MICHAEL Keohane sits in the cockpit of his Century Motorsport Keohane Readymix-liveried Porsche. The clock is ticking, the countdown has begun and it’s about 20 minutes to his first race in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB series.

It’s no ordinary race, even if the venue – Donington Park near East Midlands Airport – is a familiar, if somewhat distant, location.

It’s 22 years and a few days since he was in a similar position, but times have changed from his days in the British Formula 3 championship in a Dallara-engined, Carlin Motorsport-run single-seater to the enclosed surroundings of a sleek, four-litre, naturally aspirated Porsche 911 GT.

But his desire and objective remain the same. This is motor racing.

Minutes earlier, his engineer Jim Mullen had shut the door of the Porsche. Now the Ballygurteen driver is on his own, deep in thought, focused.

Time almost stands still.

The Porsche is fired up, a deep-throated roar of 520 brake horsepower ready to be unleashed on the 3.149km track near Castle Donington in Leicestershire.

Beckoned forward, Keohane steers the left-hand drive car from beneath the Century Motorsport garage and makes his way towards the track.

That gap of 22 years suddenly feels like yesterday.

Ever since he told The Southern Star of his plan to return to racing, it’s been an intense journey.

‘It’s been an awful lot of work, especially since mid-February, to get to this stage today,’ he said.

On the eve of his first two races, Keohane gave an insight.

‘This week alone we have been here (Donington) since Wednesday night,’ he explained.

‘We had a test on Thursday, it’s been pretty intense. Even yesterday, which was a down day when we weren’t testing, there was a huge amount of work done in the engineering room and looking at data.’

Michael Keohane is excited about the challenge ahead.

Data is scrutinised with intensity – ‘you lost a tenth here, you gained a tenth there.’ It’s blink-of-an-eye stuff, but it all adds up.

Reflecting on qualifying, Keohane was upbeat.

‘It feels great. This is a seriously close championship, probably one of the closest I’ve ever seen, everybody within one second. So it’s a very small mistake somewhere that could cost you an awful lot of time.’

Posting the fastest time in the Masters category was a welcome boost.

‘Carl Cavers is a very highly regarded driver that won here last year, so he’s a great benchmark in pace,’ Keohane said.

Team principal Nathan Freke was also encouraged.

‘We are really happy with Michael. We’ve had a good testing programme and there’s a bit of acclimatisation after 22 years out of the seat, and also driving something with a roof now, compared to a single-seater,’ he said.

Freke was particularly impressed with Keohane’s ability to adapt his driving style.

‘The Porsche requires quite a unique driving style, so I think Michael has learned the car well and executed qualifying really well. He did a super lap. His fastest time was disallowed, but his next best was still good enough to put him on pole for the Masters, so he should be very happy.’

Keohane himself highlighted the work involved.

‘I really focused on that over the last few weeks, particularly with the braking. You use the brake pedal a lot to help rotate the car through the corner, so getting the feel for that has been a big part of it – and it’s still ongoing.’

He also explained his qualifying approach.

‘I had a lot of traffic on the first set of tyres, so with the second I held back to create a gap and it seemed to work.’

Admitting his qualifying result exceeded expectations, Keohane was pleased with his pace.

There was a strong West Cork contingent present, along with friends from Wexford and UK-based family and supporters at Donington Park.

‘It’s great to see that support and it always makes a difference – it encourages you.’

Freke also pointed to the challenge of expectations.

‘It’s interesting with Michael because he came from such a high level when he stopped. There’s probably a bit of adjustment in expectations,’ he said.

‘It’s a very different car with a unique driving style. We see it year on year that second-year drivers are quicker than first-year drivers.

‘Michael seems to have gelled with it really well.’

On the differences between Formula 3 and Porsche racing, Freke added: ‘It’s just different. When you push really hard in these cars, you can actually go slower. You have to be precise and make sure you don’t lose your rhythm.

‘Michael saw that in pre-season testing. When you over-push, the time bleeds away. It’s about focusing on corner exits, whereas in F3 it was more about entry. It’s a bit of re-wiring the brain.’

Keohane’s comeback weekend didn’t bring the results he had hoped for, as he failed to finish either of the opening two races in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB series. However, there were plenty of positives.

He showed strong pace in both qualifying and the races, and was leading the Masters class on both occasions before retiring.

Next up is Brands Hatch (Indy Circuit) on May 9th/10th, with qualifying on Saturday and races on Sunday at 10am and 1.50pm.

The comeback continues.