Niall Murray approached Bishopscourt confident of a strong weekend for rounds two and three of the All Ireland Formula Ford Championship. After an encouraging performance in the official pre-event test, Murray was aiming for at least one race win and to leave the weekend second in the championship. The weekend would not start out so well for the young Dublin driver however after slipping off in free practice one which also left his car under repair for the second free practice session of the morning. Despite this lack of track time, Murray was now ready for qualifying and remained confident of putting the morning’s misfortune behind him as track conditions were very similar to that of the test day. Setting a few early quick laps, Murray headed for the pits when the rain started to fall on the session. Quickly this cleared and Niall returned to the track and managed to put in one final flying lap to put him on the front row for Sunday’s opening race. Sunday was not so kind on the weather front. Constant rain from the early hours in the morning left the track heavily covered in water as the cars lined up on the grid for race one. Off the line Murray got a cracking start promoting him straight into the lead for the opening six laps. Formula Ford Veteran Ivor McCullough however was hot on his heels and keen to make a pass at any available opportunity. Indeed this opportunity came when Niall was held up trying to pass a back marker on track and was now down to second as the chequered flag fell. Race two was a much drier affair with only one small light shower during the afternoon. Starting fifth, Murray was keen to get himself up the order as early as possible before the pack spread out. An action packed opening lap saw Niall move up to third during the early part of the lap before dropping back to sixth after a side-by-side moment with Kevin O’Hara causing Murray to slip onto the grass briefly. Quickly Niall made his way back to third and was now focused on reeling in former Ginetta Junior rival Sean Doyle who had a healthy advantage in second place. Over the next few laps Murray put on a display of driving that would equal some of the far more established Formula Ford drivers and was right on Doyle’s gearbox before getting past a lap later. With just two laps to go, Murray was yet again hampered by a back marker and put him into the clutches of both Sean Doyle and Noel Dunne. Coming across the line to take the flag mere tenths of a second split the trio with Murray just holding out to take his second podium of the weekend in second place. Niall now leaves Bishopscourt second in the championship behind the dominant Ivor McCullough followed by Sean Doyle in third. Speaking after the weekend, Murray commented: “This weekend has gone really well for us. Free practice one was of course a disaster, but I tried to put that behind me in qualifying and luckily I managed to make the best use of the few dry laps there was to grab second on the grid for race one. I’m delighted with the results from both races as it’s exactly what I was hoping to achieve along with leaving the weekend second in the championship. There’s a bit of a break in the championship now, conveniently for me to sit my Leaving Cert, until we return to Kirkistown on July 7th and I can’t wait to be back out in the car! Once again thank you to my team who did a great job as always and my sponsors Murray Motorsport, SuperB Batteries, Schroth and P1 Digital.”

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Double podium for Murray at Bishopscourt

Former British Ginetta Junior Race Winner Niall Murray is looking forward to the next round of the Irish Formula Ford 1600 championship at Bishopscourt this weekend. A debut visit to the Downpatrick venue for Formula Ford provides a level playing field for all concerned. Due to local area restrictions, testing has always been at a premium at the circuit but a recent open test day in preparation for the event allowed Niall to build his confidence at the fast venue. Murray, well known for quickly adapting to changing conditions and learning new circuits during his 2011 and 2012 Ginetta Junior Championship campaigns settled into the circuit very quickly and came away from the day confident that he could easily run at the sharp end of the field. Niall speaking from his Murray Motorsport base in Walkinstown ahead of the event said: “I’m really excited about this weekend as its a new track and I was one of the quickest at the test day, getting to grips with the circuit very quickly. My aim for this weekend is to leave second in the championship and top points scorer.” Qualifying commences at Bishopscourt this weekend on Saturday morning with Racing starting on Sunday morning with an action packed timetable all day.

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Murray looking forward to Bishopscourt challenge

