Rally driver Aoife Raftery of Craughwell, Co. Galway races in the Olympic Forest
Irish country roads her training ground
In motorsports, a rally is a race unlike anything you’ve seen on the F1 or Indy Car circuit. Rally drivers compete against the clock on gravel roads in street legal cars rather than against other drivers on a track. Rally rewards drivers who can handle tricky country roads at top speed.
No wonder Aoife Raftery of Couty Galway, is a rising star among professional rally drivers who will be racing in Shelton, WA this weekend. She learned how to drive on the one lane country roads in the West of Ireland that strike fear into the hearts of tourists in rental cars.
“I’ve seen a lot of tourists come over and be kind of amazed that we fit two cars on the road,” she told the PDX HI the other day.
She’s heard of tourists having a tough time with the driving?
“Oh yeah. I’ve not only heard of it, I’ve seen it!”
Up close. She began working at the local tire shop in the village of Craughwell when she was 12 years old. She’d go to Irish rallys on weekends to support her dad and brothers who were racing.
Does she think that experience driving in Ireland is her super power at rally races?
“That might be a fair statement. But since I've been driving on the Irish roads all my life, I don’t think much about it .”
Aoife Raftery is supported by: DirtFish | Motorsport Ireland | Spain’s Coach and Mini Bus Hire | O’Neill O’Malley Architects and Project Managers | Des Lyons Plant | Cannon Concrete, Oranmore | EARS Motorsport |Kenny | (Peugeot) Galway | PW Plant Sales | Thatch Bar, Oranmore | Loughrea Auto Parts | Lateralus B | Kerry Motorsport
Rally explained briefly (Video)
You’re probably unfamiliar with rally racing. I know I was until I watched a couple of videos. The rally this weekend (Ap. 17 – 19) in Shelton ,WA takes place on gravel roads on private lands in the Olympic Forest. Raftery will drive 17 races within the race over two days, trying to get from point a to point b faster than the other drivers without wiping out .(Think of time trials in bike races.)
Raftery won’t be alone in the Ford Fiesta she’s driving. She’ll have a co-driver who provides a running description of the course which she reads from a notebook. (Think of those scenes when one cop is driving and has his partner yell CLEAR to proceed through intersections at top speed. It’s like that for Raftery and her co-driver at top speed for the entire 200 miles of the 17 stages.)
For girls and motorsports “Seeing is believing.” F1 was “okay but…”
Aoife Raftery has been spending a lot of time in the Seattle area lately. She’s the new female star of the Dirt Fish Racing Team. “Being announced as a DirtFishWomen in Motorsport driver earlier this year was incredible recognition of my progress and a huge step forward in my career,” she said.
Speaking of women in motorsports, she pointed out with pride that it’s one of the few fields of competition where men and women compete equally. She’s comfortable with being a role model for girls.
Here’s what she said at a conference for young women in Dublin last year, “I want to show that no obstacle is too great when passion and persistence are involved. I’m excited to illustrate that the world of motorsport is waiting for them and to motivate the next generation of female drivers to pursue their dreams fearlessly.”
Which is why she sounded a little disappointed when asked whteher she liked the movie F1. “It was okay, but I think it could have done a better job showing the role of women in auto racing. We’re involved in every aspect of motorsports but that wasn’t shown. For young girls, seeing is believing.”
