Saturday, 25 January 2014

Murdoch Racing teaser video Tremblant

Our teaser video 


Hi everyone! 
After a few months on the down low, Murdoch Racing is getting ready for a new and exciting race season. We have released to you a video with some of last year's footage. Also, the engine is put back together, the car is all in one piece and the body work that was damaged last year is coated with fiberglass! All we need is to paint it! 

The Most Painful Grand Prix


As mentioned in another entry, the Grand Prix is the biggest and most hectic race in the season. I think I used the term "dreaded" to describe this particular event. This is because of what happened in 2010.






This event would go down in history with the members of our race team and the people that were around us during that time. It also brought us closer together.  
The trouble started on the Friday as we were towing the car to the pit prior to qualifying. Corey was on the bicycle just beside Duncan. He was on the phone. As Duncan describes it, "I looked over and thought this wasn't going to end well. Then I looked again and he wasn't there!" Corey dodged Duncan's tires and fell onto the side of the rowing basin!  Luckily, he didn't end up in the water. Although, it would have been very unbelievably entertaining!



Saturday was when most of the actions happened. During the day, Miro was trying to take a shortcut to the Johnny on the spot by ducking underneath another competitor's trailer. He bent over but smacked his head! For some reason, Duncan made up a rumor that he smacked his head trying to go to the bathroom underneath that ramp...technically correct.

The worst came next. We were all going down the false grid, hearing the Formula 1 cars drive by during their qualifying. I was quite excited to see if I could catch a glimpse of some of the racers when we got into the pits. Our cars were starting to advance as we neared the gate. Qualifying ended and all our racers were ready to drive into the pits. Duncan's car stalled. Jim, Miro, Corey and my father were pushing to bump start the car. Jim was between the front and back wheels on the left side. Duncan managed to get into gear. As the car started, the back wheel snagged Jim's shoe and he fell down between the wheels. The back wheel then drove up his leg and then spun on his hip. I remember jumping off the golf cart and running down the pit lane, yelling Jim's name. He lay on the ground for a little bit, but then he got up on his own. He got back on the golf cart and we drove into the pits. That is when things started to go downhill.

Jim didn't even get up off the golf cart. He was just lying there. I knew something was wrong so I ran up to one of the doctors who was on scene in the pits and asked him for help. Unfortunately, he had to call in and ask if he could step onto the pit lane. During all this time, Duncan was sitting on the track in his car. It was so hot outside. The race finally started. Duncan had managed to do one lap before someone crashed into him. Shortly after, Duncan returned to the pits, quite surprised at what had happened in his absence. Jim's running shoes were shredded and his toes were bleeding. The doctor came down and Jim, the doctor and I whisked off to the track hospital.

Once there, Jim was immediately put onto a bed next to a poor chap who was suffering from dehydration. He was a flagger. When we saw him in the track hospital, he had an IV in each arm and cold compresses all over his body. A few doctors were looking at Jim and I had to leave. We were all very worried about him.

That was not it for the injuries that day. As we packed up the truck to take us home, Miro told us he was going to take his bicycle over the bridge. He is quite an athletic person. He left before we did. A few minutes later, we headed out. We were going up the hill on Ile Notre Dame that leads to the Jacques-Cartier Bridge. That's when we saw Miro. He jumped into the truck with his bicycle and that is when we all noticed his right calf was bleeding. Apparently, he was behind a car going up the hill and the car stopped. He promptly fell over and his bicycle spokes stabbed him in the leg!




The next day was my turn for injury. We arrived at the track early in the morning (around 6 a.m. actually) and unpacked the trailer. Duncan had decided to buy a golf cart the week of the Grand Prix, which he calls the "World's Coolest Golf Cart." A few others and I at the track have very different titles for it. Anyway, the golf cart refused to work on Friday and barely towed Duncan to the track on Saturday. On the Sunday, it seemed to be working well. I decided I should learn how to drive the thing.

Very bad idea.

As I was backing into our spot, underneath the tent, the gas pedal decided to stick. My left foot was hanging off the side. As I was propelled backwards, my foot got stuck between the pole and the pole and, as a result, I tore a few tendons in my foot. It didn't really hurt much at first. Right after this accident, the team (minus Jim) towed Duncan to the race at eight o'clock in the morning. It was in the pits that my foot started to swell. My ankle was so swollen! I decided to go see the paramedics after the race just to make sure I didn't break anything or sprain my ankle.

