Former Sunday Game host Michael Lyster talks about his interest in rally driving, and tells a great yarn about starting one particular race.
Michael Lyster has very fond memories of his days driving a rally car.
The long-time ‘Sunday Game’ host retired from that hotseat at the end of the 2018 All-Ireland championship, but that was not his lone pursuit during his 35 years in the limelight.
The Galway native has a huge love for the GAA codes, but he is also something of a petrolhead.
“I am a huge fan of fields sports like hurling, but maybe I was too much of a fan because I spent too much time going around the fields of this country in my rally driving days, which I wasn’t necessarily supposed to be in!” Lyster says with a smile.
“I remember one day doing the Circuit of Ireland in Kilkenny some place.
“You roll up and start at intervals of 30 seconds, and it’s a very tense time because you’re belted into the car, you have the helmet on, and you’re about to take on a tricky challenge.
“You’re concentrating like mad, and my co-pilot Vincent (Hogan, Irish Independent writer) is giving the countdown of 20 seconds, 15 seconds… as he gets to about ten seconds, I heard this sudden mad rapping on the window of the car.
“There’s this fellow standing beside the rally car and I thought there was something wrong, so I rolled down the window.
“He looks in at me and he says: ‘just stick to the television, will you?’”
OurGame host Michael Verney, along with ‘Sunday Game’ royalty Tomas Mulcahy and Cyril Farrell break into laughter, with Lyster adding: “That was his comment on my rally driving!”
“The craic was mighty,” he adds. “One of the great things of a sport like that was that the camaraderie between the competitors was just unbelievable.
“When you went out on the road and the stages, you wanted to beat the other guy and you’d be as thick as anything with yourself if he was quicker or whatever.
“But at the same time, competitors never saw each other stuck.
“If somebody had a problem, they were there to help you.”
Enjoy the video above where Lyster tells further anecdotes from his days on the asphalt.
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