Profile:
About Murdo Graham
Murdo's fascination with Rallying began while he was still at school. During his school years Rallycross was a regular feature most Saturdays on the BBC Grandstand sports programme, while sparse TV Rally coverage consisted of the RAC Rally of Great Britain each November, and another annual year-end programme titled ‘Winners at the Wheel’
The 1968 London-Sydney Marathon also fired his imagination, and the fact that Scottish driver Andrew Cowan won it in a ‘works-entered’ Hillman Hunter added to the interest.
In the same year the legendary Roger Clark began winning in the ‘works' Ford Escort Mk1 Twin Cam and, two years later Finnish maestro Hannu Mikkola won the gruelling 16000 mile 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally in a 'factory' Escort.
A rally Escort being driven sideways looked much more exciting than schoolwork, and Murdo started planning how he could get a slice of this four wheeled action.
Like many Rally Drivers before him (and since) he began his competitive driving by taking part in Autotests - beginning in 1975 in a Mini. During 1976 he did the full Highland CC Autotest Championship using a Mk1 Ford Cortina GT, finishing his first full season with a Class Win.
He firmly believes that Autotesting provides an ideal platform on which to hone car-handling skills which prove valuable in other disciplines of Motorsport.
Since the 1970's, in his native Hebrides he has been regarded as a true motorsport legend and one of the best drivers the Islands have ever produced. His achievements in the forests of Scotland and his infectious enthusiasm for the sport have inspired a whole new generation of highly talented rally drivers from the Islands.
And through his informative Press rally reports between February 2004 & February 2012, he’s succeeded in raising awareness of the sport in the Western Isles, which in turn has drawn a new generation of rally fans who now regularly travel from the Islands to spectate on major rallies.
In Sept 2006, at the end of a rally test day in Loch Ard forest near Aberfoyle, Murdo was offered (at 50 years old) the chance to take his nephew Alasdair’s Escort through the four mile Stage. In a car he hadn’t driven before, and 20 Years after last taking an Escort through the woods, Murdo piloted the Mk2 through the forest at competitive speed. All the time, he was mindful that the car wasn’t his and that Alasdair needed it in one piece for the McRae Stages a couple of weeks later. The first mile was covered assessing the car’s handling characteristics, but over the remainder of the stage all the old skills and car control came flooding back!
He has now been involved in Scottish Rallying for over three decades - driving, marshalling, doing on-event service support, and organising events in the Hebrides with his colleagues at Lewis Car Club.
He felt extremely proud of Lewis Car Club when the Club was awarded the prestigious George Newall Shield in November 2011, in recognition of their service to the Community.
He remains passionate about Rallying, and over the years he’s played a key role in bringing the sport to the Western Isles.
Firstly he founded the Moonlight Rally in 1993 – for many years Lewis Car Club's only annual Navigational Road Rally.
Then in 2008 he co-founded Rally Hebrides - the first Closed-Stage rally ever held in the Western Isles.
Furthermore, he has carried a long-held 'vision' of a Tarmac Special Stage Rally on some of the classic road sections to be found on Lewis and Harris. As such he's an avid supporter of the campaign by Rallying's Governing Body - the MSA - to secure the Legislation for closed-road motorsport in the UK.
The success of this campaign could realise this 'vision'............
