Murray opens up championship lead with Junior double

Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Douglas Motorsport’s Niall Murray moved into a 20-point championship lead in the Ginetta Junior championship after taking both victories last weekend at Oulton Park.

The Irishman put together his best performance of the season at the Cheshire circuit as he fought his way to the lead in race one and then drove a calm defensive drive under huge pressure to move into the championship lead with a double win.

HHC Motorsport’s Charlie Robertson took pole position ahead of Spain’s Pepe Massot for both races, but a slow start from the poleman put him under pressure from Murray in the early stages, before the Douglas Motorpsort man made his move on lap five to take second.

He then chased down leader Massot and lunged past the Spanish driver under braking into Knickerbrook to move into a lead that he would never lose.

Race two was red-flagged after two laps due to accidents for Ricky Collard and Keith Donegan, after which Murray beat Robertson into Old Hall for second before again disposing of Massot for the lead heading into Knickerbrook halfway around the first lap.

Murray then drove a supreme defensive race for the rest of the six-lap encounter from Robertson, Fielding and Massot, holding off Fielding to cross the line 0.162s ahead of the JHR driver to complete a double victory at the Cheshire track.

The delighted Murray said afterwards: “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!”

Team Principal Wayne Douglas expressed his delight at their best weekend so far this season: “Starting the year with a win in Brands Hatch was just the start we hoped for and it hasn’t stopped since then. Between Niall and Andrew we’ve been on the podium at every round this year and this double victory for Niall is now the highlight of our season so far. We certainly hope it continues!”

Murray has now won four of the first eight races of the 2012 season, and will lead Fielding by 20 points as the series heads to Croft circuit in a fortnight’s time.

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