So in conclusion, our first Grand Prix was a disaster. Corey fell in the basin, Duncan crashed, Miro bashed his head and nearly impaled himself and I stupidly tore the tendons in my foot. Oh, and as for Jim, he had broken a few toes and his foot in two places! The driver was unscathed... it appears the safest place is in the cockpit of the car.




New Racing Calendar


January marks a new year and that means the beginning of a new race year. The Formula 1600 teams have been on "summer break" since the end of September. However, the break entails some very hard work. Racers rebuilt their engines and cars from the ground up to make sure they are the best they can be for the new season that starts at the end of May. The end of the Formula 1600 season officially ends when Formula 1 does. It's official that there is no more racing and the rebuilding has to start. 


 This year definitely promises a lot of change. We got rid of Big Blue, that big blue van you have clearly seen in the pictures. It served us well: trailing our stuff to and from the race tracks, providing warmth on those cold race days and even providing some secret hiding places for one particular team member. There will most likely be a blog post about Big Blue and insider knowledge of what happened with that van. 
We have a new blog space, we are going to set up Twitter (I know we said we would do that last year, but this year we really mean it) and we will have more information coming to you live from the races! 

A Pit Girl's Role


Everyone has a role in pit crew. Some are specific, while others overlap. My role in the crew is a bit all over the place. To set the record straight, I do not wear those super tight dresses and walk around the pit lane in high heels. I do not wear low cut tops and booty shorts either. In the pits, I wear long pants and a t-shirt, just like everyone else. When working on the car, I wear the same thing, unless it's very warm outside and I decide to wear modest shorts. Wearing those tight clothes during the races and when working on the car would be counterproductive. You can burn your legs on hot parts of the car or hot oil.

 I do all sorts of things in the team. When we are getting ready for a race, we usually tow the car with the golf-cart (It's the world's coolest and fastest golf-cart). I sit on the end of the cart with my leg wrapped around a tow strap that Duncan holds onto from his rollbar. I do this to keep tension on the tow strap so it doesn't get caught around the mirrors or the suspension arms. If it did, we would have a lot extra and expensive maintenance to do. When he is waiting in the false lane, I hold an umbrella over him to keep him cool. During the races, I take the lap times, write down the time pressures and note all sorts of information I think is important. I usually stand on the other side of the pit lane. When I was in charge of the pit board, I would go stand at the pit wall. That job is now someone else's. When the race is over, I sometimes get in the cockpit and steer the car back when it's being towed. I bring Duncan his water and other things he needs. 

 After the races, I usually pick up the time sheets and fix the car. I bleed the brakes with Jim and Corey, replace the brake pads and fix the corner of the car if there's been an accident. I also do the dirty jobs that no one else really wants to do, besides Duncan. As far as the dirty jobs go, I sometimes have to deal with the dreaded gearbox oil. This oil is a dirty, olive green and is thick. During the Grand Prix of Trois Rivieres, I had to pour the used gearbox oil into two empty plastic bottles and find the proper location for waste oil disposal. I also had to clean the pans. That stuff smells horrible! During the Grand Prix of Montreal, I had to clean off the fire extinguisher powder, which had stuck to the hot exhaust pipes. We took the pipes off and I tried everything to get this material off. I doused them in Varsol, water, and brake cleaner. I scrubbed the stuff off with metal brushes, scouring pads and a lot of paper towels. After two hours, I finally managed to get everything off. It was not a pretty job.

 I have also become a kind of medic to our team. I finally bought a first aid kit just in case something happens. I also have an epi-pen handy at all times. When Jim was run over by Duncan at the Montreal Grand Prix a couple of years ago, I was trying hard to get doctors to get off the pit wall and help him. I stayed with him in the track hospital. I also drove Corey all around St-Jovite at the Tremblant summer race so he could seek medical attention for his foot, which had been, coincidentally, run over by Jim. Now, I am hell-bent on making sure no accidents or injuries happen during the race weekends. It's more fun when everyone is at their best!