Well it has been hectic this last few weeks as the season finally kicked off. I always think that March is such a slow month waiting for the first race meeting of the season. I, along with a good selection of the Mondello regulars, pointed her North for the first meeting of the season at the end of last month. With Vees, Sheanes, Ginetta Juniors all opening their championship campaigns at the meeting, the racing was always going to be good. It was wonderful to see a capacity FF1600 entry, with a qualifying race required early on to sort the grid for the main race. Ivor McCullough was typically impressive on his way to another win but particularly impressive from my point of view, were the performances of Sean Doyle and Niall Murray. Despite having no single seater experience, Murray was right in there, whilst Doyle was his usual feisty self, probably pulling off the move of the race, scrabbling round the outside of Murray and Steven Daly together at Fishermans mid-race! Both Doyle and Murray looked to be on the ragged edge for the duration, often using all the kerbs and a little more on the way out of the chicane. Great to watch, I have no doubt they will challenge for wins in this series during the year. I can’t wait to see a capacity FF1600 grid heading down to Ford corner when they return to Mondello later in the year! It was a weekend to forget for MI Young Driver of the year Kevin O’Hara, who struggled with setup over the weekend before badly damaging the chassis of his Van Diemen in a big shunt. His pace is undoubted but Kevin’s is not the luckiest guy around- he must be due a break soon! Kevin Sheane posted intentions of regaining his 2011 title when he took the Formula Sheane lead off the line and fought off the attentions of Brian Hearty for the duration. The new FCR The FCR Media Team at Kirkistown. Image from JayTee Photographic Media team made their debut with Sheanes for Barry Rabbitt, in Golden Pages livery and Jennifer Mullan in Mobileready.ie and sayso.ie colours. Rabbitt ran with the leaders until gear selection issues dropped him back, but fought back to 5th by the end. The Ginetta Junior class had a handful of cars on the grid, despite the addition of Eorann O’Neill for this one. Always puzzles me that this class is not over subscribed, as the cars appear to be reasonably priced, if you talk to the right people (!) and the running costs are way below that of top line karting. There may be a few exciting additions to this class soon though, so watch this space! Dylan Curley took both wins with Jack Finlay and Sophie Byrne sharing the running up spots. Ray Moore was impressive and pretty much untouchable in Vees and one wonders who will challenge him in 2013…. Kirkistown Fiestas gave great entertainment with a four car battle for the duration. As usual, young Turkington was ahead when it mattered, but he had to work for this one! The Patch Fiestas were brilliant on their debut. Image from Con Connolly The Mondello season opener a few weeks later will probably be remembered for the debut of Mondello.tv, which I feel has huge potential going forward. The idea of live TV is a daunting one, and having been involved, I can confirm that it was a steep learning curve and there was a lot of running round behind the scenes. The small issues can easily be ironed out however and in general the feedback was fantastic.  The other big news was the debut of the Patch Tyre Equipment Fiesta championship. As I have said before, one of the best things about this series, cost apart, is the fact that 80% of these guys are complete novices, first time licence holders. This can only be good for the sport. The racing too was fantastic. I had feared that some hero might decide to challenge for the lead at the first corner from 14th on the grid with resultant carnage but in the main part, the driving standards were superb, hard but fair. Any incidents were dealt with and indeed the offending drivers put their hands up and took the blame. A Ford representative checked all the cars with a diagnostic tool and further checks will be made at each round. A number of cars were sealed for stripdown too. It is hugely important to police this class from a technical point of view and it would appear that the Mondello Park Sports Club are on top of this so far with an inventory of genuine Ford parts which they will fit to cars at random during the year, whilst checking the competitors’ parts. Moore continued his Vee domination with a strong win, with Dan Polley and Robbie Allen showing well with fighting drives up the grid. Colm Blackburn impressed with another B/C win to add to his Kirkistown one in the works Leastone. Alan Watkins took another Stryker win but it seems Dave Griffin and Alan Auerbach have the pace to challenge him in 2013. Griffin had a misfire in race one I haven’t owned the Mini or the Hiace in this picture- yet! but tangled with Watkins whilst challenging for the lead in race two, whilst the spectacular Auerbach chased down Watkins and was about to challenge when the leader retired- signs of a good season for the budget sportscars. Future Classics also made their debut at this meeting and it was great to see such an eclectic mix on the grid for the first race. Ian Thornton’s Mk1 Golf GTi ran away with the race but in his wake, Unos, 205GTIs, a Chevette and even an MG Maestro battled mightily. (It was only when I realised I had owned two of the Unos, The Maestro and the Golf at some stage, that I realised I might have a problem!) I also made my Mondello Bar debut on the Saturday night, pulling pints for a good selection of drivers, mechanics and supporters. Ian Beatty’s better half, Sharon, has taken over the running of the bar this year- the changes are noticeable already, and I have no doubt there will be various promotions there during race meetings this year. (How about a Mexican Fiesta night for the Patch Fiesta gang at some stage?!) On the following Monday, I was delighted to have been invited to give a talk to the members of the RIAC Archive in Dawson Street. I had intended to prepare something for it but as ever time ran out and I had to wing it. I was convinced I would bore them to tears with stories of Dad bringing me to Mondello as a kid, my karting debut thanks to Donal Loughrey, my various races, then a few stories about various commentaries etc. I need not have worried, the members are huge enthusiasts and it was a wonderful evening. One of my favourite stories, and one which I would not believe were I not involved in it, recalled when Donal Loughrey and I left Bolton Street DIT at lunch time on a Wednesday, got the 11 bus to UCD and walked back to the Loughrey household, where we Donal Loughrey at the wheel of the machine which gave us both our debuts- wish I still had it now! loaded his recently purchased ex Morgan Dempsey Zip-Dap kart into his Mother’s Fiat Uno. We did this quite regualarly but on this particular day it rained. We has no wets so took to the track on slicks! When we braked at the grandstand, the rears locked, and with direct drive, the engine stopped, accompanied by a deafening silence, until the brake was released and the motor restarted. As ever, we alternated runs and the last run was my turn. By this time Gerry Dorgan had headed away for his tea and left us to our own devices. Wednesday afternoon testing ran most weeks and sessions were for cars, karts and bikes, with bikes running left hand in back then. at one stage I came through turn two, probably still known as B.O.A.C. back then (As an interesting aside, I was walking by Ray Moore’s pit last weekend and overheard him discussing how the car handles “through B.O.A.C” with Bernard Dolan!), With an armful of opposite lock on, the rear right mounted the exit kerb and around I went. After two failed efforts to push start, I lay on the grass to catch my breath. I decided to give it one more go and it fired, I jumped aboard and headed for “Duckhams”, throttle wide open. Unbeknownst to me, 6 bikers were at the end of the pitlane. With no marshalls about, they listened, heard nothing, assumed the track was empty, and left the pitlane- left hand in!!!  I was coming up out of Duckhams on the end of the rack when I met them. They passed me like a flash on both sides and when I returned to the pitlane, I was apparently as white as a sheet and didn’t see the funny side of it, unlike Donal!! Great days….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbtLXXdiyhc  

