Murray Wishart Carter(born 30 January 1931)[1]is an Australian racing driver. For many years a stalwart of theAustralian Touring Car ChampionshipCarter has had one of the longest racing careers of any driver in Australian history, continuing to race into his 80s.
| Murray Carter | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 30 January 1931 Melbourne,Victoria |
| Australian Touring Car Championship | |
| Years active | 1973–1990 |
| Teams | Murray Carter Racing |
| Starts | 107 |
| Best finish | 2nd in1975 Australian Touring Car Championship |
| Previous series | |
| 1963 1992-95 1996-99 2000-04 2007 2008-14 | Australian GT Champ. Australian Production Champ. Australian GT Prod. Champ. Nations Cup Intermarque Challenge Victorian Sports Car Champ. |
Racing history
editOne of a generation of racing drivers that appeared in the 1950s as tyres and fuel, rationed for most of that decade in the post-wareconomic climate, became more widely available. After racing motorcycles and aJaguar XK120,Carter built an open wheeler which was powered by aChevrolet CorvetteV8 engine,the car making its first appearance in 1959.[2]The following year the car was rebuilt as a sports car[2]and subsequently as a "GT" car, becoming part of the brief history ofAppendix K,a uniquely Australian category for closed cars with no required production origins. Carter finished runner up in the1963 Australian GT ChampionshipbehindBob Jane.[3]He also embraced production car racing when it emerged in 1960 and raced at the firstArmstrong 500,later to become famous as theBathurst 1000,and won his class driving aFord Customline.
Touring Cars
editCarter emerged as a regular in theAustralian Touring Car Championshipin1973.DrivingFord FalconsCarter was one of the leadingprivateerdrivers during the 1970s and into the early 1980s. Famously Carter lent his Falcon to works driverAllan Moffatat theAdelaide International Racewayround of the1973 Australian Touring Car Championshipafter Moffat's race car was stolen by joyriders.[4]Carter was a beneficiary of the work being done by Moffat and theFord works team,getting new developments quickly, keeping him at the forefront of Ford racers through the 1970s. A career highlight came in 1975 when Carter benefitted from a season where many front running drivers and teams had fraught campaigns and finished runner up toColin Bondin the1975 Australian Touring Car Championship.[5]The other major result of this period was a third placing at the1978 Bathurst 1000with New Zealand open-wheel aceGraeme Lawrenceas co-driver.[6]
Into the 1980s Carter was left behind by Ford when it withdrew from racing leaving Carter, briefly (until the rise ofDick Johnson), as Australia's leading Ford touring car driver. By 1983 Carter was becoming increasingly frustrated with developing Falcons and having little reward and switched to a cheaper-to-runMazda RX-7.Little result came of this and Carter briefly stepped away from racing following the demise of theGroup C Touring Carcategory at the end of 1984.
In1986Carter returned with aNissan Skyline DR30 RS,before returning to Ford with aFord Sierra RS500in1988with sponsorship from Netcomm Australia. During his Australian Touring Car Championship career Carter set a record for the most top three finishes without taking a win (20), a record which still stands as of 2017.
Murray Carter's last year in touring cars was in 1990 in a privately entered Ford Sierra RS500. Murray raced in four of the nineATCCrounds but did not score a point. He did provide a spectacular moment in the closing minutes of the series' return toPhillip Islandfor the first time since 1977 when he drove his smoking Sierra into the pits, pulling up just before entering pit lane with the engine of his car on fire. He then joined with Matt Wacker in the Sierra for what would be his last Bathurst 1000 in1990.During practice, Wacker had a collision withPeter Brock's Sierra being driven by his co-driverAndy Rousein The Dipper which sent the #05 car up on two wheels and into the fence. The #14 Sierra would be a DNF after 116 laps.
