Niall Murray further increased his Northern Ireland Formula Ford 1600 Championship lead, taking two pole positions, two race wins and two fastest laps at Kirkistown, County Down on Saturday.
With a one-month break since his last outing, Niall was keen to pick up where he left off and continue the race-winning pace he demonstrated previously at Kirkistown. Despite the early qualifying sessions being held on a drying track, it was dry, sunny conditions that the Formula Ford field would be presented with. Murray put his Motorsport Ireland Formula Ford on pole position for both of the afternoons’ races with a gap of two tenths of a second over his nearest rivals.
Niall lined up alongside veteran racer Noel Dunne for race one and knew a good start would be key. The pair entered the first flat out corner side by side but Murray slotted into the lead for the following turn, Colonial. By the end of the first lap, Niall had opened up a small gap over the chasing pair of Dunne and Pollock. The Dunlop and Irish Sports Council supported driver got his head down and by the end of lap four, a lead of 1.8 seconds had been opened up. A run away winner in Formula Ford is a rarity but Niall Murray went on to dominate and claim victory by over six seconds from Pollock and Dunne, taking the fastest lap of the race along the way.
Formula Ford brought the meeting to a close as the final race of the day. Murray once again lined up on pole position but this time it was Pollock alongside. Both front row cars made a good start but it would be Pollock who would slot into the lead rounding Debtors. Pollock’s lead would be short lived as Murray slotted his Van Diemen up the inside on the brakes entering the hairpin to reclaim the top spot. In third place Dunne was keen not to let Murray run away into the distance as in the previous race so he set about passing Pollock on the following lap and put himself on to the tail of Niall’s Van Dieman. However the chasing duo of Dunne and Pollock couldn’t match the pace of the young Dubliner and Niall set about extending his lead leaving the pair to battle it out for the runner up spot. The red flags were displayed on lap twelve and Murray claimed his second victory of the day by a margin of over three seconds and again claimed the fastest lap of the race on his final lap before the stoppage.
Speaking on what was a perfect weekend, Niall commented: “I’m delighted with the weekend as I think I have improved massively. I feel a lot more comfortable in the car and as a result I am able to lap consistently which I think is the key to winning such competitive races. A massive thanks to Bernard for running a perfect car all weekend and of course to all my sponsors too. I look forward to more success at Bishopscourt in two weeks time.“