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Motormouth’s Mutterings!

WEEKEND RESULTS for 13/14 April 2013 IRISH MOTOR RACING CLUB RACE MEETING AT MONDELLO PARK: FORMULA LIBRE RACE 1 (8 laps): 1 Martin Daly (Tatuus F Renault) 7m 31.49s, 73.33 mph, 2 Fergus Faherty (Tatuus F Renault) 7m 40.11s, 3 Eugene Heary Jnr (Reynard 97D) 7m 44.25s, 4 Donal Griffin (Reynard 90D) 7m 45.06s, 5 Stanley Watson (Lola F3000) 7m 47.45s, 6 Cian Carey (Tatuus F Renault) 7m 55.26s. Fastest lap: Daly 55.573s, 74.47 mph. FORMULA LIBRE RACE 2 (16 laps): 1 Martin Daly (Tatuus F Renault) 15m 04.09s, 73.24 mph, 2 Eugene Heary Jnr (Reynard 97D) 15m 05.65s, 3 Fergus Faherty (Tatuus F Renault) 15m 12.31s, 4 Noel Robinson (Tatuus F Renault) 15m 12.49s, 5 John Daly (Lola T93 Holden) 15m 27.02s, 6 Philip Shields (Tatuus Honda) 15m 36.25s. Fastest lap: Martin Daly 53.692s, 77.08 mph. IRISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP SUPER TOURING CLASS RACE 1 (12 laps): 1 Erik Holstein (BMW M3) 12m 36.11s, 65.68 mph, 2 Robert Savage (Honda Integra) 12m 52.23s, 3 Eric Carroll (Honda Integra) 12m 55.98s. Fastest lap: Holstein 1m 01.630s, 67.15 mph. TOURING CLASS (12 laps): 1 Mark Keane (Honda Integra) 13m 15.88s, 62.40 mph, 2 Norman Fawcett (Honda Civic) 13m 19.21s, 3 Owain Drought (Honda Integra) 13m 19.24s. Fastest lap: Drought 1m 04.983s, 63.68 mph. STOCK HATCH CLASS (11 laps): 1 Andrew Twomey (Citroen Saxo) 12m 53.47s, 58.85 mph, 2 Fergal Bowes (Peugeot 106) 12m 58.96s, 3 Philip Lawless (Peugeot 206) 13m 30.65s. Fastest lap: Twomey 1m 08.426s, 60.48 mph. IRISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP SUPER TOURING CLASS RACE 2 (15 laps): 1 Erik Holstein (BMW M3) 15m 38.35s, 66.15 mph, 2 Eric Carroll (Honda Integra) 15m 50.32s, 3 Robert Savage (Honda Integra) 15m 50.93s. Fastest lap: Holstein 1m 01.563s, 67.22 mph. TOURING CLASS (15 laps): 1 Mark Keane (Honda Integra) 16m 30.08s, 62.70 mph, 2 Ian Radford (Honda Integra) 16m 35.56s, 3 Norman Fawcett (Honda Civic) 16m 48.52s. Fastest lap: Keane 1m 04.770s, 63.89 mph. STOCK HATCH CLASS (14 laps): 1 Andrew Twomey (Citroen Saxo) 16m 21.62s, 59.02 mph, 2 Fergal Bowes (Peugeot 106) 16m 35.36s. Fastest lap: Twomey 1m 08.306s, 60.59 mph. CROWNE PLAZA DUNDALK FORMULA VEE RACE 1 (10 laps): 1 Colm Blackburn (Leastone) 12m 03.16s, 57.23 mph, 2 Ger Byrne (Sheane) 12m 05.49s, 3 Morgan McCourt (Leastone) 12m 27.89s, 4 Stephen Morrin (Leastone) 12m 31.01s, 5 Justin Costello (Leastone) 12m 31.79s, 6 Damian Murphy (Leastone) 12m 33.68s. Fastest lap: Morrin 1m 09.356s, 59.67 mph. CROWNE PLAZA DUNDALK FORMULA VEE RACE 2 (15 laps): 1 Ray Moore (Leastone) 15m 31.59s, 66.63 mph, 2 Adam MacAulay (Sheane) 15m 36.56s, 3 Dan Polley (Sheane) 15m 41.44s, 4 Robbie Allen (Sheane) 15m 46.19s, 5 Kevin Grogan (Leastone) 15m 46.31s, 6 David O’Brien (Sheane) 15m 48.46s. Fastest lap: Moore 1m 01.337s, 67.47 mph. PATCH TYRE EQUIPMENT FIESTA RACE 1 (10 laps): 1 John Denning 12m 44.41s, 54.14 mph, 2 J J O’Riordan 12m 45.08s, 3 Darragh Daly 12m 45.28s, 4 Barry Hallion 12m 46.48s, 5 Robert Griffin 12m 54.72s, 6 David Yamamoto 12m 55.01s. Fastest lap: Sean Lillis 1m 13.953s, 55.96 mph. PATCH TYRE EQUIPMENT FIESTA RACE 2 (12 laps): 1 John Denning 14m 59.40s, 55.21 mph, 2 Sean Lillis 14m 59.54s, 3 Darragh