High costs forcing top driver to stop racing

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32562, 23 March 1971, Page 24

High costs forcing top driver to stop racing

(By our speedway reporter)

The 1968 New Zealand midget car champion, E. A. Murray, of Christchurch, might terminate his racing activities in speedway when the current season ends in 12 days. He has already offered his immaculate Raymonde Mays Zephyr for sale.

“I will accept any reasonable offer for the car,” Murray, who is only 26, said yesterday. “If I can’t sefi it for a reasonable price as a unit, I will dismantle it and sell the parts.”

Murray designed and built the car himself, and since making its debut five years ago, he has developed it into

one of the fastest and best finished midget racers in the country. But the Christchurch driver has had a rather disappointing season in it, being eliminated at critical moments with mechanical failures and shunts. Damage—internal and ex temal—has cost him about “$6OO at a rough guess” since the season started. Before that, he spent a similar amount preparing the car for the season.

“I just cannot afford to keep going. I won a little bit of prize money—l got $lOO for winning the Rothmans series—but I am badly out of pocket,” he said.

The situation had reached the stage where a driver could no longer maintain his own car. Rising costs made that impossible. Tyres alone cost $4B each, and one was constantly repairing damage sustained in races. “Cars seem to be going in all directions sometimes," he said. There was, too, the prospect of the New Zealand Auto Cycle Union enforcing full-scale roll cages next .season and that would mean more expense.

TRACK SURFACE However, cost is not the only reason for Murphy’s decision to withdraw from racing. He feels very frustrated that the track surface does not allow him to use the full power of his car. “At- present one car gets out front and it is very difficult to get past—you just can’t get the power down into the track,” he said. “I am not at all happy with the track, but I don’t see what can be done to improve it Perhaps a little more banking on the comers would

help. I wouldn’t dream of rubbishing the speedway association. It does the best it can, but the surface does not favour the faster cars.”

Murray is critical of the handicaps he is forced to start off, too. “They put me back on 150yds, and I have got no hope at all of getting through and winning any prize money.” With the situation as it was, he felt that he “just couldn’t get anywhere.” The opportunities to progress were very limited. He would like to race somewhere else on a good track but the cost of travelling made this prohibitive.

Murray is not prepared to say at this stage that he is retiring. “I just want to get out for a while and think about it.” He is quite keen to help, someone else behind the scenes, and admits that at present he has “no interest in racing.” He is quite emphatic that if he did build a new car he would not consider putting a “hot” motor in it.

The runner-up in the 1971 South Island championship, Murray shares the Templeton six and eight-lap records with the former South Island champion, R. T. Hall.