What is this class?: Formula Sheane

Formula Sheane is a one-make, single-seater championship; all Formula Sheane cars are mechanically identical, powered by a 1.8-litre K-Series petrol engine. Once they leave the Sheane factory, the engines and gearboxes may not be opened. This means winning is down to the driver, not the engineer.

Formula Sheane, pronounced “Shane”, began in 2001. The idea was to create a Formula that would be fast, reliable and inexpensive. The idea worked. Winning in Formula Sheane is about driver skill and set-up, not about thousands of hours and euros spent in a workshop.

Within two years of its inception, Formula Sheane had twenty drivers including three Formula Vee champions, two Formula Vee novice champions and three RD Cox Memorial Trophy winners. It has some of the closest and best racing in the country.

How fast do these cars go?

Formula Sheane cars can get up to 250kph on the main straight in Mondello Park. They have a top speed of around 190kph and will hit 100kph in under four seconds. Their lap times are faster than a Ferrari 360.

How much do these cars cost?

Formula Sheanes are on sale from €7,000.

And what do they cost to run?

You can run a Formula Sheane for approximately €650 per race weekend.

How do I drive these cars? What are the licence requirements?

You can drive a Formula Sheane car with a National B licence.

Tell me something interesting about this class

Formula Sheane is now the fastest one-make Formula in Ireland and it is the only class that is completely Irish designed and manufactured.

Motorsport is notoriously costly and the aim for Formula Sheane was to make top-level motorsport accessible to the clubman racer. David Sheane (from Wicklow) made this happen by keeping almost all the fabrication for the Formula in-house. It means the cars are much less expensive to buy, run and repair than any comparable Formula.

You can find more information here – www.formulasheane.ie