Story: Evan Rothman
Pictures: www.ircseries.com
An accomplished co-driver, Martin Brady is a proud Irishman and a regular HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS columnist. In this EXCLUSIVE final installment of a two-part interview, read about his IRC ambitions, humorous moments and high-speed rally driving.
H&H: A cool head is needed as a co-driver…
MB: “Yes, absolutely. You are at times a sponge for pressure that is coming to you from all angles, and if you loose your composure it opens the odds to making mistakes and missing something vital. In the car, you are an office manager, a some-time counsellor and psychoanalyst to your driver. You are trying to be hospitable to all and displaying a confident attitude even if you feel like you are treading water in the middle of a battle just for a class win, never mind an overall championship.
“For me, its all part of it and when we get it right its so rewarding that you realise how much you love it. The simplest way to keep cool is not to panic even when panicking, and check and treble check everything; remind yourself that pressure is for tyres and don’t forget to breathe! “
H&H: What are your memorable moments in rallying thus far?
MB: “I have had plenty, even remembering back to my first rally and the buzz of being involved was so great. I have done almost 190 rallies now in about 9 seasons so there have been so many great memories.
“The wins are all so special especially the first one, but I can’t pick one abiding most memorable moment.
“What I think I will value in years to come is the very random places that I have visited as a result of rallying. Places that as a tourist you would never have a reason to be next or near a prime example being a party in a frat house in a hick town in middle America in 2007 pretending to be an Irish wedding entertainer for hire with a group of Polish backing dancers. You just couldn’t make it up and you certainly couldn’t print it either… Well, not for a few years yet!”
H&H: Ever been off the notes, and gotten lost? What other humorous moments can you share with us?
MB: “Luckily, and thankfully, no, not yet. It may have felt close at times on stages, but I have always managed to keep on track. Road sections can be different though, and I have had one or two hair raising moments of confusion but again thankfully nothing that I haven’t gotten away with by the skin of my teeth. I wont get cocky though, as you never know the page that’s waiting to catch you out.
“As for humorous moments, well, there have been so many. Like the marshal that flashed a rather alluring poster of a partially-clothed lady at us each time we passed him on the Galway Rally in 2005 to the marshal that performed an impossible star jump dismount off a fence in Circuit of Ireland as we slid broadside toward his treacherous viewing point. We were never going wide enough to put him in any danger, but the comical way he abandoned ship had me laughing all the way to the finish boards. He reminded me of an Olympic gymnast. Most of the humorous stories come from the after parties rather than on event, but again they might not be fit for print without changing the names to protect the guilty.”
H&H: Ever had a “this is going to hurt” moment?
MB: “Quite a few, but thankfully only one ever did actually hurt so I have been blessed. I do get quite cowardly when I think it’s all about to go on its roof: I cower down and cover my eyes with the notes and hide from what’s about to come. Great self-preservation if you do actually hit something, but if you have judged it wrong and your driver has saved your ass and its all still pointing forwards now you have to unfurl yourself and look for the right line in the notes. That certainly doesn’t make you look calm, cool and composed anyway. For every mile of road, there is two mile of ditch so you’re bound to visit one at some point!”
H&H: What is the first rally car you can remember?
MB: “Ford Sierra. I was a massive fan of all things Ford, starting with tractors, and when the Circuit of Ireland Rally came to my area in 1989 and the first Sunday Stage arrival control was at my front gate, I was hooked. Especially by a Mr McRae and his younger son both driving Ford Sierras. My favourite car of the time. I became a total rally fanatic from that day on.”
H&H: What is your favourite rally car? What is your favourite rally car you’ve competed in?
MB: “Like the Oscar winner in the acceptance speech, I love them all. But, Fords always have a special shine for me in particular the first of the Works Group A Escort Cosworths.
“It was a dream come true for me to sit in H930JHJ, the very first built works Escort Cosworth, on the slowly sideways demonstration in Rally Ireland 2009. The car is in full original works spec and livery, and belongs to the Cathcart family. Richard [Cathcart] and I threw it down the wet bumpy stages just as it was meant to be driven for as long as the car let us and this was the actual car that was on my bedroom walls in posters as a school boy, so every mile in the car was a boyhood dream I never imagined I would realise.
“Another Ford, this time the Focus, of Ray Breen was also a special car for me. With him I was lucky enough to win rallies on gravel and tarmac in the car, but more so because it was the same car, E0 03 YRJ, that Marko Martin and Beef Park took to that emphatic victory in Finland 2003.”
H&H: As an accomplished co-driver, have you ever had a moment when you thought you could have driven the rally car quicker in a stage? Ever given rally driving a chance?
MB: “No, never, and I can’t say I ever will. Me with a rally car would be like the dog that chases the bus: if the dog ever caught the bus, what would he do with it? I would be the same I wouldn’t be any use at driving it. I would be afraid to move a rally car out of the way just in case I would even stall it and not be able to live it down.
“Joking aside though, I did drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX rally car to parc ferme one day, and it did give me an appreciation for just how difficult it can be to drive a fully wound up, tightly sprung rally car. But again this all goes back to my theory that driver and co-driver should respect the complexities of each other’s job to form the best partnership.
“If I ever get filthy rich and buy a rally car, it will be for its aesthetic beauty and to park in the corner of a garage and admire!”
H&H: When not rallying, what do you do?
MB: “Well, the day job is: I am a Police Officer in Dublin. I work in a Community Policing Unit, and deal with a particular area and the community groups and social projects in the area, as well as daily frontline policing and crime patrols.
“I have two daughters whom I try to spend as much time as possible with as they are growing up so fast and when rallying is taken care of there is not time for much else, but I always seem to find the time to wile away hours on the internet or watching TV series or reading books.
“Tractors are still a big interest for me: the boyhood farmer never left me completely, and it’s still the Fords that excite me the most. So, I would be an anorak that collects tractor magazines, literature and models. Simple tastes, really!”
