Double delight for Murray
By Stephen Leonard
NIALL Murray tightened his grip on top spot in the British Formula Ford 1600 Championship following a tremendous double win in Brands Hatch last weekend.
Competing at the very venue at which he captured the Formula Ford Festival title three years ago, the Firhouse man was confident of producing another great performance.
And he set about doing just that by securing pole position in qualifying on Saturday when just one second separated the top 20 drivers.
He refused to relinquish this advantage, opening up a narrow gap on his closest rival Luke Williams by the end of the first lap.
And he maintained his lead right the way through to record his fifth win of the season and, with it, the fastest lap of the race.
While he started the second race from pole again, his eventual win would not be as straight forward.
Indeed Williams, in the new Ralf Firman Racing machine, made it by the Dubliner at the end of the opening circuit.
Yet Murray was back in front just a lap later after which he remained ahead and extended his lead, again clocking the fastest lap. In the end it was an emphatic victory as he crossed the finish line some 10.4 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.
“What a weekend. Coming to Brands Hatch I was feeling very confident that we should be able to have a good run, but with such a competitive field of cars this weekend it definitely wasn’t going to be easy” said a delighted Murray.
“A weekend like this is just what I need for the championship, but a lot of this result is down to the car and the fantastic job by Bernard Dolan all weekend, and of course to our engine builder Morgan Dempsey” he stressed.
Murray will now turn his attention to Rounds 11 and 12 in Anglesey on August 6/7.
“Looking ahead to Anglesey, I haven’t raced there before, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of another new circuit” he said.
“As always, a big thank you to all my sponsors. It’s great to repay their support with a weekend like this. Hopefully it won’t be the last one” he added.
