Double Dunlop/Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Year Eoin Murray took a hefty haul of points from the opening two rounds of the European Alfa Challenge at Monza this weekend with two 2nd positions to leave him 2nd in the overall standings and leading the under 25 Championship.
Racing with team PRS Group he qualified on pole for race one despite torrential rain. So tough was the competition that only 8 tenths of a second covered the top 8 drivers at the end of the session.
Tricky conditions in the wet in race one saw Eoin drop to fourth on the first lap but he battled back to third. He traded places with Italian driver Alessandro Bonacini for a number of laps until he finally saw the Italian off and held the second place right to the line.
For a dry race two, he started from 6th position on the grid and there ensued a titanic battle between the top eight cars until lap three when a crash on the main straight brought out the safety car. At the re-start, two laps later, Eoin moved to third and mounted a challenge for second place with, Bonacini, his protagonist from race one and eventually out braked him at the Variante chicane on the last lap and held of a determined challenge from the Italian to take his double 2nd for the weekend.
"I am happy with my performance this weekend, this is about collecting championship points and I am well positioned as we head to Magny Cours where I am the lap record holder and I am confident of another strong performance."
Other Irish interest in the race was sustained by Emmet O Brien who came a very credible 6th in his first race but damage in race two put paid to points for him in that race.
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