relatively slow shutter speeds (much slower than what I would have liked). The lighting system inside the arena was tricky to work with too, with the riders often jumping above the lighting rigs into the darkness. Access was slightly limited – although we had almost free reign of the venue, we needed to be conscious of not blocking the views of any paying spectators.

The show itself was top class with some genuine breath taking moments. Credit to the organisers for the smooth running of the entire operation and although this was my first FMX event, I’ll definitely be looking to attend more in the future.

D-Mac’s Carina of Doom

Paddy — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:13:14 +0000

I made a quick visit to Formula D competitor Darren McNamara last week to check in and see what he has been up to over the winter months. Darren is a huge Toyota fan so it comes as no surprise that he always has a couple of interesting projects on the go. His Carina project has certainly attracted a lot of attention over on Speedhunters. It has divided opinions too, but as Darren has said, it’s not really meant to be taken too seriously and is only intended for a bit of fun. Having taken styling cues from a mix of different automotive sub-cultures (VW, JDM, USDM) it’s certainly an interesting project. It’ll be even more interesting when it receives its SR20DET conversion later this year …

Team Need for Speed D-Mac ’86

Paddy — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:29:27 +0000

You may remember late last year that I published a feature both here and on Speedhunters of Darren McNamara’s wild rotary powered AE86 build. I never got around to posting these images of the car during it’s first test day and first two events. Considering it was a completely fresh build, the success it has enjoyed at its first two events is astounding. Rarely do cars work so well out of the box. It’s a credit to Darren and the team at MCN Sport.

The Banana

Paddy — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:19:18 +0000

I thought I needed a little bit more colour on the site these days, so let me introduce you to the ‘Banana’. Bryn Alban’s Nissan Skyline is not your regular sort of R32. Having been fitted with one of only a handful of genuine Bee*R R324 kits, and re-painted in its original shade of yellow, it’s certainly not a quiet car. Be sure to check out the full feature on Speedhunters when it was originally published last year …

Behind the Visor II

Paddy — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:49:09 +0000

The most important part of any motorsport, is the man or woman behind the steering wheel. It’s often easy to forget about the person who commands their motor vehicle at speed towards and around us. Getting to know the characters behind the visor is one of the more interesting sides of motorsport. Pictured top to bottom – Edward Sandström, David Brabham, Darren McNamara, Fredric Aasbo, Daijiro Yoshihara & Nigel Colfer.