Lightning strikes twice at Dublin's Weston Airport Runway Club Live.

No sooner had the doors closed on the inaugural Runway Club event in 2017, the organisers were quick to ask. "How did we do?" and "What can we improve?"

Naturally for any event, things are never perfect from the outset, but it was clear to see that this niche Vmax event situated on the outskirts of Dublin had a lot of future potential.

We all watched the build up to the 2018 event on social media in anticipation, with my good friend David Clarke keen to enter again with his Mk2 Golf we both decided to see just what the buzz on the socials was all about and quickly got an entry in.

Roll the clock forward to Saturday 14th April 2018, we were eager to see just what Patrick Crowley ( brainchild of Runway Club Live ) and his team had in store.

As it transpires, they had a LOT in store, the team most certainly didn't rest over the winter period and valuable lessons learnt from the first event meant that key area's had not just been addressed, but they had literally thrown the kitchen sink at them.

On arrival we were greeted and guided to the drivers marquee situated on the outskirts of the runway. This year the hangers made way for a trade village and an impressive outdoor car display.

The RS and Subaru owners clubs showing their wares along with new high performance offerings from Bmw, Audi, Tesla, Kia et al.

In the Queue

Over on the runway the cars were arriving in their droves. From Mclaren 720's, 700+ hp Nissan GTR's, Lamborghini Aventador's, Judd v10 F1 powered single seaters to the blisteringly fast Holden Maloo back for another attempt after fuel pump failure ( and subsequencial meltdown ) last year.

The exotics turned out in abundance as did many more commonly seen production cars such as the highly impressive Audi RS 6's, the blistering Golf R, which incidentally has made waves in the last few years as a stout weapon of choice with its ability to launch on road tyres on par if not better than some of its supercar counterparts.

After the drivers briefing it was time to head out to the runway.

We were given a few sighting runs to get the feel of the tarmac and the start procedures. At this point it was clear to see where the team had really made significant improvements, a countdown timer made sure false or jumped starts were thwarted, fair racing ensured the viewers watched on in nail biting anticipation as their favourite car(s) headed out, neck and neck towards the finish line 1km away.

A packed grandstand and spectator area(s), Giant tv screen with film crew showing the action from the start line right to the end of the runway, this in itself was an excellent and welcome addition for the viewing public. Alongside that was commentary from the team at Mondello Park, all round first impressions was "wow these guys have absolutely nailed it"

After our initial sighting run and the little Golf pedalling the throttle way shy of the line, our gps app ( another feature that the Runway Club had added ) indicated a top speed of 132 mph. Feeling comfortable with that run, we headed back round to make another, this time with a better launch the 4wd R32 turbo'd Golf mustered all of its 611 horses onto the runway surface and propelled us through the traps at 138.5 mph whilst still backing off towards the top end. We knew the car was easily good for 145mph at some point today.

Unfortunately, that point never came for us, on the 3rd run Dave launched the car hard and a clunk from the rear of the car was heard, followed by serious vibration under load. Game over!!!!!!

We inspected the car to see if anything had sheared loose to no avail, fortunately the Haldex 4wd system can be run in fwd mode and with the flick of a switch we had a car that could still get us home.

We licked our wounds and headed for food, the drivers were extremely well catered for with the on site hospitality and once fed and watered we strolled to the grandstands for the afternoon.

The cars just kept coming all day, and with solo demonstration runs from single seaters and IDC drift machines assaulting the tarmac and the senses there really was little (if any) downtime throughout the day, the action was unrelenting.

Another car to mention, Tesla's P100D, no other car got off the line and off into the distance in quicker fashion, its sensational turn of acceleration really wowed the crowds, fear not petrol heads, the internal combustion engine ruled the roost as where they may have lacked in initial acceleration over the Tesla they more than made up for it by mid track. With the P100D all out of its initial puff it was soon reeled in and bested by its rivals, how long will that be the case? we'll have to wait and see.

With time to wander over to the hangers and take in the trade fair and outdoor club displays we mused over our thoughts of the event.

It was unanimous, this was from our perspective a major step forward for the event with little (if anything) to fault. The team behind Runway Club had put an insane amount of effort into improving and building this outstanding high performance showpiece, it was easily clear to see that this event has now cemented itself on the calendar as a must do for years to come.

Whilst we had to nurse the Golf home meant heading away early, we were unable to see just who won the overall event and the final standings. We will clarify that as as and when we hear.

Until then, a major thank you to all the team behind Runway Club Live, we can't wait for the next one.

Stick it on your "TO DO" list, we know we will.