Want to see content from United States of America

Continue
The star of the show – the RB8
© Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool
F1
This is what happened at the F1 Showrun in Belfast
Hear from all the drivers that performed on the streets of Belfast City Centre and see the incredible images from the F1 Showrun.
Written by Ali McCarthy
6 min readPublished on
On Saturday, October 3 2018, Red Bull Racing set the streets of Belfast City centre alight with performances from Irish motoring royalty and 13-time Grand Prix Winner David Coulthard in the 2012 RB8.
Crowds turned out in their thousands to watch motorbike stunt rider Mattie Griffin, pro-drifter Conor Shanahan, motorcycling racers Jeremy McWilliams and Ryan Farquhar and F1 driver David Coulthard perform. Each act put on three showruns for the fans as the roar of the engines reverberated off Belfast City Hall and the surrounding buildings.
Read on to find out what happened and see what the drivers had to say below.

Mattie Griffin

Mattie Griffin impressed the crowd with his bag of tricks
Mattie Griffin impressed the crowd with his bag of tricks© Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool
First up was Mattie Griffin, renown motorbike stunt cyclist from Galway, Ireland. Mattie immediately hyped the crowd by showing off his expansive bag of tricks, from wheelies to donuts, no-handers and burnouts.
Mattie tells us after the event, “It was absolutely amazing. It was quite greasy and slippery, large area to cover, but to me it's amazing – the more people that are there, the more I love it. To get out there tonight on the streets of Belfast, completely closed off, wheelie-ing through red traffic lights... I don't know what speed I was doing but I was in top gear so pretty fast. It was pretty amazing. and all the people screaming, it's a great event. It's brilliant, I loved it."
Back wheelin'
Back wheelin'© Morgan Treacy / Red Bull Content Pool
People of all ages attended the event, and many hadn't seen anything quite like what Mattie is able to do on a bike, so the energy from the crowd was immediately tangible.
“As always, I love coming to Belfast, they're all bike and motor enthusiasts up here. You look at the streets tonight and see the amount of people there. there's a lot of road racing and talented riders here, so you really get a great reception when you come here.”

Conor Shanahan

15-year-old Conor put on a show to remember
15-year-old Conor put on a show to remember© Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool
Next to hit the usually busy roads in the centre was 15-year-old Conor Shanahan, who proved why he is the next big star of the drifting scene.
“Tonight, the streets of Belfast were shut down and we had an unbelievable time in my Nissan 180sx putting on a show. We had three shows, shooting up and down through the town with some donuts at either side, making the crowd go wild! I had a really good time and I hope everybody enjoyed it!" Conor said after his runs.
Conor performing at the F1 Showrun in Belfast in 2018
Conor performing at the F1 Showrun in Belfast in 2018© Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool
Both Conor and his Nissan 180sx where a spectacle to see, the precision of his drifting skills, the sound of the engine and the lights lacing his car made the performance incredible. Conor is currently competing on the international drift series Drift Master with the likes of home-grown talent James Deane. These competitions usually take place on tracks, so this was a first time experience for Conor.
“The turnout was crazy. It was such a good feeling drifting through the street and seeing flashlights and the place was packed. Yeah, what a feeling. It’s probably one of the best feelings I’ve had in a car, looking out the window transitioning and seeing the crowd so mad. I haven’t really been in a show on the streets, so it was pretty amazing, it was cool.”

Jeremy McWilliams and Ryan Farquhar

Jeremy and Ryan hit speeds of 120mph
Jeremy and Ryan hit speeds of 120mph© Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool
One of the highlights of the evening was definitely the roar of the megaphone exhausts fitted on the KMR Kawasaki Supertwin bikes of Ryan Farquhar and Jeremy McWilliams. Both riders have been incredibly successful on the racing circuit, and crowds were treated with Ryan coming out of retirement for this special show.
“That was the first time I’ve been on a bike [since his accident at Northwest 200 in 2016], I’ve no feel and I’ve put a lot of weight on and the conditions are really slippy," Ryan told us after his run. "Everything was against me, but the atmosphere of all the people here and whole event is amazing. You know, I’ve done the Northwest 200 and the Isle of Man TT and you can actually feel the atmosphere here!"
Two motoring legends join forces for a show
Two motoring legends join forces for a show© Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool
Not only did the engines sound amazing as the sound bounced around the historic buildings, but the speeds they were able to reach were jaw-dropping. Blink and you would have missed them!
“I reckon on a couple of the runs I was probably topping around 120mph," says Ryan. "I was just saying to Jeremy, we’re probably the two fastest that has ever been down that street – legally! So, from that point of view, it’s pretty cool. When we were doing our runs, the traffic lights were turning red and it was weird going through a red traffic light at that speed! It’s small things you never think of, but it just catches your eye whenever you’re out there."
Burn out to end the show
Burn out to end the show© Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool
I hope everybody has had as good a time as I have had. I’ll never race again, but to be asked to get on a bike and take part in an event like this here is totally amazing.
Ryan Farquhar

David Coulthard

Finally, the star of the show and the reason for this special event – David Coulthard driving Red Bull Racing's double F1 championship winning car the RB8. This isn't the first time that DC, as he's known to those around him, has performed here in Belfast in a RBR car.
"Well it’s always a pleasure to get back behind the wheel, but most sincerely the best thing is the reaction from the Belfast crowd. Me and Red Bull Racing are so happy to be here doing this. It’s quite slippy, as you can imagine, but it’s great to see the crowds lining the streets and we’ve got the opportunity to hear and feel what a Gran Prix car is all about. It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to be here.”
And we certainly were able to find out what a GP car is all about. The acceleration and revs from the v8 engine (no longer used in F1) were so loud that all motorsports enthusiasts could feel the hairs on the back of their necks stand up.
DC is a 13-time Gran Prix winner
DC is a 13-time Gran Prix winner© Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool
DC sped around the roads, doing donuts and burnouts, in front of the huge crowd and the spectacular backdrop of Belfast City Hall, which was glowing with blue and purple lighting. After the spectacular show, DC hopped into the back of the Aston Martin on display and did a lap to wave goodbye to the crowd.
It was an incredible evening not only for the performers, but also for the massive crowd that turned out to celebrate all forms of motorsport.
F1
Red Bull Motorsports
Motoring
Formula Racing

Most popular stories