MURRAY SERVES UP ANOTHER DOUBLE
Niall Murray strengthened his Formula Ford 1600 National Post ’89 title bid at Anglesey last weekend, following his Brands Hatch brace with another at the conclusion of a thrilling finale.
Murray had to work for his second victory of the weekend after fellow front row starter Jake Byrne jumped him into the opening corner.
The championship leader fought back at the Banking to take control of the race and cantered to the win, leaving Byrne a lonely second.
All eyes were on the battle for third in a train of cars, Chris Middlehurst relentlessly holding off the challenge of Patrik Pasma and Chase Owen.
He looked safe after Pasma collided with Owen, but the fast advancing Kevin O’hara came from 24th on the grid to almost steal third at the line.
In the race before, it had been Owen who secured the final step of the podium after Murray beat Byrne comfortably.
The Pre ’90s didn’t quite live up to the drama of the sister series, but Jamie Jardine and Jaap Blijleven upstaged favourite Ben Tinkler.
Jardine won the opener ahead of Blijleven and Ian Wolfenden, but retired from the following second race after a black flag for a fuel leak. That handed the win to Blijleven ahead of Tinkler and Nick Barnes.
The visiting Irish Global Lights made their journey to Wales a memorable one with a bevy of high-speed overtaking in a trio of close races.
Chief protagonists Peter Drennan and Conor Farrell battled for victories in all three, with Drennan taking the first.
At no point could Drennan relax, regularly swapping places with his rival on the long straight and into Rocket.
After surviving a late move from Farrell, Drennan took the top step ahead of Farrell and John Murphy.
Farrell then responded with two wins of his own, with the third race the most challenging. A safety car to recover a stranded car set up a two-lap dash to the flag, with Farrell and Ivor Miller jumping Drennan early into the sprint to win.
Drennan couldn’t keep up with the form man in the second race either, with James Thompson pipping him for second behind Farrell.
The Porsche Championship had Richard Styrin’s dominant season take a frustrating turn with Richard Avery winning twice to Styrin’s solo victory.
Styrin was laps from making it two from three in the finale, but slowed out of Church late on to allow his rival into the lead after Avery overcame Garry Lawrence and Kevin Molyneaux.
Avery had also won the first event aided by securing pole as Styrin started third. His rival quickly took second, but was unable to prevail after hounding Avery for most of the race.
The second race proved to be Styrin’s only win, taking the position ahead of Avery and Molyneaux, the latter taking three third places at Anglesey.
The Honda VTEC Challenge and 4 Two Cup races were dominated by Robert Burkinshaw’s Integra Type R, but there was a good battle for the podium places in the finale with Peter Dixon and Neil Wrenn eventually taking the podium.
The first was more pedestrian with Burkinshaw beating Jeff Cooper and Dixon. In the Smart Car class, Alan and James Palmer shared wins.
Tim Davis bounced back from his Snetterton engine failure by almost claiming a clean sweep of the three TVR Challenge races, but was denied in the finale by Dean Cook. The two were largely in a class of their own, with Jason Clegg finishing a distant third each time.
The MGCC Cockshoot Cup had fairly static racing but there was a good battle between Ross Makar and Gary Wetton’s ZRS, with each sharing a win.