Daly 15m 00.79s, 4 Barry Hallion 15m 06.09s, 5 J J O’Riordan 15m 09.17s, 6 Robert Griffin 15m 11.71s. Fastest lap: Lillis 1m 13.890s, 56.01 mph. STRYKER RACE 1 (10 laps): 1 Alan Watkins 12m 35.57s, 54.77 mph, 2 Brian Kingston 12m 41.31s. 3 Alan Auerbach 12m 41.95s, 4 Mark Baker 13m 06.67s, 5 Seamus Ryan 13m 07.16s, 6 Roger Welaratne 13m 18.10s. Fastest lap: Auerbach 1m 13.019s, 56.68 mph. STRYKER RACE 2 (14 laps): 1 Alan Auerbach 14m 50.86s, 65.03 mph, 2 Paul Yeomans 14m 57.04s, 3 Dave Griffin 15m 05.04s, 4 Seamus Ryan 15m 11.83s, 5 Mark Baker 15m 14.92s, 6 Brian Kingston 15m 17.00s. Fastest lap: Auerbach 1m 02.808s, 65.89 mph. GLOBAL LIGHTS RACE 1 (12 laps): 1 Mark Twomey 12m 19.69s, 67.14 mph, 2 Jake Byrne 12m 19.95s, 3 Peter Drennan 12m 20.90s, 4 Paul Fitzpatrick 12m 30.66s, 5 John Conway 12m 46.78s, 6 John Murphy 12m 53.05s. Fastest lap: Byrne 1m 00.213s, 68.73 mph. GLOBAL LIGHTS RACE 2 (15 laps): 1 Peter Drennan 15m 11.51s, 68.10 mph, 2 Mark Twomey 15m 12.67s, 3 Paul Fitzpatrick 15m 13.13s, 4 Derek Behan 15m 16.10s, 5 Jake Byrne 15m 16.83s, 6 Mark Braden 15m 31.04s. Fastest lap: Byrne 59.097s, 70.03 mph. GINETTA JUNIOR IRELAND RACE 1 (10 laps): 1 Jack Finlay 13m 17.74s, 51.88 mph, 2 Dylan Curley 13m 39.22s, 3 Sophie Byrne 13m 41.40s, 4 Charlie Linnane 9 laps. Fastest lap: Byrne 1m 18.787s, 52.53 mph. GINETTA JUNIOR IRELAND RACE 2 (13 laps): 1 Dylan Curley 15m 07.02s, 59.31 mph, 2 Sophie Byrne 15m 12.51s, 3 Luke Hourihan 16m 02.77s, 4 Max Sheane 16m 24.87s, 5 Charlie Linnane 16m 30.83s. Fastest lap: Curley 1m 08.940s, 60.03 mph. HISTORIC RACE 1 (12 laps): 1 David Kelly (Crossle 9S) 13m 02.59s, 63.46 mph, 2 Bernard Foley (MGBGT V8) 13m 41.25s, 3 Clive Brandon (Lotus 47) 13m 51.03s, 4 Ian Thornton (VW Golf) 11 laps, 5 Liam Ruth (MG Midget) 11 laps, 6 Ken McAvoy (Sprite) 11 laps. Fastest lap: Kelly 1m 03.773s, 64.89 mph. HISTORIC RACE 2 (15 laps): 1 David Kelly (Crossle 9S) 15m 50.11s, 65.33 mph, 2 Clive Brandon (Lotus 47) 14 laps, 3 Ian Thornton (VW Golf) 14 laps, 4 Wolfgang Schnittger (MG Midget) 14 laps, 5 Liam Ruth (MG Midget) 14 laps, 6 Ken McAvoy (Sprite) 13 laps. Fastest lap: Kelly 1m 02.543s, 66.17 mph. FUTURE CLASSICS RACE (11 laps): 1 Ian Thornton (VW Golf) 13m 06.93s, 57.85 mph, 2 Daniel Byrne (Chevette) 13m 25.91s, 3 Robbie Parks (Peugeot 205) 13m 44.77s, 4 Aidan Byrne (Uno) 13m 44.77s, 5 Mick Walsh (Mini) 10 laps, 6 Pat Lucey (Ritmo) 10 laps. Fastest lap: Thornton 1m 10.294s, 58.87 mph. CARRICK-ON-SUIR M C WILLIE LOUGHMAN MEMORIAL FOREST RALLY AT SLIEVERUE, CO KILKENNY (ROUND 3 OF VALVOLINE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP): 1 Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Lancer Evo 9) 55m 42s, 2 Philip Morrow/Jonny Harte (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 55m 48s, 3 Dan O’Brien/Martin Brady (Focus WRC) 56m 46s, 4 Michael O’Brien/Greg Shinnors (Focus WRC) 57m 30s, 5 Vincent McAree/J P McAree (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 58m 02s, 6 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 58m 17s, 7 Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 59m 15s, 8 Gerard Lucey/James Lucey (Lancer Evo 8 Gp N) 59m 19s, 9 Sara Williams/Dai Roberts (Impreza Gp N) 59m 56s, 10 Shane McGirr/Jackie Elliott (Starlet) 60m 23s.

