Mary is granny motor champ

A 65-year-old grandmother from Ruan has been hailed the Granny Grand Prix champion after displaying her impressive motor-racing skills at the weekend.

Mary Rice raced around the Mondello circuit at the weekend, with her fastest lap a staggering one minute, seven seconds. “I have never done anything like this before at all, I’d be a quiet sort of woman. It was a bit frightening to start off but I must have some kind of hidden talent for this, I don’t know where it came from. The only driving I’d be doing is up and down the Ruan Road,” Mary said.

Mary was taking part in the search for Ireland’s fastest granny by 2fm’s Hector Ó hEochagáin. She competed among 10 grannies from around the country for the title on Sunday, the day after her birthday. She said she couldn’t believe it when she heard she had won.

“I never dreamed I would be the winner, I just went along to take part. I just can’t describe what the whole experience felt like, it was unbelievable.”

She was nominated to take part in the race by her daughter, Sheena Steigerwald, who is now living in Germany. Mary has eight children and 11 grandchildren and the whole family went up to Mondello to cheer her on.

Her daughter, Dervlla, said, “My sister decided to nominate her because they were looking for people who are young at heart and up for a challenge. We were all very nervous up there, two of my sisters and my brother couldn’t even watch her on the track but we were all so proud of her.”

Recalling when she found out she was nominated, Mary said, “I knew absolutely nothing about it until I got a call from Hector one morning. I hung up the phone because I thought they were on the wrong line or something but then he was back on and he told me I’d been nominated and I thought I’d go with the flow and they’d pick the best person. Then I was interviewed on radio a few days later and then he told me I’d be one of 10 grannies going up to Mondello.

“It was a real challenge but they taught us what we had to do. We had to do 10 laps to practice and it was frightening at first. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life, I was thinking to myself, ‘what have I let myself in for’. I’d describe it as being in an airplane without any wings. We got advice from the instructor, who told us don’t worry about the speed, just concentrate on the track.

“They were great up there, everything was so well organised. Then after a few laps, I began to settle down. When they were calling the names of where we came in the lap times, it didn’t dawn on me at first that I had been the fastest.”

Mary has been invited back up to Mondello next year to defend her championship title. “I used to look at the TV and would think, ‘I wouldn’t mind having a go at that’ but it was just a dream. It was an unbelievable experience,” she concluded.