Ah isn’t it just great that racing is back. This year saw a later start in the year than most recent times this is probably a good thing given the weather in Ireland the past few weeks. Con Connolly picked me up at 6am (I’d say bright and early but it was still dark) for the drive to Kirkistown that went through frost glistening fields and a fiery sunrise over the snow capped Mourne Mountains, it was the sort of morning poets dream about. I was surprised to see snow still piled on the roadside when we reached Hillsborough and it lasted until we reached the coastline of Strangford Lough. We arrived at the track and our first stop was the cantina for a breakfast, after which I wandered around the paddock for a while chatting to a few people, and having a few cups of tea. Feeling jetlagged from my recent holiday I went for a nap in the back of the Leastone truck emerging for the start of racing. John Murphy and Colm Blackburn won the Formula Ford, and Formula Vee qualifying races before lunch. Discussing ice cream with JayTee Jay Tee alerted me onto the ice cream stand in the paddock so I tried some at lunchtime. A local farm makes it and it was out of this world. Rhubarb and custard was the top flavour if you’re heading that way during the season. The wind picked up over lunch making for a cold afternoon. I stayed at the chicane and Fishermans for most of the afternoon and watched some close racing. There were wins for Ivor McCoullough, Dylan Curley, David Beatty, and Stephen Davidson. Kevin Seane won a thrilling Sheane race that produced controversy when Robbie Allen was excluded post race, while Ray Moore ran away with the Vee race. A few incidents led to delays as the afternoon wore on and as 5pm approached there were still a few races to run. The Fomula Ford race was stopped several times for incidents, but the racing was brilliant at the front. McCoullough took his second win of the day, as the young guns of Stephen Doyle and Niall Murray gave a good account of themselves. The final races were cut short but it was still nearly 7pm by the time it was all over which was a bit late to be leaving for the drive back to Dublin.

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Kirkistown Blog- with Cregor Elliott

