McMullan adds name to Vivion Daly Trophy history books
Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year Jonny McMullan returned to the All-Ireland Formula Ford Championship at Mondello Park last weekend for rounds five and six. Also incorporating the race for the Vivion Daly Trophy, McMullan was hoping he could continue his strong form and win the first Trophy race of the season.
Jonny got his weekend off to the best possible start on Sunday morning in qualifying. Reaping the rewards of some solid progress in testing, McMullan was the quickest driver throughout the session to secure pole position for both of the day’s races.
Charging into the lead at the first corner in race one, Jonny put his head down at the end of the opening lap to build an advantage at the front of the field. Over the next five laps, Jonny’s advantage grew to over a second ahead of main rival Robert Barrable. However McMullan’s race was set to take a turn, his Van Diemen stepped out coming into turn three demoting the Irish Sports Council supported driver to third. Despite this setback, Jonny remained third to the flag and also secured the fastest lap of the race.
Starting once again from pole position for race two, this was the more important race of the weekend – the shoot-out for the Vivion Daly Trophy. Once again, McMullan was the man flying at the front, setting a number of fastest laps on route to building a healthy advantage at the head of the field. But the race was not over yet, second placed man Jake Byrne was now starting to reel in the leader. The final three laps of the race were set to be action packed as McMullan performed a master class in defensive driving. Coming out of the final corner it became a drag race to the line with Jonny maintaining the upper hand to add his name to the history books as the second winner of the Vivion Daly Trophy.
Jonny McMullan – Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year:
“This has been a fantastic weekend. We’ve been really fast all weekend so it was a shame not to win race one. However race two made up for that and I’m absolutely thrilled to win this amazing looking Vivion Daly Trophy. The team have been amazing and given me a great car to race with, so thank you to all of them. Also thank you of course to my Dad and family for their support, and to Motorsport Ireland, Dunlop, The Irish Sports Council and Naylor Engineering for making this season possible! Hopefully this is the first of many trophy race victories!”
