Team Maximum Service Racing is made up of Nick Wyatt (mechanic) & Cormac Wyatt (driver). The Team started in about 2001.
It started after we were introduced to 1/5th Scale Model Car Racing in St. Annes Park, Dublin. Back then it was popular, with about 20/25 drivers competing. Nick decided to buy a Bergonzoni and race it. I was only 12 or so at the time and I was racing a 1/10th Serpent. Basically we then started going to St. Annes park racing.
In 2002 a track in Listowel, Kerry was built, which was a very good track. Nick bought a new, updated version of the Bergonzoni at the time and I started using his old Bergonzoni, while still racing the 1/10th Serpent. I won the Kerry 1/10th Championship that year with my 1/10th Serpent as it happens. Also in that year Ireland was represented for the very first time at a European Championships. The EC was held in Brest, France that year. 139 drivers from all around Europe with 5 of them being Irish. Nick was 1 of them. My dad & I (mainly my dad, lol) didn't think I was good enough at the time so I only went there as a spectator. It was a great experience for Nick & me.
2003 brought a different brand of car for Nick. At the EC in France the previous year, a deal was struck with a new Italian car, Technokit. Nick became a dealer and drove the Technokit car. By this time I had stopped racing 1/10th all together and drove 1/5th all the time, obtaining Nicks car from last year. That year was a success for Team Maximum Service Racing, finishing 1st & 2nd in the Irish National Championship. Nick finishing 1st & Me finishing 2nd. Also Nick did brilliantly to finish in the Top 10 of the British GP! I represented Ireland for the first time at the European Championships in Luxembourg.
2004. A new Technokit for Nick and me at the start of the year, we wanted to improve as much as possible and learn as much as we could. We drifted away from racing in Ireland as the numbers had dropped. So we started racing more in England, competing in the B.R.C.A. Championship, gaining vital experience along the way. Both of us also represented Ireland at the European Championships in Croatia. That turned out to be a brilliant event for Nick after he managed to progress through 2 finals, racing in a total of 3!
Some honours in 2004 for the Team:
Craigavon Winter Championship Winner - Cormac
B.R.C.A. Rd. 3, National 3rd - Cormac
B.R.C.A. Overall, National, 6th - Cormac
2005. After a successful Euro's for Nick he decided to retire from racing to concentrate on me. To help improve my racing. It also made it easier and cheaper when concentrating on 1 car. We concentrated purely on the B.R.C.A. Championship and attended a couple of EFRA Gp's in 2005 as well. It was a good year for me at the Euro's in Sweden. Finishing 37th out of 72. Another special event happened this year as Ireland was represented for the very first time at a World Championships. Every 2 years, that year it was help in Lostallo, Switzerland. Me and another driver represented Ireland. That was an amazing experience and although we didnt do amazingly it only fuelled my desire to improve and get better.
Some honours in 2005:
B.R.C.A. Rd. 2, National 2nd
B.R.C.A. Rd. 6, National 3rd
B.R.C.A. Overall, National 7th
B.R.C.A. Best Junior 2005
2006. On the back of a successful 2005 season the Team decided to do all, except two, of the B.R.C.A. Rounds to see if I could win the National class and try to improve as much as possible. The Team also decided to compete in the Euro's, in which i became the only driver to represent Ireland. 2006 was a brilliant year as I became the B.R.C.A. National Champion and gained even more experience in Europe.
2006 Honours:
B.R.C.A. Rd 1, National 3rd
B.R.C.A. Rd 2, National 2nd
B.R.C.A. Rd 3, National 2nd
B.R.C.A. Rd 4, National 3rd
B.R.C.A. Rd 6, National 2nd
B.R.C.A. Rd 7, National 1st
B.R.C.A. Overall, National Class 1st
B.R.C.A. Overall, Super National Class 5th
B.R.C.A. Most Improved Driver Award 2006
2007. A new year, a new car make. After 5 years with Technokit we felt we had gotten the most out of the car. So we decided to change car, and RS5 was the car we chose. We also became a distributer of RS5 cars and parts. After winning the 2006 B.R.C.A. National championship I qualified up into the Super National class. But we stepped away a bit from the B.R.C.A. as the Team felt we had to move closer to EFRA GP's to get the most improvement. Moving to RS5 did make a difference and the car was a lot faster than the Technokit, but it was kind of like starting over again as I had to get used to this new car and Nick had to learn about a new car and the set-up of it. It paid off as I got some brilliant results in EFRA GP's and Finished 10th Overall in the EFRA Ranking.I My best result that year, and maybe even since i've started racing, was finishing 3rd at the EFRA British GP. After qualifying to the quarter final and getting through to the semi final, I did enough in the semi final to get through to the Main final. My first ever in a EFRA GP. I didnt care where I finished at the time, I just wanted to finish the 30minute final and be proud of what I had done. But in the final, even though I was far from as fast as the top 5/6, I just kept going. Other drivers dropped out, others made mistakes. I found myself moving up into 5....then 4th...then 3rd! I couldnt believe it.
Another memorable event that year was the Euro's in Kirchberg, Austria. The track was a very hard track for me at the time, I found it very difficult. But what didnt help was the weather. For the whole week it was 34-36degrees and even hitting the 38degrees at one stage. Either way it was damn hot. I didnt really qualify that well, only 72nd out of 108 drivers. We had found it hard to get a good set-up the whole week. But it came to my 1st final, on Sunday morning. 20mins of racing, I started & finished 1st. My next final, 20mins of racing I started 8th and finished 1st. My third final, 20mins. Started 8th, I made a good start moving up into 5th by the end of the first lap. After a mistake I dropped down to 8th but racing hard I got back up into 5th. I was in that position for the rest of the final until the last lap when 3rd & 4th place had a coming together and I slipped past them both to finish 3rd and move up to the next final! Talk about the luck of the Irish. Coming down off the rostrum after that final was a pleasure. Everybody was congratulating me, but I was also exhausted. In each final so far the weather had beaten down and was making me tired. And it would be no exception for my next final. But I didnt care where I finished. The Team had done so well, my dad getting the car prepared so brilliantly and a good set-up on the day was so vital. My next final, and what came to be my last, was brilliant. I made a good start again moving up to 3rd by the second lap. A couple of tired mistakes put me back down to 8th but I kept pushing and moved up to 7th. I stayed there for the rest of the final, happy to have done the whole final. I like to think that gave RS5 a fair advertisment as it did not let me down throughout all the finals and the brakes were brilliant.
But also in 2007 I represented Ireland, on my own, at the World Championships in Brisbane, Australia. That was a once in a lifetime experience, especially being in Australia. I didn't do too badly at the Worlds that year, finishing 27th out of 82. I could have done better but I was happy as the experience I had gained and the fun I had was enough!
2007 Honours:
B.R.C.A. Rd. 5, Super National 3rd.
EFRA GP, England 3rd.
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