Marc Murray - Official Site

MURRAY MAKES WELCOME RETURN TO JAMUN
30 July 2007

Marc Murray the 20-year-old South African driver has returned to Jamun Racing Services where he will line up alongside championship leader Callum MacLeod and Sarah Playfair for the rest of the 2007 season.

Welcoming Marc Murray's return to the team's James Mundy said: "We are delighted to see his return to us. Marc will have a vital role to play alongside Callum and Sarah and we look forward to helping him fulfil the promise he showed in '06."

MUSICAL CHAIRS FOR MURRAY & BRIDGER
25 July 2007

The British Formula Ford Championship grid will have a fresh look to it at Silverstone next month following the news that two leading drivers are to swap teams.

In at Fluid Motorsport Development is Jay Bridger, the 19-year-old Kent driver who started the season with the championship-leading Jamun Racing Services squad.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old South African driver Marc Murray is switching allegiance from Fluid to Jamun, where he will line up alongside championship leader Callum MacLeod and Sarah Playfair for the balance of the 2007 season.

Bridger's move comes after a relatively slow start to his campaign in the Ford-backed series. The 2006 Formula Ford Festival runner-up is currently sixth in the points standings and has scored one podium finish at the wheel of his Mygale - which car he will be taking with him to Fluid.

Said Jay's manager John Haffenden: "We have no particular axe to grind here, it's simply that we believe we have a better chance with Fluid of getting the results of which we feel Jay is capable."

For Murray his switch to Jamun is something of a homecoming: he started his UK career with the Kent team last year, claiming a second-place championship race finish with Jamun at Brands Hatch as well as a Winter Series race win.

Welcoming Marc's return, the team's James Mundy said: "We are delighted to see his return to us. Marc will have a vital role to play alongside Callum and Sarah and we look forward to helping him fulfil the promise he showed in '06."

Murray will need to adapt back to a Jamun chassis following his switch, having raced a Van Diemen for Fluid.

MURRAY COMMITS TO FLUID
15 February 2007

Top UK Formula Ford outfit Fluid Motorsport has signed Marc Murray to join Takashi Nagase in the 2007 series. Murray has driven sporadically in the category over the last couple of years and won a Winter Series race last Novemeber. He will now contest a season in on of Fluid's Van Diemen DP007s.

Fluid boss Lindsay Allen believes Murray will help the team challenge for te title. "I think with the two of them we have a reasonable chance," he said. "In the Winter Series they were both quick and the new car will be more consistent than last year's."

Murray has yet to test the car but should get his first run at the end of the month. Allen also confirmed Fluid is planning to run a third car.

12 November 2006
19 year old Pretoria youngster, Marc Murray, continues to shine in the UK

Two weeks ago Marc finished 6th in the Formula Ford World Cup in torential rain. This week-end he was invited by Jamun Racing to compete in the final round of the Winter Series at Brands Hatch. This time conditions were more favourable for a South African with at least a dry racing line. Marc broke the lap record in the first race. After establishing a healthy lead a safety car period saw him loose two places at the restart. He managed to regain second behind Jay Bridger, runner up in the Formula Ford World Cup 2006. In the second race Marc took the lead after a few laps and established a new lap record, finishing first in his maiden win in the UK.

28 October 2006
Marc Murray finishes 6th in Formula Ford Duratec Festival

2 October 2006
Formula 3000 test Vallelunga, Italy

19 August 2006
Zwartkops Rounds 15 and 16

After missing rounds 13 and 14 of the South African championship, to contest a round of the British Championship, Marc Murray was back at Zwartkops Raceway to compete in rounds 15 and 16. The team received a new engine from the Formula Ford association just two days before the event. A couple of late nights later the car was ready for the first test session on Thursday afternoon.

Marc was on the pace for most of Thursday, and the set-up of the car seemed good. A problem developed with the braking during testing, so it was decided to change the brake discs over night. The first two test sessions on Friday were used up bedding the brakes in. This left only one test session before qualifying.

The brake problem was sorted by the time qualifying came. Marc put in the second fastest time overall in the 15 minute session, less than 1 tenth of a second slower than Jayde Kruger. Marc’s second best lap was faster than anyone else’s, which gave him pole position for race two.