Grand Prix of Trois Rivieres



The Grand Prix of Trois Rivieres is one of the busiest races of the year. They have all sorts of car classes that we are not used to dealing with. We had the Canadian Tire Nascar series (which we had shared paddocks with during a Napa 200 event), Canadian Touring Car, Firestone Indy Car Light, Star Mazda, Sportsman, Super Car and our Formula 1600. There were so many cars and events! The parking lot was packed with trucks and people! The weekend was a good one, but as far as racing goes, it was a bit of a disappointment. 

 We all arrived in Trois Riveres to register for the event on Thursday night. I had never been at this particular race so I was excited. On Friday, we had two events lined up for the Formula 1600. The first event was the practice at eleven o'clock in the morning. We decided to be first in the line up so Duncan could have a lot of room. The practice didn't really count for anything except for the drivers to get accustomed to the track. I decided to take lap times so I could get used to the dynamics of the track. During practice, Duncan came in so we could get some tire temperatures, which is routine. Duncan was doing very well, even though it was very hot outside and the cars were slipping all over the track. There was a red flag in lap 2, so the cars had to come back into the pits and remain there until the stalled car was removed. I decided to view this optimistically: at least we got the feel of the pits! 

 We went back to the trailer after practice and did some maintenance on the car. There were races going on all through the day and we were right next to the track. It was very annoying to be wearing earplugs all through the day. We did a bit of maintenance on the car and then we waited for six hours until qualifying. A few of us decided to take a nap because the wait was long and we didn't have much to do. It was so hot outside we had no choice but to stay in the shade. One of the professional photographers came by and told us that it was going to be hot on Saturday but a huge storm was headed towards us on Sunday. In all the races this year, we had never raced in wet weather.





At five thirty, Duncan suited up and we towed the car to the false grid. It was a bit cooler, so everyone was more comfortable, however, the sun was low in the sky and right in the racers' eyes. During qualifying, one racer was so uncomfortable, he had to come in and get some sunglasses from one of his pit crewmembers! I was recording the lap times so I could have them for our team, but so we could also know where Duncan was running in respect to the others. We were lucky to have a screen with the live action and the standings on it. I knew exactly what position Duncan was in when the qualifying ended. I told Duncan personally. It wasn't the best qualifying position, but we had done worse. Once, Duncan crashed during qualifying and we were last. We ended up coming in seventh in the race. I told him, "Well, we aren't last... and we didn't crash". He wasn't very happy when I revealed where we stood. After the qualifying, we rested for a while before we did some work on the car. I was so happy that nothing had broken on the car because we would have been there all night! We finished the normal maintenance around 10 o'clock at night. We all smelt horrible! I had been handing gear grease, which basically looks like green sludge. We all went back to the hotel, cleaned ourselves, watched a bit of the Olympics before heading to bed. By this time, it was midnight.


The race on Saturday was at ten in the morning. We had to get up at six o'clock in the morning to get at the track. We always like to be early than late. We warmed up the car and got everything together so we could be ready for the line up. During the race, we ended up just outside the top ten. Duncan wasn't very happy, but at least we didn't crash. The day was just so warm and humid that it seemed everyone was having trouble. After the race, we did some maintenance on the car and then relaxed. We left the track around four o'clock in the afternoon.


The race on Sunday was at nine in the morning. This meant we had to get up at five-thirty. We were all so exhausted and looking forward to the end of the weekend. Because Duncan had gotten some great lap times the day before, he was eleventh in the line up for the race. It was still warm outside and there were dark clouds looming in the distance. The race was actually very well executed. Duncan was taunting us a little bit. He dropped down a couple of places and then he sped up gained a few! During the second to last lap, the yellow flag went out and the pace car came out. We managed to place in the top ten! I was so happy. Although we didn't win, the car came out in one piece and everyone was safe. We got back to the paddock, weighed in and then packed things up. There was a storm heading towards us and we could see it coming on the radar. Corey ended up leaving early and just in time. While we were loading up the truck, he called and told us that he was driving in the storm and he couldn't see five feet in front of the car. I looked up and sure enough, there were the dark clouds. 

