Josef Newgarden – The Trip to Ireland

Dublin, Ireland (October 23, 2008) – Today was scheduled to be a one-day test at Anglesey Raceway, in north Wales, for Conor and myself but was canceled due to bad weather. The whole team slept in the motor home the previous night and we awoke to some heavy rain and strong winds that reminded me of a tropical storm. It was incredible! Since testing was no longer an option, the team decided to take an earlier ferry to Ireland. This was my first time on a big ship and I was having mixed feeling about the situation. The weather was really bad and at one stage the port in Holyhead was debating whether they should shut down or not.

Fortunately, the port remained open and we boarded the ferry with the team’s truck and headed upstairs for the four-hour journey. When we made it to the top level I wasn’t expecting to see such a nice layout. There were shops and eating places along with tons of different seating areas. After grabbing a couple of things at the shop, myself, Conor and Cliff made our way to the front of the ship where Bob and Francis were already waiting for us – they had boarded the ship a bit earlier than us.

When the ship finally got going it started out fairly smooth but soon became a bit rough. The front of the ship was raising up and crashing down violently as waves were smashing into its side. It was kind of funny and fun at first but it soon became inconvenient and not so much fun!

Conor and I had noticed on our way onto the ship that there was a movie theater. In an attempt to take our minds off the crazy ride, both of us went to see one. That kept us occupied for a couple of hours but didn’t seem to help a bit. I was beginning to get a headache and Conor’s stomach was in a constant churn.

For the last hour of our journey, Conor and I both joined Cliff at the lounge area which was located toward the back of the ship which was much less rough. This section had a bunch of chairs that reminded me of airplane seats and were pretty comfortable as well. Before we knew it we had fallen asleep and would soon arrive in Ireland. Wow, what a ride!