In The Moment: 2 Out Of 3 Ain’t Bad

If you told me on Thursday after practice, that this would have been the result, I really wouldn’t have believed you.

Not that I doubted his ability, but the route to this win was paved with difficulties and obstacles that I still struggle to comprehend how he overcame them.

2017 FD03 Road Atlanta In The Moment Speedhunters by Paddy McGrath-1

Three events, two wins for James Deane. What makes this special is not just the difficult path to the final, but to be accompanied by his friend and fellow countryman, Dean Kearney.

2017 FD03 Road Atlanta In The Moment Speedhunters by Paddy McGrath-2

There’s a lot to reflect upon; I’m not sure if the smoke has even settled over the famous Road Atlanta, but no doubt the celebrations of an all-Irish final will continue long into the night. It’s only a few hours since the winners took to the podium, so the elation is still fresh.

2017 FD03 Road Atlanta In The Moment Speedhunters by Paddy McGrath-4

I’ve a flight to catch at 9:00am in the morning, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to take in what was a very special night in Georgia on my way home, which I’ll try and put into words later this week. For the meantime, I’m just going to enjoy this feeling of how proud I am of both these drivers and what they’ve achieved.

Now, can someone please turn the temperature down.

Paddy McGrath
Instagram: pmcgphotos
Twitter: pmcgphotos
paddy@speedhunters.com

The Deane x Więcek Story on Speedhunters

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1
lowbraindrifters

James the.the.king of overcoming shit situations . I remember he was driving our car we had 2 gears and it caught fire and that was after getting the last qualifying spot he beat aasbo and dmac to take the win in mondello
unreal.

2

that is insane

3

What happened to the old FD coverage? I remember when we used to get in depth coverage and now its just a James Deane fanshow and thats about all we see, orlando had a good article but not really anything about long beach and i have a feeling this is going too set a trend.

Author4
Paddy McGrath

As Kevin has pointed out, this is part of an ongoing series following the Worthouse team for the 2017 FD season. You can check out all the stories so far, including Long Beach, here: http://www.speedhunters.com/tag/deane-x-wiecek/

Larry is still doing his overview posts after each event too, so these haven't replaced our FD coverage either.

5

I think you misunderstand this series of articles. This is not FD coverage, this is an inside line where a photographer/writer flies out to these events solely to cover one team, that of James Deane and Piotr Wiecek (Worthouse Drift Team) on their arival in FD. This is no different than Speedhunters has done previously with drivers like Tommy Milner, Edward Sandstrom etc. This is not event coverage, this is a drivers weekend narated in words and pictures as best possible from an outside view. Enjoy it for what it is, an interesting in dept series of articles that you won't find elsewhere. The results however, you will.

6

Yeah, but so far it's been about James and... That's it. No mentioning of Piotrek, who just so happened to get to the quarterfinals.
But whatever. I've been watching the live on YouTube, so feel pretty up-to-date on what happened.
And the Worthouse team's cars look stunning!

Author7
Paddy McGrath

I'd had four hours sleep in three days at the point where this was written, give me a break! The full story is coming this week :)

8

No break for you, we need content Paddy!!

9

Remember, this is just a news article. Not a Event coverage. I wouldn't expect a full event low-down after "A few hours".

10

I understand that, but recently its been less FD more stancy stuff. I used to come here all the time and the coverage of everything was way better than it is know. Just my .02 but i'm not feeling it.

11

Fairly certain there are other places on the web that do FD coverage, shouldn't have to rely solely on one website.

12

Can't wait to hear about the Kearney / Bluss brake check fight haha. Go James.

Author13
Paddy McGrath

I don't think Kearney brake checked him, he might have been driving to try and put Kristaps off but it was his only choice if he wanted the win as he was at severe disadvantage. It was a great battle, still can't believe that Viper is competitive.

14

But the badass moment goes to Bluss. Axle stands? What axle stands?

Author15
Paddy McGrath

God damn, I love Kristaps. He was on an absolute mission last weekend, can't wait to see his new car in Jersey.

16

hahahaha....his face full of contempt

17

What's crazy was the fact that James's teammate, Piotr, had little to no seat time on Thursday because his car wasn't running. After a 30 minute practice session on Friday, in which he probably made two or three passes, he laid down a decent qualifying run. After qualifying, the 90 minute practice session that followed was rained out he was only able to lay down another two or three runs (in the rain). On Saturday, Piotr probably made anther three or four runs before Top32 started. With less than 10 practice runs at a track he's never been to, Piotr ended up 7th on Saturday.

What. The. Fuck.

Without a doubt, we're going to see both of those Worthouse guys on the podium later this season.

Author18
Paddy McGrath

That's surprising to anyone who doesn't know what he's capable of! It was maybe the first time I have seen him starting to find his feet in FD last weekend. There's plenty more there, as he's usually the only one in Europe who can beat James.

19
Jay Soh Tsu Chung

Here's hoping Kearney can carry his momentum throughout the rest of this season. I really love that Viper. Biggest engine on the grid!

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