We took down the tent as fast as we could and we put everything away in the truck before the rain started to come down. Duncan, Miro, my father and I ran into the trailer for shelter. We unfolded some of the chairs and we all decided we would watch things unfold. Within an hour, the parking lot was flooded and the water was beginning to creep onto our ramp. People were outside bathing themselves in the water. We looked out of the trailer and saw that the water was up to the bottom of a pickup truck. This was the best part of the weekend. We were all smiles and we couldn't stop laughing. A few golf carts and trucks came by once in a while and we could see the waves rushing towards us. It seemed the rain would never let up. It was so intense!



The storm finally dissipated an hour later. We all poked our heads out and surveyed the damage. There were people swimming around, having fun. Other people who had taken refuge in the arena were starting to come out and they could see how flooded our side of the paddock was. Apparently, this wasn't the only place. About ten minutes later, my father and I had to walk back to the car. On the way, we passed through the Nascar and Indycar paddock. The water was up to the knees! There was no other way through. I sighed, pulled up my pant legs to my thighs and then trudged through it. I couldn't believe it! But this was a good end to the weekend. 






Catching up With Duncan

Our set-up


After missing the first race at Tremblant because I was in another country, I decided to conduct an interview with Duncan after our second race, The Grand Prix, to discuss what has been going and what is to come! 

 Duncan: Our podium at Tremblant was very satisfying because we worked very hard at refining all the small little things we knew were wrong with the car. We also found a few other little things to improve. So our performance was a combination of attention to detail, and all the work we did over the wintertime, optimizing everything to the greatest extent. We also did a couple of test days before the beginning of the season. It didn't appear that anyone else was there. We did our homework and things worked out very well. It shows that the hard work pays off with good results. I felt that over the past two seasons, we could do very well but it took longer than I expected. 

 Me: What is your technique or routine when you prepare the engine and the car during the summer. Where do you do it, how and how much time do you devote to it? 

 Duncan: Generally, for the engine, I rebuilt it during the winter, mostly by myself but with a little help from friends that are in the crew. The engine is in my best friend's garage and when I need a hand, the helping hand is always there. I mostly like to concentrate on it by myself and pay a lot of attention to detail. The chassis I keep at home. Other crew members come over a couple of times a week and we basically take everything apart, clean it, put it back together and make sure the alignment is close to perfect as possible. We did an upgrade last year but the setup was not to the level of perfection that we would have liked. This winter, we concentrated on the things that we had done wrong. We hadn't paid enough attention to detail and we corrected that. The result was the podium performance at Tremblant.

 Me: How did you feel about going to Tremblant with these new upgrades? Were you excited or afraid it might not work out or be disappointed? How did that affect your weekend?

Duncan: I was pretty confident the car was the best it could be and from the moment I got in the car at our test days it seemed very good. When you are on the track by yourself testing you don't have any basis of comparison, so you don't really know for sure, but I was confident we would do well. 

Me: How did it feel qualifying second? 

 Duncan: It was great. 

 Me: How did it feel coming in third? Did you know you were in third or were you focused on finishing the race and the car? Were you excited to know that you would be on the podium? 

 Duncan: Well, yes I did know I was in third. We had lost touch, I was fighting with another racer at the time and I had spun. I knew I had dropped a bit from the leaders and I knew I wouldn't be able to catch them, but Nathan spun off. I knew another racer was ahead of me. I wasn't able to challenge for second at that point because there was too much of a gap, so third was it. 

 Me: When you were on the podium, did you get sprayed with champagne? What is your podium etiquette regarding champagne? 

 Duncan: Well, by that point it was a Sunday podium ceremony and I was in my street clothes, so I was conservative in the spraying of the champagne. Showers were not available and we had the long ride home. There was a truce between the three of us to spray into the air and then we shared the champagne from the cup with our pit crews.

 Me: You just did the Grand Prix and it was a very exciting time, especially with the fire. Can you tell us a little bit about how you felt when you came into the pits? Did you think you had a penalty? 

 Duncan: I had thought, because I had hit a racer lightly from the back with the nose of the car, which didn't affect anyone in the race. I thought the signal that I had a mechanical failure was due to damage to the front nose, which you can't see when you are sitting in the car. I was surprised to find out that it was the result of a fire. I was very happy with what we had done in the race so far. I'm happier with the Saturday performance because we were so competitive. It's very promising going into Tremblant which is a track that I feel is more suited to my style of driving. We'll see what happens!

