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A SUPERCAR PARADE is attempting to break a Guinness World Record this weekend in a three-day road trip around Ireland.
Now in its 10th year, the Cannonball road trip takes place once a year and features sports and exotic “supercars”.
The road trip, which sees 190 cars taking part, kicked off at 10am yesterday morning from Malahide Castle.
Cars such as McLaren, Ferrari, Aston Marin, Porsche and Rolls Royce will trail through Dublin, Cavan, Donegal, Mayo, Spanish Point, Blarney, Cork and Kilkenny before reaching the finish line in Wexford Town at 6.30pm tomorrow.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie about the event, Cannonball founder Alan Bannon recalled that 137 cars took part in the event’s first year back in 2009.
“That was quite a challenge and every year it has grown a little bit,” he said.
Drivers from around the world take part in the event, Bannon said, with about 40% of entries coming from outside Ireland.
Speaking of how the event has grown through the years and the challenges that have come along with it, he said: “It’s like any business that you run, it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of minding and it takes a lot of energy to keep it going.
“We’ve a very good team around us and we rely a lot on volunteers. Without the support of them, the gardaí and the councils it wouldn’t happen.”
World record
Now that the event is in its 10th year, Bannon said they wanted “something a little bit different” this year.
The organisers have announced that they have applied to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest moving parade of supercars on a coastline.
“It’s a bit of a challenge to try and set a [world record] so we’ve a couple of things we’re working on at the moment to try make it happen,” Bannon said.
“We’re determined. We’ll go and hopefully, we’ll set and record and hopefully it’ll last a while.”
The organisers expect up to 190,000 people to line the streets around Ireland to watch the cars drive by.
“The big thing for us is along the way on the day you see people parked up in small towns and villages waving at the cars. Even out on country roads parked up on laybys out to see the cars,” Bannon said.
“It’s a free event for the public. We encourage it and we love to see kids coming out, getting in the cars, getting photographs of their favourite cars and just being part of the atmosphere,” he said.
Cannonball is this year raising money for the ISPCC’s Childline service, which answered more than 381,000 calls, text and online messages last year.
More information about the event and this year’s route can be found here.
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190 super cars soon to be stuck behind a micra
@Roy Dowling: or a tractor
@Kev Barnes: or a cow
@Kev Barnes: or a cow :-/
@Roy Dowling: or a cow driving a tractor towing a micra doing 50 in the right hand lane of the motorway.
@Ben Dawkins: that’s only in market day
@Roy Dowling: Or a milk float.
@Roy Dowling: or sunday driver
Did not know about it a couple of years ago, so I was dawdling along from Sligo like the Micra, first comment here. Flash cars flashing their lights and honking … so I put my foot down, joined in, got up to 150 mph before Collooney. Great fun, not a Garda in sight.
@WoodlandBard: Turbo Tractor
@Sean O’Reilly: probably a Lamborghini.
@WoodlandBard: 150mph?
@gary: yeah in a bleeding Micra?!
@Eamonn Connell: I think he said like the other commenter that mentioned a Micra rather than him actually driving a Micra
Burt Reynolds would of been a great addition to this event but the Race must go on !
@Johnny Mason: would have ;p
@Johnny Mason: I’m going to catch them sum’bitches
@dick dastardly: LOL good one
Should have went through Belfast and Derry and made it an all Ireland event.
@Paul Mc: They wouldn’t want to embarrass themselves up north.
@Paul Mc: and Waterford
@Paul Mc: it didn’t go past my door either. Why didn’t the organisers think of me!
@Paul Mc: half the cars were on UK plates anyway, and some truly dodgy ones at that so that’s close enough. PSNI wouldn’t let them out of the car park with those plates. ..
Saw this run in Wexford a few years back, not a big car enthusiasts but loved it.
Anyone just a little concerned for the environment!!! Events like this should be banned. Hello, the Earth is 1 degree off from going into the hot zone and someone in Ireland thinks it is a great idea to let 200 supercars travel its coast.
@Sarah Broderick: Oh bore off Sarah
@Sarah Broderick: do you think that its going to a significant amount of atmospheric damage compared to the real culprits of our impending doom? These cars would probably be driving somewhere anyway.
@Sarah Broderick: you’re dead right Sarah. They should drive around in Prius’s and share the car of course, six supercar owners in each. That’ll teach the hoors not to be polluting our lovely green country with their noisy Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s.
@Sarah Broderick: What a stupid comment, The cows they pass in the fields are doing far,far more damage to the environment then any super cars,
@Trevor Donoghue: It may be silly comment but as stupid as one comparing the carbon footprint of a food source (cow) and gas guzzling supercar driven by attention seeking posers.
@Sarah Broderick: Reminds me of a news story in Sweden were the environmental authorities seemingly were worried about the overfertilisation of the Baltic Sea due to people peeing in the sea (!) when swimming as the weather’s been so hot this summer. What utter nonsense!!
@Sarah Broderick: garbage. it’s cows methane that’s at fault. 200 cars have no effect. And if you were there you’d have seen electric cars in the event ….
@Bat Daly: …it’s for charity you idiot.
@Bat Daly: Cow is not a food source but a pest to vegetarians and vegans.
Thanks for posting a link to the route map. Bit confusing why no reference in the article to the fact that a significant part of the route goes through Co Galway??!
@Sean O’Reilly: possibly because most of Galway section is motorway, not suitable for spectators!
@Tim Oconnell: wrong. Every motorway bridge all the way to Limerick had crowds on them today: myself included.
Good luck! Good cause!
OMG, I remember when world records used to require the use of some sort of skill, rather than just accumulating the largest number of people or things onto a specified type of area. This is hardly amazing… There’s no prestigious element to any of these world records nowadays.
Carbons taxes are only for ordinary people !
Best of luck Alan.
These guys will break the speed limit everywhere and get away with it
@The Bull McCabe: …. like every other day on the road so.
I was at the start line in malahide castle yesterday morning some nice motors there. Although for their 10th cannonball I would have thought there would have been a hypercar or two.
Saw some serious metal yesterday but they were 2.5 hours late. A lot of 5 series BMW with m series badges and fat tyres though
Bunch of semi balding knobs with big cars prancing about screwing he environment. Bravo journal.
Looked like an old bangers parade through Donegal town yesterday afternoon, turned a few heads but not much more.
Potholes and massive bumps .. good luck it’s going to be expensive traveling Irish half roads
One of these idiots was revving the nuts out of a Ferrari while sitting in traffic on the old N32 entering M50. Another idiot with him took the wrong lane and cut across a Fiesta causing a lot of effing and blinding. Shouldn’t be driving powerful cars if not got the expertise.
@David Conroy: I saw a Hyundai overtake on a solid white line against oncoming traffic today, so expertise is not related to car ownership
@Paul Howling: I’ll be super board watching super cars…Paul. And to all those that think we should just focus on the biggest culprits; blame them; wait for them – don’t fool yourself. Like everything, it all starts at home; and the small things very much count!
Bloody Arklow not racer’s at it again!
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