Record-breaking 2016 champion Niall Murray will return to the BRSCC National Formula Ford 1600 Championship this season with a second title in his sights.
Murray will return to the series in the same Van Diemen RF99 that he took to twelve wins in sixteen races on his way to the 2016 title with Team Dolan, who will once again run him this year.
The former Ginetta Junior front-runner is one of the most prolific drivers in recent FF1600 history, having burst into the spotlight with a shock victory in the 2013 Formula Ford Festival.
That came at the end of his maiden campaign in single-seaters, and the following season he would win both the Northern Ireland Formula Ford 1600 and the All Ireland Formula Ford 1600 titles.
A year out in tin-top competition would see him win the 2015 SEAT Supercup Ireland championship, but he would return to the discipline a year later and win the BRSCC title.
That wasn’t all though as he went on to make history as the first Kent-powered racer to win both the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy in the same year.
A mixed programme of events last season included debuts in USF2000 in the USA and the British GT Championship, as well as a return to the Walter Hayes Trophy.
With his 2018 deal only concluded in recent days, Murray will head into this weekend’s season opener at Silverstone with no testing under his belt.
“I actually can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of my Van Diemen RF99 this weekend at Silverstone,” said the Irishman.
“That car holds a very special place for me, with Bernard Nolan’s hard work in 2016 there was very little got in our way and I really hope we can pick up where we left off.
“It won’t be easy, the competition will be pretty tough this year with plenty of good drivers out there, but I’m confident we will be right in the mix come qualifying at Silverstone.”