Production Cars
editBy 1991 Carter had switched to production car racing, initially with aNissan Pintarain theAustralian Production Car Championship.He later raced aNissan Pulsarand then aMazda 626in this series, with a highlight of finishing runner up to Phil Morriss in the1994 Australian Production Car Championship.In 1997 Carter began racing aNissan 200SX Turboin theAustralian GT Production Car Championship.In 1999 aChevrolet Corvette C5followed and Carter transitioned with it into the newAustralian Nations Cup Championshipin 2000. Carter raced only occasionally into the 2000s, driving his Corvette in state level racing as late as 2008. In 2011 Carter still races the Corvette occasionally at Victorian championship level as he approaches 80 years of age. In 2017 Murray relinquished his Cams racing licence, and in 2019,sold his beloved Corvette to a W.A. company.
Career results
editComplete Australian Touring Car Championship results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Phillip Island/Bathurst 500/1000 results
edit| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 |  Sabina Motors
|
Ray Gibbs
|
Ford Customline | E | 154 | 23rd | 1st |
| 1970 | Rollington Pty Ltd
|
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II | E | – | DNS | DNS | |
| 1971 | J Harding
|
Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | E | 127 | 11th | 6th | |
| 1972 | M Carter
|
Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | E | 120 | 10th | 6th | |
| 1973 | Murray Carter - Shell Racing | Lawrie Nelson
|
Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | D | 150 | 7th | 7th |
| 1974 | Murray Carter
|
Mike Stillwell
|
Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop | 3001 – 6000cc | 88 | DNF | DNF |
| 1975 | Murray Carter
|
Ray Winter
|
Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop | D | 53 | DNF | DNF |
| 1976 | Murray Carter
|
Ray Winter
|
Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop | 3001cc - 6000cc | 148 | 19th | 8th |
| 1977 | Brian Wood Ford
|
Bob Stevens
|
Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop | 3001cc - 6000cc | 38 | DNF | DNF |
| 1978 | Brian Wood Ford
|
 Graeme Lawrence
|
Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop | A | 160 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 1979 | Brian Wood Ford
|
Graeme Lawrence
|
Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop | 3001cc - 6000cc | 74 | DNF | DNF |
| 1980 | Murray Carter
|
Graeme Lawrence
|
Ford XD Falcon | 3001-6000cc | 106 | DNF | DNF |
| 1981 | Murray Carter Racing
|
Graeme Lawrence
|
Ford XD Falcon | 8 Cylinder & Over | 109 | DNF | DNF |
| 1982 | Murray Carter Racing
|
Rusty French
|
Ford XE Falcon | A | 25 | DNF | DNF |
| 1983 | Valentine Greetings
|
David Clement
|
Mazda RX-7 | A | 14 | DNF | DNF |
| 1984 | Valentine Greetings
|
John Murdern
|
Mazda RX-7 | Group C | 0 | DNF | DNF |
| 1986 | Everlast Battery Service
|
Bill O'Brien
|
Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | B | 157 | 10th | 3rd |
| 1987 | NetComm (Aust) Racing
|
Steve MastertonDenis Horley
|
Nissan Skyline DR30 RS | 1 | 147 | DSQ | DSQ |
| 1988 | NetComm Australia
|
Steve Masterton
|
Ford Sierra RS500 | A | 22 | DNF | DNF |
| 1989 | Netcomm Australia
|
John Mann
|
Ford Sierra RS500 | A | 10 | DNF | DNF |
| 1990 | Netcomm Australia
|
Matt Wacker
|
Ford Sierra RS500 | 1 | 116 | DNF | DNF |
References
edit- ^Tuckey, Bill, ed. (1987–88).The Great Race.7.Hornsby: The Berghouse Floyd Tuckey Publishing Group: 275.ISSN1031-6124.
{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - ^abJohn B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 84.
- ^"World Sports Racing Prototypes - Australian GT 1963".Archived fromthe originalon 2 September 2011.Retrieved17 March2010.
- ^Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1973: The new era: Moffat".Australian Touring Car Championship: 25 fabulous years.Gordon: R&T Publishing. p. 145.ISBN0-9590378-2-9.
- ^Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1975: The Holden V8 Emerges".Australian Touring Car Championship: 25 fabulous years.Gordon: R&T Publishing. pp. 158–166.ISBN0-9590378-2-9.
- ^Greenhalgh, David; Thomas B. Floyd; Bill Tuckey (2000).Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960–1999.Chevron Publishing Group. pp. 234–241 & 466.ISBN1-875221-12-3.