Race one started off well, with Marc challenging Kruger for the lead on the first few laps. On lap 6 Marc made a slight mistake in turn one which allowed championship leader Brett Mayberry to catch up to within a few car lengths. Unfortunately Brett Mayberry made a desperate lunge into the final corner driving straight over Marc’s back wheel, and taking them both out of the race in spectacular fashion. This allowed Kruger to take the win, ahead of Donovan Howard and Jennifer Murray. Both Murray and Mayberry’s cars were severely damaged, but fixed just before race two.

Marc got a good start from pole on race two, and retained the lead ahead of his sister, Jennifer. After developing a sizeable lead Marc made an error in turn 3, a fast right hand sweep. Marc ran wide over the curb and spun the car around. He rejoined in 8th position, and spent the remaining half of the race fighting his way up to fourth position by the finish. Jayde Kruger went on to take his second win of the day, with Jennifer Murray in second and Donovan Howard coming home third.

23 July 2006
Murray shines in UK

Brands Hatch 21-23 July 2006 UK National Formula Ford Championship

pics by www.jakobebrey.com

19 year old Pretoria racing driver, Marc Murray, shocked the UK Formula Ford establishment on Friday 21 July 2006 when in his first session on the circuit posted the second quickest time. During qualifying Marc achieved third position for the first race and second on the grid for the Sunday in his Les Donnees sponsored Jamun Racing Mygale.

Saturdays racing was in confusing weather and the cars lined up on the grid on wet or intermediate tyres on a drying circuit. After a good start Marc was helped off the circuit but managed to rejoin the circuit at the back of the 21 car field. After various incidents he moved up quickly through the field but developed a huge understeer with overheating wet weather tyres.

pics by www.jakobebrey.com

Sundays racing was in hot and dry conditions and race two saw Marc lead the race after an excellent start. On lap two Marc thought it better to allow team mate and new championship leader, Nathan Freke, to go by and chase him to the finish. As it turned out Nathan was the quickest and lead the way home with Marc in a stunning second place. Marc was also credited with the second fastest time. An excited Marc said after the race, "This was a great opportunity to prepare for the Formula Ford World Cup and I would sincerely like to thank Les Donnees for making this possible as well as Jamun Racing for a fantastic car."

Fellow South African, Sean Petterson (Les Donnees/Jamun Racing Mygale), impressed as well when on Sunday he worked his way up from 12th position on the grid to an eventual 5th in the 25 minute final race. Sean also posted the third quickest time less than 0.2 of a second off the fastest time.

1 July 2006
Maybery extends his points tally in Formula Ford Championship

Rounds 11 and 12 of this year’s National Formula Ford series took place at Kyalami Grand Prix circuit in Midrand on Saturday 1 July. The 4.263km circuit is a fast paced circuit that is renowned for spectacular racing and this weekend’s events proved no different.

Brett Maybery (BMR) walked away smiling after a double win and first overall for the weekend - though he didn’t have it all his own way. After Friday’s qualifying session Maybery appeared to be in sever trouble. The championship leader never set a qualifying time after a broken gear linkage put paid to his chances.

WAP Alto teammates Donovan Howard (WAP Alto / Associated Auto) and Jayde Kruger (WAP Alto) took full advantage of the situation securing the front row of the grid -for both races.

As heat one got underway it was Kruger who got the better of Howard to take the early lead, however Maybery who started from the back of the grid was rapidly making up ground. By lap four Maybery was in a position to challenge for the lead and soon found a way through.

In his wake Kruger and Howard tangled giving Marc Murray (Les Donnees) the opportunity to snatch second place. Kruger recovered to finish third ahead of an impressive Sean Patterson who was just inches ahead of Howard as the flag dropped.

Jennifer Murray (Ford Credit) rounded out the top six ahead of Paulo da Cunha (DCM Line Boring) and Matthew Merton (Matsam) in eighth place.

Race 2 once again saw Kruger and Howard taking the early lead. In a carbon copy performance of heat one, it wasn’t long before they were being hounded and passed by Brett Maybery.

