MURRAY WANTS TITLE BACK
(By out speedway reporter)
It is more than seven months since the Templeton Speedway closed its gates for the winter, but for Edwin Murray, the 26-year-old Christchurch midget car driver, this period has been anything but -restful.
With the help of friends and sponsors' he has been rebuilding his Raymond Mays Zephyrpowered machine, and ; has set his sights firmly on regaining the New Zealand championship which he last won in 1967. More than S6OO has been spent on the car during the winter, and Murray, who is already the only South Island, driver to have won the national title, is confident that, he can do it again, especially as the championship is being held on the Templeton track this season. , However, in a sense he is aprry the championship has again been allocated to Templeton. "I would like to show the Auckland drivers that I can beat them on their home grouhd,” he. said. "Northern drivers always claim that no South Jsland dHver could win the title at. Western Springs.' I would certainly likW’tp. ptove- them Wrong before I am finished.” This season Murray is better prepared than he has ever been before. "It is usually a frantic rush to get the car ready for the start of 4 the --season. This time I am ready in plenty of time.” He tested the re-built car at Ruapuha Park last Saturday/ and discovered no serious problems. He feels that when he takes the car out for its first race on the opening night, November 14, it will be completely reliable. “Every: bearing has been replaced,” he said. The same Raymond Mays head has been retained, but a new , Mark )II Zephyr block has . been fitted and ah experimental camshaft, designed to give greater power low down the revolution scale, is being used. The tnotor has been sleeved down to 2487 c.c. "to save arguments,” but is still expected to produce between 160 and 170 brake horsepower. The car has been fitted with four-wheel disc brakes, foot operated, which should prove invaluable when the traffic is heavy. "We have been concentrating on the safety aspect The body was
stripped right down to the paint on the chassis,” Murray said. The cost of the re-build had been high, although he had done much of the work himself. His main sponsors were Pennant Car Sales, Ltd, but help has been widespread. “Without the help of sponsorship, I just could not continue,” he said. “The cost of competing these days is well beyond my resources.” Tyres are one matter causing him some concern. “We just can’t get suitable tyres at all. We have tried to import special tyres, but they cost S4B each and we need four. The retreads we use at present are not flexible enough. We need soft .wall tyres Bin wide and we cannot get them anywhere.” HIGH HOPES However, Murray’s chief rivals have the same problem, and he has high hopes this season of “scooping the pool.” One of his dearest ambitions is to defeat his long standing rival, R. T. Hall, in the South Island championship series. Hall has now won the title eight times in nine years. “I’ve been close but this title has proved very elusive.”
He will also attempt to lower all the track records, two of which, the six-lap and eight-lap times, he already shares with Hall. The fourlap and one-lap records are both in Hall’s name. “I should have a reasonable chance of bettering these. The car should be going faster than it was last year,” Murray said. Murray is fully aware that the competition this season will be stronger than ever before. Hall will be back with his very fast Taubmans Special, R. Mead has re-built his V6-Zephyr, L. Miller has a new Holden car, and K. Schumacher has bought a new midget powered by Vauxhall. G. Roxburgh, J. McKitterick, and R. Clive are others who should be to the fore.
There is the prospect of a visit from several top American drivers this season, and Murray is keen to match his skills against them. Picture shows Edwin Murray at the controls.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CX, Issue 32430, 17 October 1970, Page 48
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692MURRAY WANTS TITLE BACK Press, Volume CX, Issue 32430, 17 October 1970, Page 48
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