MURRAY PUTS IN A LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE FOR A WINNING TRIO
The Legends cars topped the bill at the Kirkistown season opener last Saturday and got the year off to a truly frantic start. After an early red-flag stoppage and a grid reset, it worked better second time around.
Following seven hectic laps, Niall Murray took the flag by a whisker from fellow Formula Ford 1600 refugees Geoff Richardson and Peter Barrable.
It was the same story in the second race with Murray leading Barrable across the line this time with Richardson third. In race three, Murray made it a clean sweep. Richardson took second spot ahead of his brother Greg.
Jordan Kelly was the main man in both Formula Vee races. He won the B race with ease from Donal Downey and Ger Byrne. Kelly then went on to win a tooth-and-nail fight with Lee Newsome in the A race, with defending title-holder Anthony Cross and Downey in hot pursuit.
Both Ford Fiesta Zetec races boiled up nicely in the closing laps. In the first, it was racing returnee Derek Graham who took honours from son Michael. In the second, Michael took the spoils by a bumper from Neville Anderson. Paul Stewart claimed third by an even smaller margin from Derek Graham.
The Formula Ford 1600 class, once the jewel in the crown, had a sparse entry with just eight cars in the field. However, they still provided plenty of excitement.
Race one went to David McCullough’s Van Diemen RF01 after main rivals Dave Parks (Ray) and Noel Robinson (Van Diemen) tangled at the Chicane. Robinson recovered to finish in third spot behind Rob Parks, with top Pre-1990 runners Brandon McCaughan and
Alan Davidson next in line in their Mondiales.
Dave Parks shot ahead in race two with McCullough and Robinson right with him. The battle lasted for seven laps until Parks and McCullough tangled on the back straight, bringing out more red flags. Robinson emerged victorious in the fourlap restart from the Pre-1990 pair, with Davidson ahead this time.
Stephen Colbert took backto-back GT wins with Gerard O’Connell’s SHP Ford Escort, while a useful field of Roadsports provided Mark Crawford’s Caterham with a race one win by a smidge from Jim Larkham (Radical), while Larkham reversed the outcome in race two.