Douglas Motorsport's Niall Murray - Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Niall Murray stormed back to the top of the 2012 Ginetta Junior Championship standings after a sensational double victory in Rounds Seven and Eight at Oulton Park.
Douglas Motorsport's Murray, who recently entered a new partnership with KENNETT, put in a superb performance in Friday's pre-event test, however a slightly disappointing qualifying session saw him only put himself fourth on the grid for the two races.
A great start to the opening race put Murray into third behind race leader Pepe Massot and main championship rival Charlie Robertson. After applying pressure over the next sequence of laps, Murray got into second on lap four, before flying past Massot to take the lead on lap eight. After building up a small cushion, Murray crossed the line to take the win and with it a new class lap record around the undulating Cheshire circuit.
Brimming with confidence under the sunshine, Murray got into third off the line at the beginning of the second race, and was challenging for second when the race was red flagged after a crash for a rival. At the restart, Murray stormed into second at the first corner, before moving into the lead of the race halfway around the lap. A superb defensive drive for the remaining laps saw the Irishman just hold off those behind to take his four win of the season, and seventh podium finishes in the first eight race.
Murray, who now holds a twenty point championship lead, said: “This has been easily the best weekend of my career. This really is what I needed for my championship and I couldn't have asked anymore from everyone including my team Douglas Motorsport, my sponsors Murray Motorsport, KENNETT, P1 Digital and all my friends and supporters. Were going to enjoy this one!”
