Phoenix Park memories

[Graz]

With the Phoenix Park cancelled this year, not for the first time and with it's ultimate demise seemingly inevitable I'd be interested to hear people's memeories of the Park and what it means to them.

For me, it was my introduction to motorsport as a toddler in the late seventies. My father used to bring me and my older brother and sister down and while they hadn't the slightest interest, for some reason I was hooked. Even at that early age I developed a real interest in what was going on.

In this modern era, the Park is a real throwback to what the early days of racing must have been like - the paddock basically in a big field, racing on public roads with trees lining the way, within touching distance. On the subject of the trees, there is no more haunting a sound than a proper racing engine wailing away in the distance back through the trees. The glorious Formula Atlantics spring to mind...

The Park was the first place I saw an F1 car running in anger - Tom O'Leary's superb Theodore in 1983. It was lashing rain, but I didn't care. Other great memories are Rusty French's Porsche 935 going down the main straight at an impossible speed before the exploding in an orange blaze of turbo flame as he negotiated Dublin corner...any of the FF1600 races...the Formula Opels even, normally so stale in Mondello, were lit up in the Park as they had space to actually race...many a great saloon car race - the team challenges in the 80's were always good fun with he Capri's scything through the slower cars. I can even say I've had the privilege of seeing the great Striling Moss race and win in the Park.

Even though the park has been a shadow of it's former self in recent years, I still get the same feelings and emotions every year I go down. It has a certain mystique about it. I always head down on the Friday evening to sample the atmosphere of cars arriving and setting up - I love it.

Great stuff, different days, gone now but not forgotten.

Anyone else??