Montreal Summer Classic

Duncan's car

The race weekend started off on a very...interesting note. On Thursday night, I had gotten a phone call from Duncan that I had to bring my grandfather's old walking cane. When I dared to ask why he needed it, he went on to explain that it was for Corey, one of the guys on our pit crew. Duncan told me that there was a bear near the RV where they were staying and Corey kicked it and that is how he hurt his ankle. When I asked what the real reason was, Duncan just laughed. The next morning, my father and I made our way to the Mont-Tremblant racetrack. As we were pulling into the grounds, there was an ambulance coming out, lights flashing, and three other vehicles were following it. When an ambulance is coming out like that, it's never a good sign. We drove over to Duncan's tent and we immediately unpacked the car so I could take Corey to the clinic. I soon found out what had happened to Corey and also why the ambulance was around. It turns out that Corey was sitting at the front of the golf cart when they were coming back from a practice on Thursday and his foot became caught underneath. It was dragged for a while. Everyone on the team makes fun of me because I was the only one who had gotten involved in a golf cart accident. Turns out, I'm not the only one anymore. I took Corey around St-Jovite to find a CLSC or somewhere he could go to, but there were no doctors available. So, we went back to the track and spent the rest of the day at the racetrack while the practices were going on. 

 When I was getting into the car, Eric (one of Duncan's old race buddies) was telling me that another golf cart related accident had happened to the team just across from us. There were two racecars parked behind each other and a golf car a couple of meters away. A man was working on the last car. A tire had accidentally fallen on the accelerator and the golf cart lurched forwards. He was caught between the car and the cart, which caused him to break both his legs. One of his femur bones broke through his skin! Fortunately, one of the racers came over and was taking care of him, making sure he was calm and did not succumb to shock. The race was stopped and the medical team came down to our paddock. Apparently, they were phenomenal. He was taken into surgery and he will be fine. 

 Saturday was an unbelievably hot day. It was 34 degrees and on pavement, it feels much hotter. Imagine also being in the pits wearing long pants and a t-shirt. Duncan qualified 13th in the morning's qualifying. It was a very hot and sticky morning and I'm sure I speak for all racers when I say that everyone was uncomfortable in the heat. The track was also apparently very slippery. Duncan made up for the 13th place in the first race. Eric and Jim were standing just behind the pit wall with the pit board. I was taking lap times. While I was writing them down, I could see Duncan's position lower from thirteenth to ninth. He stayed there until the second to last lap. All of a sudden as he was driving into the straight, he passed four cars at once! He was in fifth place and he managed to finish that way. It was a great race with no crashes. 

On Sunday, Duncan qualified 11th. The good news was that his lap times were consistent and were actually getting better. The race was a tough one, but Duncan finished in ninth place. He actually had a fantastic lap time, which we were very proud of! Duncan says that in the closing laps, he missed two shifts, which caused him to drop back from 5th place to 9th. It was also one of the closest races he had ever been in and one of the cleanest with "clean wheel to wheel, three wide action". There were only two drivers who had to retire from the race because of their cars, but there were no red flags and no crashes. It was a very good and productive weekend for everyone and we are all looking forward to racing at Trois Riveres at the beginning of August.



Catching up with the Races

The pits at Villeneuve Race Track

After missing two very promising race weekends, I decided to catch up with Duncan Murdoch and ask him how he felt about his performance and his car. He came third in Tremblant at the end of May and he finished one of the races at the Montreal Grand Prix. He also had a fire in his car during the Saturday race. Here is what he had to say! 

 Duncan: Our podium at Tremblant was very satisfying because we worked very hard at refining all the small little things we knew were wrong with the car and we found a few other little things so it our performance was a combination of attention to detail and all the work we did over the wintertime, optimizing everything to the greatest extent and we did a couple of test days before the beginning of the season. It didn't appear that anyone else was there so we did our homework and things worked out very well and it paid off. Shows that the hard work pays off and good results and I felt that over the past two seasons, we could do very well and it took longer than I expected. 

