Current Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year Niall Murray secured yet another double podium this season at Mondello Park in rounds five and six of the 2014 Champion of Mondello and rounds seven and eight of the All Ireland Formula Ford Championship.
Qualifying on Sunday morning was typically close for the front-runners with just one second separating the top five competitors. Niall placed his FCR Media Racing prepared Van Diemen in second position for both of the day’s races along side his closest championship rival Stephen Daly.
A solid start for the Irish Sports Council supported driver allowed him to remain in second rounding the first corner. However Murray knew that challenging for the lead early on would be key to getting in front of the rapid Daly. Despite a number of challenges for the lead in the early part of the race, Niall brought his CL brakes supported Formula Ford across the line in second place.
With dark clouds moving in towards the circuit as race two was approaching, setup choice was becoming a lottery minutes before the race was due to get underway. Eventually the race was declared as a wet race with a heavy downpour looking immanent. With rain gently starting to fall, the race got underway and a slow start dropped Murray to third at the end of the opening lap. Now locked in battle with Sean Doyle, a clearly much faster Murray was struggling to find a way past due to the technical nature of the Kildare venue. In the closing stages of the race, Niall got a superb run up to Dunlop corner to slot himself along side Doyle on the inside. Sean ran wide coming out of Dunlop allowing Niall to finish the move into second as they proceeded down the main straight. Despite lapping faster in the final laps of the race than race leader Stephen Daly, Murray couldn’t close the gap to challenge for the lead and crossed the line in second position.
Niall Murray – #5 Van Diemen Formula Ford:
“Looking back over the weekend I am happy with my two second places. More podiums and more championship points. We didn’t quite have the pace on Stephen this weekend but next time out on the International track I’ll be going for gold! Once again a big thanks to my sponsors and the guys at FCR Media Racing for another amazing job and I look forward to getting back in the car in three weeks time.”