GRAHAM McRAE

[CUSTAXIE50]

Testing at Levin

[Russ Cunningham]

Testing at Levin

WHAT?

[CUSTAXIE50]

F5000

[RogerH]

Testing at Levin

WHEN?

[woody]

Must be later this month?

[Steve Holmes]

Is there a photo to come Custaxie?

[CUSTAXIE50]

I put down on paper today, the day i was in levin 41 years ago when i saw Graham testing his F5000 ,i was there with my father inlaw,have just finished-and was just going to put it up but i see you boys are at it again , maybe steve has to talk to you boys again about having some respect for others who are on the roaring season.No photos that day steve maybe the levin car club may have some.

[Steve Holmes]

Sorry Custaxie, I think everyone thought there might have been something else to come.

[CUSTAXIE50]

yes steve there is more to come,as i said i put it all down on paper today, as i allways do before i put it on the roaring season will do it later on ,as i am putting down something about another thread at this time.

[CUSTAXIE50]

f5000-what can i say 1971 around that time thinking back i was down in levin at my father inlaws place Laurie jenson ,he will be 92 this year we got wind that Graham Mcrae was testing at the track with his Mcrae f5000 ,we were out that door so fast that you would think the place was on fire .we got to the track to see Graham was stopping halfway before the hairpin to have his crew work on his car ,they worked on the front bar and looked the car over before having a good run at it ,around he went four or so laps and stopped to talk to his crew about the real bars that go from the rear hub to the rear of the tub ,he said when he gets into the hairpin that he could see the top bar moving up and down he had replaced them with new ones that were lighter ,he had one of his crew go and lie down at the hairpin to see what he could see ,off Graham went he had the wood right into it this time around he went ,he came very fast out of cabbage and down to the hairpin and braked very hard into the hairpin with one of his crew down in front of him to see what he could see what was going on with the back of the car ,you could say that was the kiwi way of doing things all these years ago i would like to say all the very best to Graham for 2012 ,and maybe we will see you doing what you do best drive a f5000-all the best

[Murray Maunder]

Thanks for that Custaxie. Graham was one of the key figures in F5000, not just here in NZ but also in UK, USA, and Australia. With all the great cars back out on the track at HD it seemed rather sad that (if) he wasn't there, even if not racing one of his beautiful cars. Great to see so many GM1s still out there giving the Lolas a good shake and let's hope we see GM back as an honoured guest regardless of any personal issues in his past. He is undoubtedly NZ motor racing royalty.

The way he muscled the Crown Lynn McLaren around Baypark was something to behold. The dayglo orange GM1 was and still is, simply a stunning racing car which as Kiwis we can all proudly embrace like a Britten motorcycle.

[CUSTAXIE50]

we all fall down in our life sometimes,some fall down and it just takes longer to get back up ,the main thing is to get the right ones to help you get back up ,i understand Garth Hogan and Ken Smith are helping with this ,which is good to see them coming to help a old mate out at this time in his life--all the best to you.

[Russ Cunningham]

Hi "Custaxie". Not wishing to be disresprectful to yourself or anyone else on "the roaring season". Just wondering if you'd forgotten to post a pic or something.
Cheers,
Russ Cunningham

[CUSTAXIE50]

what do you want to know-russ.

[Russ Cunningham]

Everything & anything. Whatever you'd like to divulge.

[CUSTAXIE50]

whats up with what is up there now-russ

[bry3500]

Pic by Peter Bain Hogg

[105angria]

sorry not sure if blue car may be BEGG

[bry3500]

Hmmm, don't think so, looks to me like the STP March.
oops wrong pic..I'll change it

[105angria]

thanks to Pall Mall thats annoying when cant transfer images at same size

[105angria]

thanks pall mall

[CUSTAXIE50]

all the ones that you have put up are later cars some have been changed around a little have they not .if you look at motorman march 1972 front cover you will see the car that was there that day in levin it could also be the car that was also lost in a fire .Graham was a guest speaker at the levin car club in 1972 and my father inlaw was there and he got Graham to sign the cover of the motorman mag ,would be good to see one of his f5000 cars with the same paint job on it ,that test day in levin the car was all matt black.

[pallmall]

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f155/gavinevitt/GMcRae001Standarde-mailview.jpg

[CUSTAXIE50]

Its a great looking car,is that the one that was lost in the fire do you know.

[Steve Holmes]

Is that the one Roger Williams used to race in historics?

[bry3500]

I always believed Graham was, somehow, slightly underated compared to the other household NZ motorsport names.. As a driver and constructor he whupped the best of them. I didn't realize that he competed in the 1973 Indy until recently.. Nice pic of him around the 44 second mark in this F5000 promo video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLhvtGviI7Q

[bry3500]

Advertising

[CUSTAXIE50]

Dexter Dunlop got his hands on the McRae Leda GM1 from the usa and raced it for a time,i think that was the car that was lost in that fire ,also i do have a good story on Graham at Indy in 1973 he got to have a run in two cars ,and he had a run in F1 also will see if i can find all this and put it all up--AND YES RUSS WAIT.

[bry3500]

Custaxie..I would like to hear that story about the Indy and wasn't Graham involved in the huge shunt in front of the pits at the British Grand Prix, 1973?, Silverstone I think....

[Michael Clark]

The story of Graham's 1973 Indy deal was told in the May issue of 2003 NZ Classic Car.

He was Rookie of the Year and had been running in the front group - in a race marred with drama - rain, damaged drivers and delays.

It is one of those little mysteries that he never raced at Indy again.

[CUSTAXIE50]

I am still looking for the story that i have,he did have two cars to work with,the first car an usa driver had but could not get up to speed so Graham did some work on the car and got it up to speed,in the end the usa driver got to drive the car.Graham ended up with some old car that he worked on and allso got up to speed-shit this is going back will have to find the full story to get it right---i think it said they were running at speeds of 265mph now you must understand all this is off the top of my head ,because its 39 years ago if this is not right-there will be some in the know can have there say on Indy and f1,by the way michael what did allan get up to on his Birthday.

[Tom68]

Worked with Graham in 1986 at Calder Park, we were working for John Sheppard Automotive building the Nascars and Graham was driving the Volvo 242T Touring car.

Getting a car up to speed was mentioned earlier, I remember Graham saying about one car he was driving that didn't have the piston dome shape that he wanted so he Tig welded them to the shape /comp' that he wanted.

He was looking at renting a Ferrari back then to flop a mold off.

[bry3500]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cXJ1kHu4TI

[paul lancaster]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cXJ1kHu4TI

Did graham race an austin healey early in his career, I was working at this guys house the other day and he had 1 in his garage, he called it the "ex graham mcrae austin healey"

[David McKinney]

Yes, a six-cylinder model, reg BN1864