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.