 Me: What is your technique or routine when you prepare the engine and the car during the summer. Where do you do it, how and how much time do you devote to it?

 Duncan: Generally, for the engine, I rebuilt it during the winter, mostly by myself but with a little help from friends that are in the crew. The engine is in my best friend's garage and when I need a hand the helping hand is always there, but mostly I concentrate on it by myself and put a lot of attention to detail. The chassis I keep that very close to home and couple of other crew members come over a couple of times a week and we basically take everything apart, clean it, put it back together and make sure the alignment is close to perfect as possible and this year we had done an upgrade. We did it last year but some of the parts were not available to do things to the level of perfection I guess you woud say that we would have liked to have done but over this winter, we concentrated on the things that we had done wrong cuz we hadn't paid enough attention to detail and we corrected that and the result was the podium performance at Tremblant. 

 Me: How did you feel about going to Tremblant with these new upgrades? Were you excited or afraid it might not work out or be disappointed? How did that affect your weekend? I was pretty confident the car was the best it could be and from the moment I got in the car and when we did our test days it seemed very good and when you are on the track by yourself testing you don't have any basis of comparison, so you don't really know for sure, but I was confident we would do well. Me: How did it feel being qualifying second? 

 Duncan: It was great. Me: How did it feel coming in third? Did you know you were in third or were you focused on finishing the race and the car? Were you excited to know that you would be on the podium? Duncan: Well, yes I did know I was in third. We had lost touch, I was fighting with another racer at the time and I had spun and I knew I had dropped a bit from the leaders and I knew I wouldn't be able to catch them, but Nathan spun off and I knew another racer was ahead of me. I wasn't able to challenge for second at that point because there was too much of a gap, so third was it. 

 Me: When you were on the podium, did you get sprayed with champagne? What is your podium etiquette regarding champagne? 

 Duncan: Well, by that point it was a Sunday podium ceremony and I was in my street clothes, so I was conservative in the spraying of the champagne. Showers were not available and we had the long ride home. There was a truce between the three of us to spray into the air and then we shared the champagne from the cup with our pit crews. Me: You just did the Grand Prix and it was a very exciting time, especially with the fire. Can you tell us a little bit about how you felt when you came into the pits? Did you think you had a penalty? Duncan: I had thought, cuz I hit a racer lightly from the back with the nose of the car, which didn't affect anyone in the race. I thought the signal that I had gotten a mechanical failure was due to damage to the front nose, which you can't see when you are sitting in the car. I was surprised to find out that it was the result of a fire. I was very happy with what we had done in the race so far and I'm happier with the Saturday performance because we were so competitive and if we had finished we would have been fifth. It's very promising going into Tremblant which is a track that I feel is much more challenging and is much more adventitious to my style of driving and we'll see what happens! 



Grand Prix 2012

Duncan coming into the pit. 

The Grand Prix is an event Montreal looks forward to every year. On sunny days, girls walk around in their shorts and skimpy tank tops, which is just another reason men go to the event, besides seeing the cars. For the pit crews and racers in the support races, it is actually the most stressful event of the entire season, not to mention the most dreaded. For my team, the Grand Prix is dreaded. The first year we enrolled in the Grand Prix, Jim was run over by Duncan, a trailer door hit Miro on the head and he also had bicycle spokes stuck in his leg, Duncan crashed the race car and I accidentally injured myself with the golf cart we use to tow the car. Two years later, the excitement continued. This year, it was probably the best Grand Prix event we had. The qualifying on Friday went very well, but we were a couple of seconds behind the leaders. However, we were competing with the best Formula Ford racers in North America. After finishing on the podium two weeks ago, our team was eager to continue demonstrating how efficient the car was. We qualified fourteenth out of thirty-five cars for Saturday's race.

 Saturday morning was tense. We always hope that the car is going to run well and Duncan will be happy with his performance. We got him on the track without anyone getting run over or injured. The minute he passed the starting line, he made up for Friday. He was coming closer and closer to the pack and he had some very good times, which was putting him in the top ten. Everything was great... until I felt someone touch my arm. I turned around and one of the officials was mumbling to me. I took off one of my earphones so I could hear him better. He started telling me that Duncan needed to come into the pits and it had to be now. I was a bit shocked. Duncan had never been black flagged, which meant he had a penalty. I was trying to figure out what had he done to deserve a penalty. Did he drive someone off the track? Dangerous driving? It didn't sound like him! I continued to stare at the official, not quite understanding. He was speaking to someone through his headset and then he returned his attention back to me. 

