29-1-72 Wh McRae wi keep on win ning By PETER GREENSLADE If there is a New Zealand racing driver currently capable of slip-streaming Denis Hulme, Chris Amon and the late Bruce Mclaren into the 1970s to keep the Kiwis up front on the international circuits, it must be Graham MeRae. This 31-year-old bundle of confidence, ability and energy is responsible for the despondency that pervades the Tasman motorracing "circus" at the moment. He is also one of the most controversial figures in the business in New Zealand. Australia and. to a lesser extent, Europe. Some of the big wigs on the administrative and promotional side of the sport are openly admitting Inat they would ike to see McRae beaten in the Teretonga International tomorrow so that some life can be injected into the eightrace New Zealand-Australian series. Meanwhile. the other Tasman drivers seem resigned to the fact that winning is not for them. and so they are scrabbling for the minor money. Although some of them hate to admit it,. they all know that McRae is good. What sets under their skins - or at least tends to give them inferiority complexes — is that they know that McRae knows he is good. With the exception of Hike Hailwood, who is racing a car much poorer than he deseryes. they have all had the doubtful distinction of being lapped by MeRae at least once in two races. That sort of thing does not do much for a driver's ego, especially if you hapto be a two-time Australian Grand Prix winner, such as Frank Matich, or an American Formula champion, such as David Hobbs. It has been said that I was the first motor-racing writer to call MeRae Cas- GOO GRAHAM : RAE ber. But I do remember that in 1970 there were people in the "cireus" othe had concluded that McRae had a big mouth, like Clay, the other Cassius, and the nickname stuck If McRae resents me for giving wide-spread publicity to the nickname, he certainly has not shown it, and when we talked last Sunday, after he had so convincingly wOn the Lady Wigram Trophy race, he said he liked being called "Cass" as Frank Gardner, whom he greatly admires, and some of his friends call him. But some British writers. who hate to see the boat of the Establishment rocked by upstart colonials, " use the name in a derogatory sense, and this has upset 31cRae. Consequently, he has little time for motoring re porters, many of whom he regards probably quite rightly) as being tenorant of what racing is all about. And if there is one thing McRae does know, it is motor-racing. Bached by a five-year engineering apprenticeship, which included 10 months in a design office, he has designed and constructed several successful racing cars, among them his Tasman Leda GMI, and he works at motor-racing 18 hours a day most times. "At my age, I would like to be able to go out and play golf ike other people. but I havent the time, he told me. "I haven't time to read a book and I don't think about marriage because I don't think anyone can do two or three things really well. "If I was married and working on a car I would either be thinking about the car and not about my wife and kids. or thinking about the wile and kids and that should be at home and devoting my time to then. It just wouldn't work, ," he said. Last year, Graeme Lawence, the 1970 Tasman champion, and I were soaking" up some Invercargui SUn between qualifying trials for the following day's Teretonga International when McRae happened along and passed the time of day. As he moveg on he renarked that next time out he would get down close to a 57sec lap. "You know," Lawrence said to me, "the thing thạt gets under people's skins is that when Cassius says he! is going to do something, he goes and does it. "In my book. there's nothing wrong with that." For the record, MeRae qualified with a 57.1sec lao. There a sayıng motor-racing that when the starter's flag drops the bull stops. il c Ra e definitely "psychs" the opposition. but it is with honesty. He has a vast storehouse of motor racing knowledge, and he is a clear thinker. "If someone asks me if I could go faster and I know I can by setting up the car's suspension a bit diferently. or doing 30m7, thing else, I'll say I can, he said. Such honesty and confidence in one's ability isi not, perhaps, the best way to make friends. But McRae is. in fact, a very friendly man once you! get to know him and gain confidence because basically, he is rather shys On top of that he rather proud. I have no doubt in my mind that if he really wanted Formula One drive with a grand prix team he could probably get one But. as he explained to me. he is not prepared to go knocking on Joors to besecch or buy his way into a team. 'I'd rather stay in Formula 5000 or come back to New Zealand and go club racing than beg. "For me motor racing is winning. That's all there is to it." he said. Since a former national champion, Ross Jensen, introduced McRae to Auckland industrialist, 1om Clark. also a former race driver but now better known in the sporting world as the owner of Buc- caneer. the successiul ocean-going racing yacht McRae has come long way. Clark put MeRae into his first Formula 5000 racing car. a McLaren M10A, and it is the sponsorship of his firni. Crown Lynn Potteries. that has kept him in European Formula 5000 racing. "I'll never be able to repay Tom and Ross other than by winning races They have been terrific, MeRae said. There have been more downs than ups in McRae's two European seasons, and a section of the European press has duly noted the downs, the last of which was 140-mile-an-hour crash at Hockenheim. the West German circuit which Jim Clark lost his life. McRae came out of it with burnt han i and doctor's orders for a prolonged hospital stay. But McRae has a poor opinion of German hospitals and within a week was back in England designing and building his Leda. "That was the most relaxing time of my life." he admitted. He has had his share of crashes, but is quite philo sophical about the hazards of inotor-racing. "I'm not concerned when someone else gets killed. although I naturaliy don't want it to happen to me. "Mind you, if someone who anew what the future for me really held and told me that I would get mangled OI killed within the next three years Id stop right now. "If, on the other hand they said it would happen in the third year, ra keep on going for the next two. McRae does not know where motor racing is likely to take him, and he does not think about it. "I might get out of it al together. Circumstances change. I could marry the boss's daughter and be doing something entirely different some time in the future. "In the meantime, motortacing Is my lie and that's that." It is my bet that as long as he keeps to motor-racing, Cassius will keep winning, because he is not only dedicated but also knows what he is doing. And that is why I like and admire Cassius, as I am sure many others would if they took the trouble to get to know him. In fact, I'm sure this is happening for Cass is the name being heard with increasing frequency during this Tasman series. uS. Frankly. I don't remem-