Spike Island Drift homecoming for fast and furious Shanahan

Irish Examiner

03-07-2025

Accustomed to wowing crowds all over the world, Red Bull athlete Conor Shanahan is looking forward to showcasing his motoring talents this Saturday on Spike Island, a once military fortress, notorious prison and now a stunning tourist destination within Cork Harbour that will host the Red Bull Drift Pursuit for sixteen of Ireland's top drifters in a head-to-head knockout format.
Shanahan and his brother Jack will perform demonstration runs in their Toyota GT86 as will Irish WRC driver Josh McErlean in the Red Bull liveried M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 car.
Killavullen native Shanahan and current leader of the European Drift Masters Championship isn't chasing the dream anymore - only because he's already realised his boyhood ambition.
His racing schedule involves competing in Europe and America, the latter where he owns and runs his own team that also involves his older brother Jack.
His choice of motorsport as a career isn't surprising given that he was raised on the sounds of high performance engines. His family are steeped in motorsport, dad John was (or should we say still is) a popular figure in rallying and his mom Valerie won the British Autograss Championship.
Conor (left) and Jack Shanahan at the Drift Masters European Championship in Madrid, Spain. Picture: Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool.
He describes those early days habitually verbalised by his recent times in America and the constant use of the phrase "I guess" rather than the more frequently used motorsport term "for sure.
"I actually enjoyed school, I guess the atmosphere; figuring out my life as I got older; trying to understand the arguments with my mother at the bottom of the stairs about do I want to go to school? I guess I always knew I wanted to do something with a skill. At that stage, I guess I didn't really know whether it was rallying or drifting or circuit racing, I was massively into karting at the time."
That vision accelerated when he attended secondary school. "I guess towards the end of national school, I knew I was definitely going to be involved in motorsport. I started secondary school (Davis College, Mallow) went (racing) to Europe when I was 14 and had a massive win. I was the youngest ever to win there and it was a huge night for me and my family. I beat James Deane (near neighbour) in the final.
"After that I guess my vision started to change. I reckoned if I started to take this even more serious, I could be better. If I started training on a simulator more - all these things started to come into my head. I was trying to find a balance with school."
Conor Shanahan (left) and Tor Arne Kvia perform during the Round 3 of Drift Masters European Championship in Alahärmä, Finland last month. Picture: Mihai Stetcu / Red Bull Content Pool .
Transition year allowed Conor more time out of school and more time racing - a better life balance and a move closer to the ultimate decision.
"I remember at the start of fifth year it was actually a very simple conversation I had with my mom and I said this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I guess she didn't agree with me leaving school. I looked at all the resources afterwards and I felt education in Ireland can be achieved no matter what, whether you go back at a later stage as a mature student. I always wanted to be self-employed and I always wanted to own my own business, that was my goal."
He continued, "I met the school principal, and we had a conversation. The one thing I will always respect about Davis College is that Mr. Gilbert (the principal at the time) had a very good conversation with me and my mom. He never held me back, he said, if you think that you have something special, now is the time to go for it."
Those words proved prophetic and made the transition somewhat easier for his mother to understand. "My dad was full in, I guess he was going to support me no matter what I wanted to do. I faded out of school and started to work towards becoming what I am now I guess."
Admitting he always tried to figure ways to make money, he added, "I was always trying to learn marketing and business and understand the value of money, where different companies will spend money on drifting and trying to understand the market as much as I could."
Conor Shanahan performing during the European Drift Masters at Mondello Park, Naas last weekend. Picture: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool.
The business under 'The Shanahans' banner is very much a family affair as brother Jack also inherited the family's motorsport genes.
"Jack and myself have a very good relationship, it's rare for two brothers to be at a very high level of sport and be as successful as each other and not kill each other! To be honest it's amazing for me that we can have that relationship and run a team together and drive together. We race each other hard we've always raced each other hard, the most impressive part is that we have a good friendship outside of being brothers."
His recent competitive escapades took him to Orlando, Florida then back to Finland and home for some precious downtime with family and friends. He describes his itineraries as rapidly as he flicks his Toyota GT86 on the track. "At the moment it's more time in a plane than on the ground. There's not much time at home."
Jack Shanahan (left) and his brother Conor seen during the final round of the 2023 Drift Masters European Championship in Warsaw, Poland. Picture: Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool .
Such is his hectic schedule, he could be forgiven for bilocation. "I'm kind of based out of America and at home at the same time. It's non-stop. I spent the first three or four months of the year in the States, it was nice to get home and see my friends from Killavullen that I grew up with, nice to clear the head and do something different."
He appreciates being part of the Red Bull family. "They have been amazing for my career. Outside of the financial factor they have pushed me in the right direction and I guess, be the best I can be at my sport. They're a huge fan of drifting, as are all the other companies that are involved with us. They are all very passionate about helping us to be the most successful in the sport."
Although he enjoyed competing in the Rally of the Lakes earlier this year and won took a class award, he would only consider competing at the top level here in Ireland if the resources (financial package, testing) were to be put in place.
"It's (rallying) not out front right now. If somebody was willing to get behind it on a financial level to be in a position where you're decently on the pace and in a Rally2 car, it would be a lot of testing, a lot of understanding of how the car works. I would be willing to give it a go, I definitely could get very fast if I had the right resources behind me."
Right now though Conor is focused on Saturday's event that is a sell-out.
"I hope it will open up a few doors to new spectators or new people to the sport. That's always the goal for me I guess. Drifting can be a little bit hard to understand until you see it in person and I think what Red Bull are doing with Drift Pursuit is a very good way for an audience to get a feeling of what a drift car is doing and have a race format.
Kilavullen's Conor Shanahan (Toyota Starlet) and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes won Class 14 in the Assess Ireland Rally of the Lakes last May. Picture: Martin Walsh.
"The fans are younger, the environment that people are around is something they can enjoy as a family, the kids are starting to know the characters. For sure Spike Island will definitely draw some new faces.
"It's something that's never been done in Ireland or pretty much anywhere in the world. As always when Red Bull take a little bit of a risk with an event it's always absolutely amazing so I'm sure it's going to be incredible."
For Conor himself, it's all part of a truly amazing and continuing journey that takes him all over the world with a little downtime in Killavullen.