A battling fourth place finish in Round Ten was the highlight of Niall Murray's weekend in the latest rounds of the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship at Croft. The Beacon Racing driver showed great pace throughout the weekend, despite it being his first visit to the Yorkshire track.
Murray headed to Croft hoping to build on his finest drive of the season last time out at Oulton Park. Qualifying on a drying circuit saw close times at the front, with reigning Ginetta Junior Ireland champion Niall setting the seventh fastest times for both races, with just one second separating the top eight.
Race one saw Niall get a good start, but he was forced to take to the grass at the first corner to avoid spinning cars and as he returned to the track ended up spinning himself. Now down in fifteenth and miles back, the Dublin-based racer put his head down and caught the back of the pack, gaining two places to finish thirteenth.
Race two saw 15 year old Murray produce a superb start and despite being pushed onto the grass, was able to move into sixth at the first corner, before passing another car to end the first lap fifth. With a rival dropping down the order, Murray was promoted to fourth and was right on the tail of the third place driver. Despite trying as hard as he could to try and snatch a third podium of the season, Murray couldn't find a way by and had to settle for fourth.
Murray commented: “I think we were very unlucky in race one. I felt we could have had a very strong result. However we made up for it in race two and I was delighted to finish fourth as it's another consistent points finish for the championship.”
