Etobicoke man goes from video racing to real thing
In 2006, Adam Murray of Etobicoke was a single guy whose hobby was playing video games. To have some fun — and serious video gamers do this sort of thing all the time — he entered an international car-racing competition and wound up finishing fourth in the world.
Think about that for a moment: fourth in the world. It changed everything.
Today, he’s still a single guy, but his hobby is no longer the fantasy world of video racing. It’s the real deal. In less than a month — May 13-15 — he’ll be taking to the track at the Belleville-area Shannonville Motorsport Park to ride in his first regional motorcycle race of the season. Two weeks later, he’ll enter his first national race of 2016, also at Shannonville.
If it hadn’t been for gaming, it’s possible that Murray wouldn’t have had the courage to go motorcycle racing in the first place. And now that he’s got amateur races under his belt, plus some higher education, he’s got the self-assurance to seek sponsorship with an eye to turning pro. When he nearly made the podium in that world-wide video racing competition in ‘06, “that gave me the confidence to think that whatever I put my mind to, I could really do,” he told me in a recent interview.
His father, Tom. had purchased a Honda RS 125 two-stroke motorcycle for himself in 2010 with an idea of taking it to the track — but then had second-thoughts. He asked his son if he’d be interested in giving it a go and so they went together to a track day at the old Canadian Tire Motorsport Park driver-development circuit.
Said Adam: “Thankfully, I kept the rubber on the road and by the end of the day I was keeping up with the faster riders. I think that’s when we realized I had a talent for racing.”
Later that season, they bought a Yamaha R6 and in September, Adam entered his first race in the RACE Regional Series at Shannonville.
“That was where we really tested the waters,” he said.
“I ran a novice superbike and a novice 600 that day and I walked away with first place in both. It was definitely an eye-opener for me; I knew I could race and win.”
Which is all very well and good but, as is the case with just about everything else in life, employment and education usually have to come first. Not everybody can be Marc Márquez. To that end, he’s employed by Sodexo, a food services and facilities management firm under contract to Campbell’s Co. of Canada, and he attended Seneca College from 2012- 2014 to study event and media production.
As a result, he’s never had the time or resources to complete a full season of amateur competition (although he’s won many of the races he’s entered) but plans to change that this year. His goal is to run the full season and to finish in the top three in the standings in order to become a professional.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to go too far afield,” he said during our chat. “Mosport, