Niall Murray has proven that the transition from being a Ginetta Junior front-runner over the past three seasons to mixing it with Ireland’s best Formula Ford drivers hasn’t been a challenge too great for the young Dubliner. Murray began his season finishing comfortably inside the top five and since then has been a regular on the podium.
Despite not planning to compete in the Northern Ireland Formula Ford Championship this season, Niall found himself third in the championship due to a number of the rounds being combined with the Irish Formula Ford Championship. As a result, Murray made the trip to Kirkistown last weekend to build on this advantage and also gain valuable experience as the Formula Ford highlight events including the Martin Donnelly, Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy become ever nearer.
Qualifying was a mixed run for Niall in the Murray Motorsport car as traffic hindered the majority of his flying laps. Despite this Murray set two times good enough to put him fourth for race one and third for the afternoon’s race two.
A great start off the line in race one but missing a gear into the first corner allowed Jonny McMullan to slip ahead briefly before Niall was last of the late breakers and took the place back at Colonial One. Now on the back of multiple race winner Ivor McCullough, Murray was a man on a mission. A strong tow down the back straight and a dive up the inside at the hairpin put Niall second crossing the start finish line for the first time. However Ivor McCullough is easily one of the best in Formula Ford and challenged hard for the next sequence of laps before the pair were caught by Jonny McMullan and Kevin O’Hara. The battle was now so intense that when Niall missed a gear on the main straight it dropped him to fifth undoing his good work. The battle for these four places had now allowed Noel Dunne to open an unassailable lead at the front of the field. Contact between O’Hara and McCullough would play into Murray’s hands moving him back up to third behind McMullan. With two laps to go Murray was briefly ahead but going onto the final lap the pair ran side by side and it was McMullan who eventually took the advantage to cross the finish line second with Niall just behind in third.
Hungry for his first win, Murray got another superb start off the line from third on the grid. Now stuck behind the lead pair of Ivor McCullough and Noel Dunne, Niall tried an ambitious move around the outside of McCullough at the hairpin that resulted in him being pushed wide and falling to fifth. Now battling with David McCullough, Niall eventually found a way past at the mid point of the race and set about putting in some qualifying laps to get back with the leading trio. With just one lap to go, Murray was right in the thick of the action. Coming out of Colonial two, a clash between the lead pair of McCullough and Dunne promoted McMullan and Murray to first and second respectively. Niall could almost taste victory and a superb tow down the back straight perfectly matched with a dummy move to open the inside line at the Hairpin allowed Niall to throw it up the inside and in a drag race to the line taking his debut Formula Ford victory after yet another exciting Irish Formula Ford race.
Speaking after the race, a clearly delighted Murray touched on the progress he’s made so far this season, “I’m absolutely thrilled about the whole weekend. Every time I’ve driven the car I’ve gone quicker. As a team we’ve worked hard to perfect the setup and it’s fantastic to reward their efforts with this result. I’m now just eight points off second place in the Northern Ireland Championship and three points off second in the Irish Championship. I’m really looking forward to the final two rounds at Mondello Park’s International Circuit on September 14th and 15th where two strong results would secure second in both championships for me! None of this would be possible without my fantastic sponsors including Murray Motorsport, Schroth Racing, SuperB Batteries, HANS Seat, Carbon Lorraine Brakes and P1 Digital.