Murray continues to impress.

Eoin Murray continued to make his mark on the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park, drawing praise from some leading members of the paddock on a weekend that saw him fighting at the front of the field.

The Irish driver joined the series two weeks early at Croft and impressed with his speed in the Team Quest Alfa Romeo 156, despite carrying 45 kilos of extra ballast handed to teams joining the championship mid-way through the season.

That ballast dropped to 30 kilos for Donington Park, but it still left the team at a disadvantage heading to the fast and sweeping East Midlands circuit - although Murray still qualified in eleventh place, under seventh tenths of a second off the pace of pole-sitter Gordon Shedden.

The opening race saw Murray running near the front - posting the third fastest lap - before he dropped back in the closing stages with a damaged anti-roll bar, although a fine display in race two saw him come home in sixth after battling with defending champion Matt Neal.

Although the third race would end in the gravel at the Old Hairpin, the incident came while the Alfa Romeo was running in a podium place, an encouraging performance for both driver and team in its second meeting.

"On the whole I'm pretty happy as we have shown that we have the pace, even carrying 30 kilos which definitely hurt us," Murray told Crash.net Radio. "All-in-all we have been close to the pace and in the third race it all came together and I could see a podium in my grasp. I was pushing to the maximum to stay ahead of Fabrizio Giovanardi, I could see the rain coming for two or three laps and it just caught me out through Craners.

"It was very difficult in the wet, I could see Matt Neal a little early on the brakes ahead of me and I was doing the same but Fabrizio was pushing me very hard and I was trying to just stay ahead. The back of the car stepped out a little bit and I caught it but by that stage I was on the grass and was just a passenger."

Murray added that it had been frustrating to have to carry the extra weight at arguably the best circuit for the Alfa Romeo, but said he was happy to have put on a strong display.

"It's been very positive so far and we have learnt a lot about the car again but Donington is probably the strongest circuit for this car in the series," he said. "To be here with the 30 kilos has been frustrating because we don't know how we could have gone without it, but I'm happy that we have run well. Points mean nothing to me as I'm not going for the championship so I just want to go for results. I could see a podium there to fight for and I went for it."

The performance of the #17 Alfa Romeo hasn't gone unnoticed by some of the leading figures in the paddock, with series director Alan Gow describing Murray's Donington performance as 'outstanding' and Team Halfords principal Steve Neal admitting he couldn't believe how well the car had performed.

"I'm astounded, absolutely astounded by that to be honest," he told Crash.net Radio when asked for his take on Murray's display. "When you look at Farfus in the World Touring Car Championship with one of the best Alfa Romeo teams in the world, he is running with a waiver of 20 kilos and the SEATs are running with 55 kilos - so he is 75 kilos lighter than the SEAT over there and is struggling to run with them [Neal was speaking before the WTCC meeting at Puebla when Alfa Romeo won both races - ed]

"Eoin has come into the championship and is carrying 30 kilos today so he is heavier than the SEAT over here and has given them a good hiding. It's stunning, I just can't work it out."