 Then it came out, "Duncan's car is on fire. He needs to get into the pits now. I'm going to get to the firefighters". The first thing I did was run to Jim, our race engineer and tell him to call in to Duncan through the radio and tell him he had to get Duncan in the pits. I then spoke to the fire fighters and grabbed the small extinguisher from our golf cart. The problem was, Jim couldn't get a hold of Duncan through the radio. It was actually quite scary. When we finally got Duncan's attention by showing him the pit board, it was the longest two minutes of my life. We were all waiting in the pit lane for him. I was holding my little extinguisher, standing next to a couple of fire fighters and pit lane officials. Then we caught sight of Duncan coming into the pits. He stopped the car and by the way he was slowly taking off his seat belts, he had no idea what was going on. There was smoke coming through. My father and I grabbed him and threw him out of the car and then we got the cover off the back of the car. We couldn't see a fire. The officials and I stared at each other, confused. I was afraid it had been a big mistake that cost Duncan the race. I was wrong. Suddenly, two mechanics from the BMW Sauber Formula 1 team were yelling at us, pointing to the underneath of the car. They came out of their garage and helped us. Miro took the side pod off of the car and we immediately saw the problem. The side pod had touched the exhaust pipe and had caught fire! The firemen quickly extinguished the fire.

 I was so grateful the officials and fire crew spotted this and saved us so much damage. We managed to tow the car back to our paddock and we selflessly worked until eleven o'clock at night to fix the nose of the car and the side pod. I tried to clean the exhaust pipe and other parts that had been encrusted with fire extinguisher fluid. Do you have any idea what happens when fluid hits hot metal? It sticks and is nearly impossible to clean off. WD 40, water, scraping, brake fluid, varsol and an SOS pad later, it came off.



Working until late at night

On Sunday, we found out that Duncan qualified seventh for the second race because of his great lap times. He managed to stay in the top ten, but did not make the podium. Looking back on the weekend, Duncan is very proud because of the level of competition he was racing with. If he had finished in Saturday's race, he probably would have been fifth. When we asked him how he felt about the fire incident, he said, "It was better to have a DNF (Did Not Finish) with honor than wallow in mid pack". I think he was just happy the car was in good shape and his lap times were consistent. We did the best we could and it really paid off in the end. It was a great weekend and we are looking forward to the race at Tremblant in July! 

Duncan proudly showing his heritage with a Scottish flag

The Man behind Murdoch Racing

Duncan lining up on a hot, sunny day before a race at ICAR

When you see racers on television, do you ever wonder what they are thinking just before a race? Or afterwards? How to they feel when they lose? Win? I do. My dad's best friend is a racer for Formula Ford 1600. His name is Duncan Murdoch. Duncan grew up in St-Lambert. He raced slot cars when he was a kid and racing then became a fascination. When he was young, his mother used to take him to the drag races. He studied at the University of Waterloo. Duncan started racing in 1978 and went to the Jim Russell School at Tremblant. In 1984, Duncan won the Grand Prix race in the 1600 class. In 1984 and 1985, he was the Vice Champion of Quebec. He learned to be meticulous and perfect and his motto is "if something is worth doing, you do it right". Just take a look in Duncan's trailer during a race weekend and you'll see just how meticulous he can be. Everything is labeled, in boxes and our team tool box is probably the most organized one in the paddock. Sadly, Duncan had to put his racing on hold and started a career at Pratt and Whitney. Because he traveled extensively, he had to take a twenty year hiatus from his passion of racing. However, in 2010, Duncan retired from Pratt and Whitney as a manager after many years of devotion to his job and started up his racing again. He set up a team, which has four men and one woman. This year, Duncan is looking forward to racing at the Grand Prix, Tremblant (which is his favorite track), Trois Rivieres and possibly Mosport. This year will be another chapter to be written. I caught up with Duncan and asked him if he could do an interview for us! He gladly agreed! 
1. At what age did you first drive a racecar? I was in my early twenties. 

