Martin Brendan Birrane (19 August 1935 – 9 June 2018) was an Irish businessman and former racing driver. Born in Ballina, County Mayo and educated at St Muredach's College, Birrane made his money in property development, with his company Peer Group.
He was the owner of the Mondello Park racetrack in County Kildare, which is the only FIA 3 1/2 kilometre track in Ireland. It hosts domestic and international events.
He competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours ten times as a driver, winning the GT class in 1985. In 1990, he set the then Irish land speed record of 1760NaN0 on the then-unopened Westlink, now known as the M50, in Dublin.[1]
Birrane owned Team Ireland, a NASCAR Winston Cup Series car racing team from 1991 to 1992.[2] He was the owner of racing car manufacturer Lola Cars from 1997 until the company was closed down in 2012. The Sunday Times Rich List 2011 valued his assets at €85 million.
Birrane died in June 2018 at the age of 82.[3]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pts | Class | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Martin Birrane | Ford Falcon Sprint | BRH | THR | SIL | CRY | MAL | BRH | SIL 13 | CRO | OUL | BRH Ret | BRH NC | NC | 0 | NC | ||||
| 1969 | Martin Birrane | Ford Falcon Sprint | BRH DNS | SIL 18 | SNE 6 | THR 5 | SIL Ret | CRY Ret† | MAL Ret† | CRO 18 | SIL DNS | OUL 6 | BRH Ret | BRH Ret | 21st | 10 | 4th | |||
| 1970 | Martin Birrane | Ford Mustang | BRH | SNE | THR | SIL Ret | CRY DNS | SIL Ret | SIL | CRO DNS | BRH | OUL | BRH Ret | BRH 2 | 31st | 8 | 6th | |||
| 1971 | Martin Birrane | BRH | SNE 7 | THR Ret | SIL Ret | CRY Ret† | SIL Ret | CRO | SIL 4 | OUL 4 | BRH DNS | MAL | BRH 4 | 23rd | 10 | 6th | ||||
| 1972 | Cona Coffee Machine Company | BRH Ret | OUL 8 | THR Ret | SIL 7 | CRY 8† | BRH Ret | OUL Ret | SIL 7 | MAL | BRH Ret | 26th | 10 | 6th | ||||||
| 1973 | Martin Birrane | BRH | SIL | THR | THR | SIL | ING | BRH | SIL DNS | BRH | NC | 0 | NC | |||||||
| 1974 | Adlards of Brixton | Ford Capri 3000 GT | MAL 7† | BRH 7 | SIL 15 | OUL | THR | SIL | THR | BRH | ING | BRH 7† | OUL | SNE | BRH Ret | 22nd | 15 | 6th | ||
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | David Price Racing | Chevron B29 | Ford BDA 1.6 L4 | MAL | SNE | OUL | BRH | THR | BRH | MAL | SNE | NC | 0 | |||||||
| Martin Birrane | Ford BDA Nicholson 1.6 L4 | BRH | THR | OUL | BRH | BRH | ||||||||||||||
| 1977 | Martin Birrane | Chevron B29 | Ford BDA 1.6 L4 | MAL | SNE | OUL | BRH | MAL | THR | BRH | OUL | MAL | DON | BRH | THR | SNE | BRH | NC | 0 |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 |  Motor Racing Facilities Ltd. | Robert Grant Sergé Troch | Datsun 240Z | GTS | - | DNQ | DNQ | |
| 1977 | Dorset Racing Associates | Ian Harrower Ernst Berg Richard Down | Lola T294S-Ford Cosworth | S 2.0 | 212 | NC | NC | |
| 1978 | Dorset Racing Associates | Bob Evans Richard Down | Lola T294S-Ford Cosworth | S 2.0 | 23 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1980 | Dorset Racing Associates | Peter Clarke Nick Mason | Lola T297-Ford Cosworth | S 2.0 | 263 | 22nd | 3rd | |
| 1981 | Dorset Racing Associates | Nick Faure Vivian Candy | De Cadenet-Lola LM-Ford Cosworth | S +2.0 | 171 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1982 | Chevron Cars | John Sheldon Neil Crang | Chevron B36-Ford Cosworth | Gr.6 | 57 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1983 | Peer Racing |  François Migault David Kennedy | Ford C100 | C | 16 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1985 |  Helmut Gall | Edgar Dören Jean-Paul Libert | BMW M1 | B | 307 | 15th | 1st | |
| 1986 |  Martin Schanche Racing | Martin Schanche Torgye Kleppe | Argo JM19-Zakspeed | C2 | 1 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1988 | Chamberlain Engineering | Richard Jones Nick Adams | Spice SE86C-Hart | C2 | 223 | DNF | DNF | |