In the end it was Howard who greeted the flag in the runner-up slot with Kruger in tow. Da Cunha continued with his impressive form to finish fourth ahead of the two Murray siblings. This time out it was Jennifer leading the way from younger brother Marc.

Patterson took seventh ahead of Andrew Becker (AJB Technical Services) and ninth placed, Ford development driver Tasmin Pepper. In her mirrors she would have seen father Iain crossing the line in first place for the Zetec Challenge. His nearest challengers were Nicholas van Weely (Magnificent paints & hardware) ad Kyle Bennett (A.I.E. Plastics).

The next round of the Formula Ford Championship takes place at the Mercedes Benz Grand Prix circuit in East London on 22 July.

20 May 2006
TREACHEROUS WEATHER CONDITIONS INTERUPTED FORMULA FORD CHARGE AT ZWARTKOPS

Brett Maybery (BMR) dominated the weekends proceedings by winning both the days heats ahead of Jayde Kruger (WAP Alto), while Marc Murray (Les Donnees) took third place in heat 1 and Donovan Howard (WAP Alto / Associated Auto) traded places to take the final podium slot in heat two.

Race 1 provided plenty of wheel-to-wheel racing at the head of the pack. Kruger, who started form pole position, led the field away in the opening laps, but it wasn’t long before Maybery found a way passed. The pair duly battled it out until the finish line where Maybery took the chequered flag.

Behind them Howard and Murray had a close dice with Murray taking a well-deserved third place. Jennifer Murray (Ford Credit) enjoyed a somewhat lonely race to cross the line in fourth place.

Race 2 was marred by treacherous weather conditions. Hail and heavy rain caught out a number of driver before the clerk of the course declared the conditions to dangerous and brought out the red flag.

In the end it was Maybery who best mastered the wet conditions to take his second win for the day ahead of Kruger. Teammate Howard got the better of Marc Murray this time out, while Jennifer Murray was fifth.

Rounds 7 and 8 of this year’s National Formula Ford series took place at the Aldo Scribante race circuit in Port Elizabeth on 29 April. Jayde Kruger (WAP Alto) made no mistakes taking the opening race victory but was dismissed from the lead of the second heat leaving Marc Murray (Rotax Max Challenge) to take the win as well as the overall laurels for the day.

The 2.48km Aldo Scribante circuit is one of the shortest racetracks in the country and is characterised by its long radius corners. The tight and twisty track provided plenty of excitement throughout the weekend.

Kruger was on the pace from the outset posting the quickest qualifying lap of the day during Friday’s qualifying session. Kruger’s turn of speed was even more impressive considering he arrived at the track with a broken collarbone. Donavan Howard (WAP Alto/ Associated Auto) made it a one-two, joining his teammate on the front row of the grid.

Brother and sister duo Marc (Rotax Max Challenge) and Jennifer Murray (Ford Credit) lined up third and fourth respectively with Andrew Becker (AJB Technical Services) and Brett Mayberry (BMR Racing) rounding out the top six.

When the lights went green for the first heat of the day there was little change at the front with Kruger and Howard holding station. However the pair would have to face a restart following a collision between Andrew Becker (AJB Technical Services) and Paulo da Cunha (Tubular Construction Services). The incident resulted in the race being red flagged, thankfully both drivers emerged unscathed.

The restart produced a similar result with Kruger and Howard heading up the field. Mayberry fought his way through the field, following a difficult qualifying session, to finish third ahead of Marc Murray and Sister Jennifer.

British racing driver Rick Morris (Investchem) was sixth ahead of Matthew Merton (Matsam), Allen Meyer (Associated diesel engineering) and Tasmin Pepper (Ford Racing / Ford CRedit). Rounding out the field were Ian Schofield (Investchem), Andreas Petrou (Invetchem), Nicholas van Weely (Magnificent paints & hardware).

Heat 2 looked set to be a carbon copy of heat 1 when Kruger and Howard lead from the start. However, over exuberance soon put an end to the hopes of both youngsters when the pair tangled and left the tarmac.

Marc Murray lay in wait to take advantage of the situation and went on to take a valuable first place. Sister Jennifer was second while Paulo du Cunha found himself lying third ahead of championship front runner Mayberry.

