Current Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year, Niall Murray, has clinched both the Northern Ireland Formula Ford 1600 and the All Ireland Formula Ford 1600 titles with two rounds still reaming in both series at Kirkistown this weekend.
Having done enough to seal the All Ireland Championship previously at Mondello Park, Murray returned to Kirkistown in County Down needing just a single point to extend his advantage beyond the reach of his rivals in the Northern Ireland Championship. Taking pole position for the days two races in qualifying was enough to give the Irish Sports Council supported driver the points needed to clinch his second title of the season before racing got underway.
With eight victories already to his name between Bishopscourt and Kirkistown this season, Murray was keen to add two more to his tally. Setting off from pole position in race one, Niall grabbed the lead right from the start and quickly opened the gap back to Morgan Dempsey before the Safety Car was deployed for an incident at the hairpin. At the restart it was Murray who got the head down and got away to add another win to his tally of victories at the chequered flag.
Unexpected heavy rain arrived at the County Down venue around lunch time so it was a change to a wet setup for the FCR Media Racing run car. Once again Niall set off from pole position, using the two warm up laps given to the Formula Ford cars to familiarise himself with the conditions. Murray took the lead of the race going into the first corner, Colonial, fending off a challenge from Alan Davidson. From there Murray was never troubled again taking his ninth win of the year at Kirkistown by over eight seconds.
The newly crowned double champion commented after another perfect weekend: “I’m delighted with yet another great weekend up in Kirkistown. Two poles and two comfortable race wins in my FCR Media Racing run Dunlop, Motorsport Ireland backed FF1600. Bernard and Sam did a great job once again with a perfect car all day after braking issues during testing. I’m also thrilled to have now clinched both the All Ireland and Northern Ireland FF1600 Championships before the last round. Massive thanks to all of my sponsors this year, those mentioned and also Murray Motorsport, CL Brakes, SuperB lithium batteries, OMP, Stilo, Schroth Racing, Schroth iNDi Seat and P1 Digital.”