Cannonball ‘09 – A Porsche driver’s perspective

I have always been a keen listener to the radio, particularly when I’m tinkering with my 911 in the garage. One particular Thursday afternoon I was replacing the starter motor with a hi-torque lightweight unit and there was a feature on The Mooney Show for a charity car run in aid of Barretstown Castle , that was being organised by a group of enthusiasts to raise funds for this worthy children’s charity. The emphasis was on performance cars and the run proposed was from Dublin to Killarney and onto Galway.

I was taken with both the idea and the cause, but didn’t have the funds to enter myself, so I emailed The Mooney Show offering to chauffeur someone on the cannon ball run in my 911. Derek Mooney responded immediately and the following week I did a live interview with him on air and the car was offered to someone to sponsor for the run.

Derek himself was so taken with the offer that he personally sponsored the car’s entry to the Cannonball event to the tune of 500 Euros of his own money. We were off to a good start! The event was fully subscribed at 100 cars, so by agreement with Derek Sharpe one of the event organisers, my car became entry 101.

Once the place in the Car was auctioned, Gerald Kean, the Cork Solicitor, who was listening to the show on the web in Egypt made the winning bid of 1000 Euros, and we were off. There followed a few weeks of intense work on the car for me to ensure she was roadworthy, after all she is 30 years old !

The Cannonball run started outside Dail Eireann in Merrion Square on the 11 th of September at 9.00 am . Gerard Kean had decided that he would not take up his seat and effectively left me with a free seat, which I shared with my eldest Son, Donal, who was celebrating his 17th Birthday on the same day.

In the final analysis over 200 cars started the event from Merrion square and there was some incredible cars on show, one estimate had over 40 million Euros worth of cars on the same street, surely a first for Ireland. There was a carnival atmosphere at the start and this was reinforced by the people who had themed their cars ala the cannon ball movie, there were Sheiks, Priests and Nuns and the inevitable Captain Chaos characters

We left Dublin city centre at full speed with the roof off and a Garda escort, down the quays and onto the Red Cow roundabout , I have never left Dublin at such speed and certainly will have a wry smile on my face the next time I am stuck in traffic !

We then continued down the N6 , possibly with a bit too much enthusiasm , and I saw the Priest and Nun being written up for speeding in their 911 RSR, the Gardai evidently had no sense of occasion!

We pushed onto to Barretstown castle where we were shown the facilities, and given a guided tour. The Cannonball had raised much needed funds for this very worthy charity and it definitely brought a lump to your throat when we were shown the area where young patients at the castle wrote down their dream on a roll of paper which was hung from the ceiling never to be opened, this was a contract between Barrettstown and the child, and looking at those hundreds of rolled up scripts was a humbling experience .

We were joined by 50 more cars at Barretstown and as we left each car occupant received a goodie bag with fruit, juice and snacks for the rest of our journey – the visit was a truly emotional one and I don’t think myself or Donal will ever forget it .

From Kilkenny we drove down to Kinsale, I gamely tried to keep up with an E-Type Jag , where we were welcomed into the town by an appreciative crowd , and while the cars were parked up we had lunch with people departing later for the first overnight in Killarney . At this stage I bailed out and returned home to East Cork (it being Donal’s Birthday) a happy, tired and slightly deafened camper.

The following morning I was up early and drove to Killarney to meet up with my fellow Cannonballers , suffice it to say there were some sick heads , but there was also a great comradery among the group , and I had obviously missed a great night out.

We left Killarney doing two spins around the town and then off to Killaloe for lunch , the run to Killaloe was great fun and I managed to acquire a few red Ferrari scalps . From Killaoe we headed off to Limerick and on to Galway . On this stint I had the pleasure of following Rosemary Smith in her Hillman Imp , what the car lacked in top speed was made up for by the total abandon with which Rosemary flung it into bends and through roundabouts. Another memorable aspect of this leg were the crowds who turned up to see Rosemary and applaud her on the way through – I must admit it was nice being behind and basking in some of the reflected glory!

Once we left Limerick it was onto Galway and the finish at Eyre square , this must have been any Petrolheads’ delight with lots of lovely cars revving to bejaysus as they circled the square, the smell of clutches burning was overwhelming and I freely admit I played my part in pumping up the volume .

The final night was a celebration in Galway with a champagne reception and a dinner for all the runners. I bagged a seat next to Rosemary and had a very enjoyable time listening to her anecdotes of years of rallying in the Imp. She was impressed with my car and how it had performed so well and reliably over the three days, and to my delight autographed the car for me.

The entire trip was over 750 miles of fast open top motoring, vying with both classics and modern supercars for position, and the overall experience of participating in the event was memorable.

I sincerely hope to participate in the Cannonball at some time again in the future, maybe not in the Targa but certainly in a 911.

Kieran Twomey

911 SC Targa.

Tags: 911, Barretstown, Cannonball, Charity, SC, Targa