MURRAY ON FAST TRACK
Monterey triumph would steer Niall on a path to Indy glory
AS A kid, Niall Murray’s love of racing was fuelled by tackling the Laguna Seca track on his Playstation Portable.
Over a decade on, Murray has been swotting up on iracing and other simulators to learn every inch of the world-famous Monterey circuit in California.
It’s all part of the 21-year-old’s attempt, today and tomorrow, to conquer the real thing for the first time – in a bid to reach the next rung of the ladder he hopes will lead to Indycar Series’ fame and fortune.
Victory in the USA provides entry into one of the most successful driver development programs in the world – a unique, scholarship-funded path to reach the Verizon Indycar Series and Indianapolis 500.
The winner will be handed a prize fund of $200,000 to go towards racing in the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda Championship.
“It’s been a dream year,” said Murray.
“Winning would mean practically a free car in next year’s Coopers – and winning that would mean a free car in the Indy Series.
“Right now that’s the ultimate dream. But win or lose, I’ll be racing in the Coopers next year.”
The Dubliner has earned the right to be ambitious.
He swept all before him in the Formula Ford 1600 series this year to get the opportunity to compete in this Mazda Road to Indy Shoot Out.
Murray capped a dominant British Championship success by winning all three of the Blue-riband Formula Ford Trophy races in Northern Ireland and on the mainland at Brands Hatch and Silverstone – two of the toughest races in the world.
Previous winners include Marc Webber and Jenson Button – and Murray is the only man to have won the Brands Hatch race twice.
It was also the first time the championship and trophy races were won by the same man.
Formula Ford 1600 was the pathway to success for some of the world’s top drivers, including former F1 world champs Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Button and more.
Now it could be the turn of the man from Firhouse, who is up against 17 of the world’s top young drivers.
“This year we brought in one of best engineers around, Bernard Dolan – he’s still one of the best drivers,” said Murray.
“The work he did on the car made us different from the rest and it just clicked from day one.”
Murray, a former Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the year, understands what victory would mean to his upwardly mobile career.
But he said: “Whether I win here or not, I won’t be defending the British Championship.
“If I don’t, we have plans in place to raise the funds we need.
“It’s the pathway to reach the Indy Series, so I want to be here.”
Murray began in Karting – he won his first race at 10 – and became the first-ever Irish Ginetta World Champion in 2010 when he switched to racing cars that year. A wealth of titles were soon accumulated, all setting the foundation for his most successful year to date.
GALWAY has won the award for Racecourse of the Year at the 2016 Horse Racing Ireland Awards at Leopardstown yesterday. The Ballybrit course was selected by the Racegoers’ Consultative Forum based upon the best all-round customer experience.