Tipp at the Top as CANNONBALL 2012 makes a final pitstop at Dundrum House Hotel
On September 16th 2012, CANNONBALL in aid of LauraLynn, made its final stop at Dundrum House Hotel outside Cashel in Co Tipperary at 1pm with the thunderous roar of 150 super cars welcomed by Miss Sunday World Esme Mansergh Wallace. Thousands of Cannonball fans flocked to Dundrum House Hotel to meet the drivers and get up close and personal with most of the world’s top mark cars such as McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Masseratti, Rolls Royce and Bentley. Enthusiastic fans took photographs and enjoyed a great family day out with an outdoor Barbeque, Bouncy Castles, face painters, Car Drifting, Live music and dancing as the cars rested for a few hours before the final journey to Kilkenny. Local Cannonball organiser John McHugh expects Tipp to be the Top Stop for 2012 as the star-studded convoy goes coast to coast, north and south of the border this year with 150 of the finest cars on the planet. This adrenalin fuelled event is the largest organised road trip inEurope and the most exciting motoring and social event of the year. Over 100,000 people lined the streets all over Ireland as Cannonball, sponsored by XSDirect.com, blazed a trail through towns and counties to raise funds for LauraLynn – Ireland’s only Childrens Hospice which supports children with life limiting conditions and their families by providing high quality transitional care, home support, respite, crisis and end-of-life care.
Cannonball is the brainchild of AB Signs proprietor, Alan Bannon and is now in its fourth year having already risen over a quarter of a million euro for Children’s charities. This celeb and party soaked cross country run was eagerly awaited in each of the destinations by thousands of fans with street festivals planed all over the country. Spectators and car enthusiasts along the route heard the roar of the mighty convoy as they approached and all prestige cards were view to the public as they cross the finish line at the end of each day.
With people coming from as far as Italy, Germany, US, UK and Monaco, this event is set to put Ireland on the world map once again and is a firm fixture in motoring history. Cannonball 2012 main sponsor, XS Direct car insurance, specialises in low-cost car insurance for high premium drivers. With over 100 supercars set to join this year’s action-packed road trip, the link with performance motoring fans is ideal, says Chris McCann, Managing Director at XS Direct. “The Cannonball supercar drivers are a fine example of drivers that won’t pay a super-premium with XSDirect.com, other customers that prefer the XS Direct approach are drivers that have lost their no claims bonus. The charity that will benefit from the Cannonball 2012 is the LauraLynn House, we will be supporting the fund raising efforts of LauraLynn as the event moves through each town, explained Chris McCann. Corporate sponsors this year include Manhattan Nuts and Popcorn, Supermacs, Beshoffs, Toys for Big Boys, E25 Supercar Club, Holywell, AB Signs, Parfit, Brazilia, Michel Jewellers See www.cannonball.ie