Rick Morris was fifth ahead of rival Allen Meyer and newcomer to the series Nicholas van Weely. Ian Schofield headed Tasmin Pepper, Andreas Petrou and a recovered Jayde Kruger.

An on form Marc Murray (Rotax Max Challenge) won both of Saturday’s Formula Ford races to take the overall laurels for the day at the Cape Town based Killarney circuit. Donavan Howard (WAP Alto) and Andrew Becker were respectively placed second and third overall.

Heat 1 saw Murray involved in a titanic five-way battle for the lead. Challenging him were Jayde Kruger (WAP Alto), Brett Mayberry (BMR), Donavan Howard and Jennifer Murray (Ford Credit).

Kruger and Mayberry chances were dashed when the pair collided and both were left stranded in the gravel trap. This allowed Murray the chance he needed to break away and he duly opened up a sizeable gap, which he held until the chequered flag.

He was followed home by Howard and Jennifer Murray, with Andrew Becker, Tasmin Pepper (Ford Racing/ Ford Credit) and Rick Morris (Investchem) completing the top six.

In race two it looked as though Brett Mayberry and Jayde Kruger were out to correct the wrongs of the first heat, as they set the early pace. However Murray quickly showed he intended to put on a repeat performance of his first heat win.

The trio traded the lead continuously during the course of the race, but with one lap to go Murray clawed it back and went on to take a double win for the day. Mayberry and Kruger crossed the line second and third respectively with Howard, Becker and Allen Meyer in tow.

Ford development driver Tasmin Pepper put on a solid performance throughout the weekend. In only her second Formula Ford outing and first at Killarney, Pepper ended the weekend’s proceedings in fourth place overall. Showing consistently quicker times Pepper is sure to be a front running contender towards the second half of the season.

Ian Schofield (Investchem) took the overall laurels in the Zetec Challenge class with Andreas Petrou (Investchem) second and Allen Mayer (Les Donnees) third.

Rounds 17 and 18 of the South African Formula Ford championship took place at the Phakisa Freeway, in Welkom.

The event did not get off to a great start when Marc went off early on in the first practice session, damaging the front end of the car. The car was ready just in time for the second practice session, and the times were promising. Marc went on to set the fastest time in qualifying, giving him pole position for both race 1 and 2.

Marc held the lead at the start of race 1, and proceeded to pull a small gap over 2nd and 3rd placed drivers, Armani Jamrozinski and Jayde Kruger. By lap 4 this gap had been closed down, and a three way tussle for the lead was formed. Marc and Armani swapped places for the lead several times. Eventually Marc and Armani end up slowing each other up allowing Kruger to pass both of them, and pull a gap. Marc and Armani continued to tussle for second place, rubbing wheels a few times on the last lap. Eventually Armani crossed the line slightly ahead of Marc and Leslie Reynolds.

Race 2 saw Jamrozinski take the lead from Marc at the start with Kruger getting straight into 3rd. Marc retook the lead on lap 3, and held it for a few laps and began to tussle with Jamrozinski again. The lead was swapped a few times. It was eventually Armani Jamrozinski who took the win, ahead of Marc Murray and Jayde Kruger.

Only the top ten finishers from each Semi final make it directly through into the final. The rest of the competitors have to do the last chance race. Marc as well as 2 other regular front runners, Daniel Roos (SWE) and Steve Roberts (GBR) had to start the last chance race right at the back due to crashes in the semis with Roberts starting 23rd, Marc 24th and Roos 25th.

The last chance race is run over only 8 laps of the short 1.2 mile Brands Hatch Indy Circuit. Only the top 8 finishers make it through to the final, an all but impossible task if one starts at the back. Marc got off to a good start passing 2 cars. He continued this form passing cars in just about every corner and putting in the fastest lap of the race. Marc eventually crossed the line in 9th, 1 place short of qualifying, but well ahead of both Roos and Roberts.