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

LEINSTER M C/BARC RACE MEETING AT BISHOPSCOURT, CO DOWN (ROUNDS OF MOTORSPORT IRELAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS): FORMULA FORD 1600 RACE 1 (12 laps): 1 Ivor McCullough (Van Diemen RF00) 16m 13.91s, 80.91 mph, 2 Niall Murray (Van Diemen RF99) 16m 14.80s, 3 Sean Doyle (Van Diemen RF91) 16m 21.79s, 4 Rob Barrable (Van Diemen) 16m 24.03s, 5 Jonny McMullan (Mondiale M89S) 16m 25.30s, 6 Stephen Daly (Ray GR05) 16m 32.27s. Fastest lap: McCullough 1m 19.166s, 82.95 mph.   FORMULA FORD 1600 RACE 2 (12 laps): 1 Ivor McCullough (Van Diemen RF00) 15m 11.82s, 86.42 mph, 2 Niall Murray (Van Diemen RF99) 15m 15.46s, 3 Sean Doyle (Van Diemen RF91) 15m 15.60s, 4 Noel Dunne (Van Diemen RF00) 15m 15.70s, 5 Rob Barrable (Van Diemen) 15m 17.48s, 6 Kevin O’Hara (Van Diemen LA10) 15m 26.69s. Fastest lap: Dunne 1m 14.194s, 88.50 mph.   CROWNE PLAZA DUNDALK FORMULA VEE RACE 1 (11 laps): 1 Adam MacAulay (Sheane) 15m 11.16s, 79.27 mph, 2 Dan Polley (Sheane) 15m 14.73s, 3 Kevin Grogan (Leastone) 15m 15.37s. Fastest lap: MacAulay 1m 20.769s, 81.30 mph.   CROWNE PLAZA DUNDALK FORMULA VEE RACE 2 (11 laps): 1 Dan Polley (Sheane) 15m 47.45s, 76.24 mph, 2 Ray Moore (Leastone) 15m 49.89s, 3 Adam MacAulay (Sheane) 15m 50.37s. Fastest lap: Grogan 1m 24.139s, 78.04 mph.   FORMULA LIBRE RACE 1 (11 laps): 1 Martin Daly (Tatuus F Renault) 15m 22.05s, 78.34 mph, 2 Cian Carey (Tatuus F Renault) 15m 22.82s, 3 Bob Scanlon (Radical SR3) 15m 53.08s. Fastest lap: Scanlon 1m 21.062s, 81.01 mph.   FORMULA LIBRE RACE 2 (13 laps): 1 Martin Daly (Tatuus F Renault) 16m 07.47s, 88.23 mph, 2 Fergus Faherty (Tatuus F Renault) 16m 08.09s, 3 Cian Carey (Tatuus F Renault) 16m 09.24s. Fastest lap: Daly 1m 11.165s, 92.27 mph.   IRISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE 1 (11 laps): 1 Erik Holstein (BMW M3) 15m 26.86s, 77.93 mph, 2 Dave O’Brien (BMW E46) 15m 29.96s, 3 Robert Savage (Honda Integra) 16m 21.03s, 4 Garreth Hayden (Honda Integra) 16m 23.51s, 5 Norman Fawcett (Honda Civic) 10 laps, 6 Mark Keane (Honda Integra) 10 laps. Fastest lap: O’Brien 1m 21.473s, 80.60 mph.   IRISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE 2 (12 laps): 1 Dave O’Brien (BMW E46) 15m 53.29s, 82.66 mph, 2 Erik Holstein (BMW M3) 15m 53.82s, 3 Robert Savage (Honda Integra) 16m 46.35s, 4 Norman Fawcett (Honda Civic) 17m 12.05s, 5 Keith Rabbitt (Honda Integra) 17m 14.99s, 6 Ian Radford (Honda Integra) 17m 19.89s. Fastest lap: O’Brien 1m 16.928s, 85.36 mph.   FORMULA SHEANE RACE 1 (9 laps): 1 Kevin Sheane Jnr 12m 31.19s, 78.67 mph, 2 Brian Hearty 12m 36.41s, 3 John Linnane 13m 09.14s. Fastest lap: Sheane 1m 20.669s, 81.40 mph.   FORMULA SHEANE RACE 2 (10 laps): 1 Kevin Sheane Jnr 15m 44.41s, 69.53 mph, 2 Robbie Allen 15m 45.20s, 3 Barry Rabbitt 15m 45.52s. Fastest lap: Sheane 1m 14.283s, 88.40 mph.   PATCH TYRE EQUIPMENT FIESTA RACE 1 (11 laps): 1 John Denning 16m 17.00s, 67.21 mph, 2 Ryan Campbell 16m 17.89s, 3 Uel McMillan 16m 19.41s. Fastest lap: Denning 1m 35.115s, 69.04 mph . FIAT PUNTO CLASS: 1 Gary Miller.   PATCH TYRE EQUIPMENT FIESTA RACE 2 (10 laps): 1 Ryan Campbell 15m 53.86s, 68.84 mph, 2 Andrew Blair 15m 54.59s, 3 Paul Magill 16m 22.15s. Fastest lap: John Denning 1m 33.068s, 70.56 mph . FIAT PUNTO CLASS: 1 Mervyn Miller.   GLOBAL LIGHTS RACE 1 (11 laps): 1 Paul Fitzpatrick 15m 29.10s, 77.74 mph, 2 Mark Twomey 15m 33.92s, 3 Richard Finlay 16m 11.38s. Fastest lap: Alan Byrne 1m 22.190s, 79.89 mph.   GLOBAL LIGHTS RACE 2 (11 laps): 1 Peter Drennan 15m 27.27s, 77.90 mph, 2 Mark Twomey 15m 39.90s, 3 Richard Finlay 15m 49.17s. Fastest lap: Drennan 1m 22.862s, 79.25 mph.   GLOBAL LIGHTS RACE 3 (11 laps): 1 Paul Fitzpatrick 15m 37.56s, 77.04 mph, 2 Mark Braden 15m 47.13s, 3 Ivor Miller 15m 59.31s. Fastest lap: Fitzpatrick 1m 22.545s, 79.55 mph.   STRYKER RACE 1 (11 laps): 1 Alan Watkins 16m 52.59s, 71.33 mph, 2 Dave Griffin 10 laps, 3 Brian Kingston 10 laps. Fastest lap: Watkins 1m 27.459s, 75.08 mph .   STRYKER RACE 2 (12 laps): 1 Dave Griffin 17m 17.72s, 75.93 mph, 2 Alan Watkins 17m 18.10s, 3 Paul Yeomans 11 laps. Fastest lap: Watkins 1m 20.799s, 81.27 mph .   HISTORIC RACE 1 (10 laps): 1 David Kelly (Crossle 9S) 15m 40.21s, 69.84 mph, 2 Bernard Foley (MGBGT V8) 16m 27.79s, 3 Stephen Doyle (Chevron B8) 16m 51.87s. Fastest lap: Kelly 1m 30.993s, 72.16 mph.   HISTORIC RACE 2 (11 laps): 1 Jackie Cochrane (Sunbeam Tiger) 15m 44.45s, 76.48 mph, 2 David Kelly (Crossle 9S) 15m 46.81s, 3 Stephen Doyle (Chevron B8) 16m 07.12s. Fastest lap: Cochrane 1m 21.793s, 80.28 mph.   PRE-1955 HISTORICS (9 laps): 1 John Keatley (Healey Silverstone) 16m 12.38s, 60.78 mph, 2 Kevin McBride (Lancia B20) 17m 07.83s, 3 Ken McAvoy (Riley TT Sprite) 17m 34.91s. Fastest lap: Keatley 1m 45.182s, 62.43 mph .

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Bishopscourt Results

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!