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Weekend Results for 13/14 April 2013

Mondello Park’s Car Race season starts with a bang this weekend, with a packed seventeen race programme run by the Irish Motor Racing Club taking place over Saturday and Sunday. The event will feature some brand new classes and the first ever Live Streaming Web TV Coverage of an Irish Car Race event. The season looks like being a spectacular one with many classes seeing increased entries and the introduction of three new series, two of which will be on show this weekend. The most impressive of these new classes is the Patch Tyre Equipment Fiesta Championship, with the brand new series for standard Fiesta Zetec cars, having attracted an entry of more than 25 cars for its for race. The Fiestas will be joined on the timetable by the new ‘Future Classics’ championship for modern Historics, which are not eligible for the current Historic Racing age limitations. The third new class will be the revitalised GT series which will début at the next event on June 10th. The Fiesta Series will be one of five classes which will star in the first Mondello.TV Live broadcast, which will transmit from the County Kildare circuit throughout Sunday’s event. Joining the Patch Tyre Equipment supported series will be Formula Vee, Formula Libre, Irish Touring Car Championship and Ginetta Juniors. Each class will race twice and both races for each series will be broadcast. In between races the presentation team will bring viewers background information from the event and interviews with drivers and other guests. The live stream will be accessible through www.mondello.tv   or the Mondello Park web site. ( www.mondello.ie) With the season opener being so busy the event is scheduled to take place over two days with qualifying taking place on Saturday afternoon and Racing all day Sunday. Joining the Televised classes on the timetable will be the Future Classics with a single race and the HRCA Historics, Strykers, and Global Light classes with double headers. Admission to Sundays race day is just €10 for adults with accompanied under sixteens admitted free of charge. All admission includes a complimentary event programme. For a event timetable see www.mondellopark.ie .  

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New Classes and Live Streaming to feature at Mondello Park Season Opener