Duncan Tappy wins 2005 Formula Ford Festival, Brands Hatch, UK - 23 October 2005

After getting too much wheelspin at the start, Marc got passed by Rob Sunderland and Steve Morris. Marc began to push hard to regain these lost positions, but unfortunately made a mistake in Graham Hill corner, and ended up in the barrier with a much damaged car. Dennis Retera went on to win semi-final 1 and Duncan Tappy won semi final 2. Retera will start the all important final from pole because semi-final 1 was won in slightly less time than semi-final 2.

Marc got a decent start in his heat staying in 5th place. On lap 2 he passed Japanese driver, Okaki into Paddock hill bend and was followed through by Martin Kudzak. Kudzak pressured Marc for the first few laps until Marc pulled a small gap, and crossed the line in a fairly comfortable 4th. This result places Marc 4th on the grid for the 1st semi-final.

The 47 car entry was split into 2 qualifying groups. Marc was placed in group 2. Qualifying was run in the dry, with each group getting 20 minutes.

With most of the testing sessions being wet, there was not a lot of time to learn the very tricky Brands Hatch circuit in the dry, as well as finding a decent set-up. After a couple of minutes of Qualifying, the red flags came out before Marc had been able to put in a clean lap. Luckily the session was restarted, and Marc managed to put in a couple of clean laps, placing him 5th on the grid.

Marc Murray and team mate Sean Petterson raced at Silverstone this weekend in rounds 19 and 20 of the British Formula Ford Championship.

Marc qualified 5th, Sean 8th and reigning Formula Ford South African champ Robert Wolk 10th. The first race was on a damp circuit. Marc fell back at the start but once he got to grips with the condition came through to 8th all over Wolk's gearbox in the closing stages.

In a dry final race Murray finished a lonely 5th, well ahead of Wolk in 6th and Sean 7th.

An excited Marc commented that, "I have a lot to learn to catch the front runners but this is a great challenge. It's a privilege to be with such a professional team. Thanks to Les Donees and Jamun Racing for making this possible."

The three will be joined by another ex-karter, Brett Mayberry, at the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch later this month.

It has been confirmed that Marc Murray and Sean Petterson will be contesting the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, in the United Kingdom. Sean and Marc will both be joining the successful Jamun Racing team supported by Les Donees. In preparation they will contest the last round of the British Formula Ford championship at Silverstone on 8 and 9 October 2005. They will use this race to get accustomed to their new team and cars as well as the British conditions.

The weekend started on quite a negative note, with Marc only managing to complete a total of 8 laps on Thursday testing, due to both mechanical problems and a big off in the first session. Things picked up a lot on Friday afternoon, when Marc qualified 5th for both race1 and race 2.

Marc made a good start in race 1 and retained 5th place. He stayed with the front group for the first few laps, pulling a substantial gap from 6th place battle. As the race progressed he lost touch with the front 4 and crossed the line in a lonely 5th place.

Race 2 saw Marc drop down to 7th on the first lap. He immediately repassed Marco dos Santos for 6th. This move cost Marc a lot of ground. He immediately set off to catch 5th placed Armani Jamrozinski. He eventually made it past on lap seven. This left him in a comfortable 5th, until Jayde Kruger ran wide in “The Bowl” promoting Marc to 4th.

Reigning Formula Ford Champion Robert Wolk AfintaPart Mygale) can secure his second title in succession at Kyalami this weekend (24 September) in round eight of the Vodacom Power Tour.

The 20-year old Wolk currently leads the series by 37 points, and needs to leave Kyalami with a 45-point lead to ensure another title. Therefore, all he needs to do is score eight points more than his closest competitor. Making his task easier is that second placed competitor, Stevie Morris, has moved across to the Production Car Championship, and will not be competing in the Formula Ford races.

That leaves third-placed competitor David Veringa (Sabat Batteries Van Diemen) as the only driver with a mathematical chance of depriving Wolk of the title. However, his chances are slim, with Wolk requiring just two points more than the former Formula Vee champion to be victorious.

Veringa, last season's championship runner-up, has not enjoyed a good year. His form has been patchy, but after changing chassis mid-season, he finally scored his first win of the year at East London two rounds ago. He followed this up with a second and fourth place at Zwartkops, and will be wanting nothing other than a win or two this weekend to move him ahead of Morris in the points, and keep his slim championship chances alive.