 2. How did you get into racing? I was fascinated by all types of car racing from childhood. A life long obsession. I saw the Formula 1600 support race for the Canadian Grand Prix in 1976 at Mosport when I was at school in Waterloo. I had to try it and went to the Jim Russell School at Mont-Tremblant the next summer.

 3. What is the most memorable crash you've been in? Many years ago at Mosport I touched wheels with a Formula V and it flew right over me. Just saw the bottom of the car and that was it. Then it was gone! 

 4. Do you have any pre-race rituals? No. 

 5. What do you do during a race weekend? Sit around and watch my crew at work...just kidding!! I am very active in the car preparation. I tow the car to the track, set up with the crew. Watch my diet. Make sure I'm well hydrated. Eat a lot of bananas because I'm not that hungry. It's brain food. Try and make sure everything is ready ahead of time so there aren't any panics. Be punctual. 

 6. Where do you see yourself after Formula 1600? Good question. At some point I would like to try sedans or sports cars if the opportunity were to arise. I race for enjoyment and very much enjoy the technical side of racing, Longer term I could see myself in the car preparation business. 

 7. If you could be in Formula One, what team would you like to be on and who would you have as your partner? Why? Formula One is not a realistic goal. I believe McLaren and Ayrton Senna to be the best of Formula 1. 

 8. What are the expectations for next year? I expect we will be running very close to the front, in the lead group. 

 9. How do you feel you've grown as a racecar driver? I have always been open to learning more to improve the competitiveness of the car and driver package. This is a constant and never ending process. 

 10. What is your next step in your racing? I am enjoying my racing now more than ever before. As I mentioned earlier I would like to try sedans or sports cars at some point. 

 11. What was the best highlight of this year? At the Tremblant summer classic, getting the car repaired after a qualifying crash. The crew fixed the damaged car in about 2 hours, fixing some major problems and we went from 21st place to 7th. 

 12. What would you like to work on? We are currently competitive, but I believe we can make some improvements to the car over the winter. From a driving point of view, I would like to make better use of the onboard data system for car setup, and for analysis of where I can find additional time in my driving. 

 13. If you could meet any racecar driver, who would it be and what would you like to learn from them? There are always things to learn from other drivers, but there are none in particular that I would prefer to meet. 

 14. What work have you been doing with the rest of your team? We work regularly during the week on preparing the car. I watch videos on my racing and to see where I can improve. 

 15. What sports or activities do you do outside of racing? Skiing, going to the gym, rollerblading.

 16. What is your most memorable racing experience? Winning the Formula 1600 support race for the Montreal Grand Prix in 1984. 

 17. Tell us a little bit about your pit crew. How do you find they help with your racing? My pit crew is a group of long time friends, family and people I used to work with. We do almost everything ourselves. They help in sharing the workload so that I can concentrate on the most important elements of racing. 



3 of 5 race team members: Corey, Jack and Meghan at the Montreal Grand Prix. 

18. How do you feel about your pit crew? They are a big contributors and I would not be able race without their help. Perhaps more importantly we have fun and lots of laughs together. 

 19. What kind of jobs do they have? Psychological advisor, mechanics, skilled technical assistants etc. They all share the car preparation, repairs after an accident and everything from food to pit exercises. They change tires (even the only girl on the race team), do timing, prepare food, do emergency repairs, maintain the worlds coolest golf cart, adjust tire pressures. Basically, they do whatever it takes! 

 20. Do you have any memorable moments with them? Of course, many memorable ones. Eating out together at a terrace on a beautiful spring evening in Mt. Tremblant...with too many beers. A team member unable to exit the bathroom due to "finger trouble" with the lock. A memorable weekend was one of our first last year, at the Canadian GP. Everyone on the team except the driver injured themselves in some way...not so funny at the time, but the fodder for many jokes since...and a work safety initiative! They still came back! 

 21. Does it get tense with your pit crew? Not very often, we usually have a lot of fun. 

 22. How do you find your team differs from all the others? We have more fun, even though someone on the team thinks we are too serious.




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