User:Gerspics

Name ;                            Owen Murphy.

D.O.B. :                           18-12-1986.

Address :                        Ovens, Ballincollig, Cork.

Cars :                             Mitsubishi Evo 9.

Favourite Car ;               Focus WRC.

Favourite Driver ;           Marcus Gronholm

Favourite Food ;             Anything Chinese.

Favourite Drink ;             Coke.

At 8 started racing a kart at Watergrasshill.

In 1999 moved to the junior JICA class winning ten of eighteen races, finishing on the podium in the IRL, O plate and winning the C plate (Race of champions). In Mondello park finished off the year by winning the JICA rookie M.S.I. Irish championship.

In 2000 Owen was on the Irish karting team that competed at the inter-nations kart race in Llanlow in Wales.

Being an exceptionally tall young man Owen moved from karting to Autocross and represented Ireland at the junior nationals in Kent in 2001 and again in 2002,that year he finished 3rd in the all-Ireland junior series and won the West Waterford junior title.

In 2003 at sixteen years of age Owen competed in the Munster and KD+MC junior autograss winning both. He also won the novice driver section of his club CMC Club Championship, also in 2003 Owen had his greatest triumph when he won the Ford Rallye Academy in Oxfordshire in England from 56 other competitors among which were Grant Reese, the British Rally Cross junior champion 2002 and numerous British and European karting junior champions. Other Irish competitors included Graeme Nesbitt, Richard Dolan, Thomas McArdle, Darren Gass and Kyle Orr.

For 2004 Owen started off the year by being the first junior ever to win outright a round of the Munster Autocross Championship, the Tipperary event held at Rose Green in January.

West Cork 2004 was the rally debut of Owen Murphy in a 106 Peugeot 1st in his class and  63rd overall.

The decision was made to buy a Peugeot 206 and judge Owens pace against other 206 runners in Ireland with an eye to the 206 Supercup in 2005.

The Junior Lakes beckoned and this was a great spin for Owen with second overall and first in class other results included North East single stage 3rd in class ,Galway Summer 2nd in class, and the Clare stages  2nd in class. On the Cork 20 Owen took his fathers 2.2 Sunbeam Lotus for a spin and after a great first stage  beating Phil Collins by 1 second the  glory was short lived as Owen had a problem with his engine later in the day and had to retire. The Fasnet Rally was going to be a big test for the young driver with a Group N Evo 5 he showed exceptional talent here in what can only be described as atrocious weather conditions Owen drove a fantastic rally culminating in a fastest group n stage time on stage 7. He finished 8th in class and 18th overall. In November Owen took part in his first Night Navigation Rally with Diarmuid O'Donovan they finished  1st overall. Owen had rounded off the year by winning the Cork Motor Club driver of the year 2004. The youngest member to do so at 17 years of age.

2005 (soon) basically 3 second places on the last 3 rounds 206supercup 4 th in championship.

2006 The Irish National Forestry Champion GpN