Marc Murray (Rotax Max Challenge Van Diemen) enjoyed a good outing at his home circuit last time out, and has shown improvement in recent races. He has yet to display the pace to run at the front, but he is increasingly competitive.

Brett Maybery (Playstation2 Van Diemen) will also be competing this weekend - one of his rare appearances. He has become somewhat of a Kyalami specialist over the past few years, blitzing to many victories. He demonstrated in the last round that he could also win at other circuits when he took victory in the first race, and then finished second in the next. He will pose a serious threat to Wolk and the others for the race wins.

17-year old Donovan Howard (Associated Auto / Wap Alto Mygale) scored his first overall win at East London, but did not win either of the day's two races as two second place finishes were enough for the win. He qualified third and set the fastest lap of the day at Zwartkops, but an off-circuit excursion early in race one left him with just one seventh as his best result. He will be desperate to score his first proper win before the year is complete.

Young Jayde Kruger (Wap Alto Mygale) once again proved at Zwartkops that he has blinding pace in qualifying, and followed up with better consistency in the races than he has shown for most of the year. The 16-year old qualified superbly to take pole position, and then drove to two solid third place finishes. He is definitely a threat to the leaders, and his first win can't be too far away.

Veringa, Howard and Kruger are separated by just eight points in the championship race, and they are all fierce young competitors. Fireworks can be expected from them this weekend.

Armani Jamrozinski (Diesel / Pilot Freight Van Diemen) is another who has battled with consistency this year, perhaps as a result of not contesting all the races. He scored his first win of the year at East London, but at Zwartkops the 18-year old could only manage one sixth place finish. There is no doubt that he also has the pace to win, but it's never a sure thing that he will be in the leading battle.

Jennifer Murray, Ford's Development Driver, will be eager to show her worth. She missed the last round as she competed in the Formula Women Nations Cup in the UK, where she narrowly missed out on victory in both races and finished second overall.

Driving a Ford Credit/Ford Racing Van Diemen she has suffered a frustrating year with mechanical and set-up problems with the new car. The team has
contracted a new mechanic, which it hopes will cure the problems. She has proven on many occasions that she is capable of winning races should the car allow - hopefully she will be in a position to do so this weekend.

An interesting addition to the grid this weekend will be Rick Morris, the father of Stevie. Rick is a Formula Ford legend in the UK where he performed brilliant feats over many years. He competes here sporadically when visiting to watch his son racing, and is still competitive. Expect him to give the midfield runners a good run for their money.

1) Robert Wolk 107
2) Steven Morris 70
3) David Veringa 64
4) Donovan Howard 57
5) Jayde Kruger 56
6) Armani Jamrozinski 40

After being right on the pace all weekend, there was big disappointment in qualifying when the alternator failed on the first lap. Marc completed 1 full lap with a misfire which put him seventh on the grid. Marc managed to recover to 5th place in both races. He was also one of 5 drivers to break the lap record which had been standing since 2003.

Rounds 11 and 12 of the South African Formula Ford championship took place last weekend at the East London Grand-Prix circuit. This circuit was used for the first South African Formula 1 Grand-Prix in the 1960’s. The circuit’s layout has not changed since then, and is extremely fast and quite simple in modern terms.

The team used Thursday and Friday testing to experiment a lot with the set-up, to get the car to behave well on the bumps in the fast sweeping corners. They eventually arrived at a good set-up just before qualifying. Unfortunately Marc went off at gate bend on the second lap of qualifying, but managed to rejoin with a ill-handling car. Despite this he managed to qualify 9th for race 1 and 8th for race 2.

Race 1 proved eventful as Marc could not select 1st gear at the start, and had to pull away in 2nd. This dropped him right down to 15th position at the start. The package proved to be fast in race set-up, and Marc worked his way back up to an eventual 4th place, his best Formula Ford result to date.

Marc got off to a good start in race 2, making his way up to 5th position on the first lap. The safety-car was deployed on lap 2. Marc remained in 5th place until lap 8, when Jayde Kruger and Martin Robinson touched wheels, allowing Marc to pass Robinson, and chase Kruger home, to finish an eventual 4th.

