Eoin Murray
| Eoin Murray | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Ireland |
| BTCC record | |
| Teams | Quest Racing |
| Drivers championships |
0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Debut season | 2006 |
| First win | – |
| Best championship position | 18th (2006) |
| Final season (2007) position | 18th (9 points) |
Eoin Murray is an Irish auto racing driver, born 9 December 1982. After winning the European Alfa Romeo 147 Challenge in 2005, he made his BTCC debut in the middle of 2006.
Murray had a successful career in karts, culminating in victory in the Formula A championship of 1999. He dabbled in rallycross that winter, winning 6 races. In 2000 he raced Fiats and Ford Fiestas in one-make championship, doing well enough to be nominated for the Young Irish Racing Driver of the Year award. In 2001 he did the full Fiesta UK Championship winning the Newcomers Cup and collecting 2 Pole Positions, 2 Fastest Laps & 8 Podium finishes. He crowned that achievement by winning the Jimmy Millard Trophy. He switched to Clio's for 2002 competing in the Elf Renaultsport UK Clio Cup where he scored 2 podium finishes and took 7th overall in the championship which was no mean achievement in his rookie year. Eoin stuck with the Clio's for 2003 and had 4 race wins, 4-second places, & 2 third places and came third overall in the Elf Clio UK Championship. During this time he continued to compete in British & Irish Rallycross in the Stockhatch class, in a self run Peugeot 205 GTI, where he enjoyed considerable success and took several race wins and podium finishes. He was awarded the Dunlop/ Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the year for 2003. This accolade together with a substantial boost to his budget from Motorsport Ireland and the Irish Sports Council launched his move to Europe where he competed in the European Alfa Romeo Challenge.
For 2004 he switched to racing in mainland Europe, in the Alfa Romeo 147 challenge. He lacked circuit knowledge in his rookie season, but still won 2 races to come 4th overall. In 2005 he converted all this into a title winning season. He only won one race, but took 4 pole positions, 9 podiums and 4 lap records. However his efforts did not go unnoticed in Ireland where he again won the Dunlop/Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the year for the second time. Eoin competed in the European Alfa Romeo Challenge again in 2005 and started as one of the favourites. Eoin did not disappoint and won the championship in Valencia along with 9 podium finishes, 5 fastest laps, 4 pole positions and 3 lap records. And in the process winning a 05 spec Alfa 156 S2000 worth 200,000 euro, the biggest prize an Irish driver has ever won. He also won the 05 Rallycross Stockhatch Championship and these achievements won him the accolade as Ireland international driver of the year.
This earned him a factory-prepared WTCC-spec Alfa 156, although not the funding or team to run it. He contacted Quest Racing, which was essentially the GA team minus its former boss Gary Ayles and they sought funding. This arrived in time for round 5 at Croft, just days after team boss Ian Blackman died in a motorcycle accident. Despite the weight penalty for mid-season entrants in their first round, he finished 10th in race one to score his first championship point. At Donington Park he was more competitive, running 6th in race one until contact, before finishing 6th in race 2, and running third in race 3 before going off in slippery conditions.
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