The combined race times gave Donovan Howard the overall win, and placed Marc 3rd for the day.

After being on the pace on Friday practice, Marc put his Van Diemen 6th on the grid, his best Formula Ford qualifying performance to date. The Saturday morning warm-up was wet, giving Marc his first taste at driving a Formula Ford in wet conditions. He managed to post the 4th fastest time. The sun came out and the circuit was dry for race 1. Marc got off the line well, but unfortunately collided with Donovan Howard in Turn 3. Marc rejoined the race in last position, and fought his way back up to 8th. Unfortunately Marc retired from Race 2 due to a bad tyre choice.

Round four of the Vodacom Power Tour is set to take place at the Aldo Scribante Circuit in Port Elizabeth on 27/28 May 2005. The team has spent many hours trying to solve the mysterious understeer that started in Phakisa and seem to have found the problem. Recent testing at Zwartkops has shown that the understeer is gone and the lap times have improved drastically.

Round three of the Vodacom Power Tour proved to be very difficult for Marc. He spent the entire weekend trying to get rid of a huge understeer. The team ended up changing spring, ride height, anti roll bars, etc. The understeer persisted. The car eventually became good for the first lap of each run but then went back to its old understeer. By being slightly of the pace, Marc managed to avoid trouble and get 7th for the day.

After only an hour and a half of track time availible to learn the technical Kyalami GP circuit, Marc managed to qualify 8th for the first race and 7th for the second race. Race 1 saw Marc getting up to sixth place on the first lap. Unfortunately the clutch began to slip and Marc fell back to 8th position on lap 5. The team did an outstanding job to replace the defective clutch, which involves removing the entire rear end of the car, and have it ready just before the second race. The second start saw Marc fall down to 8th place, and he remained there for the rest of the race. The combined race times placed Marc 6th overall for the day.

Marc will be competing in his first ever Formula Ford race at Kyalami on Saturday 26 February 2005. This will also be his first outing on the world famous Kyalami Circuit. The main contenders will be last years National Champion Robert Wolk and last years runner-up David Veringa. Practice begins on Thursday and Qualifying will be on Friday, with two races on Saturday.

Marc Murray was one of three karters awarded South African Colours for their success in National and International in karting. The annual award ceremony was held at Caesars in Gauteng.

Both Team EMR cars were on display at the official launch of the Vodacom Powertour held at Vodaworld in Midrand.

After trouble in the qualifying session Marc spent the weekend trying to recover from a bad starting position. It was inevitable that there would be first lap incidents and most of these were impossible to avoid! After all was said and done Marc crossed the line in 18th position in the final.

The Zwartkops raceway based Team EMR have announced that they will be running a pair of Van Diemens in the 2005 SA Formula Ford Championship. 2005 will be their first season in Formula Ford, but they believe that the key to their success will be the use of the World Championship winning Van Diemen cars. The RF01 car will be piloted by Marc Murray. Pre-season testing begins on 6 December 2004 and the new team hope to be on pace by the first Power Tour event to be held in East London in March 2005.

The qualifying heats proved to be a real challenge as they were dry, and most of the prior testing was in the wet. This left Marc qualifying 6th for the pre-final, which was to be held in slightly wet conditions due to a downpour early on Sunday morning. Marc got accustomed to the conditions quickly and made his way up to second immediately after the start. A second place battle emerged between Marc and Alexandre Engels of Belgium, allowing the reigning world champion Cristiano Morgado to pull a small gap up front. With 5 laps to go, Engels hit a puddle and spun out, leaving Marc in a comfortable second ahead of newly crowned European Champion Danny Bleek of Holland.

The final was quite definitely wet, due to another downpour just after the pre-final. Marc started second because of his pre-final performance. Cristiano Morgado got into the lead immediately, and again managed to pull a gap because of a fight between Marc and Danny Bleek. Marc remained in 3rd challenging for 2nd until he had a rear brake failure and spun. This allowed Engels and Ribero to pass, leaving Marc in 5th place.

Marc and Tiago Ribero of Portugal went into the final race on equal points in the European Championships, but the brake failure allowed Ribero to pass and put Marc 4th in the championship.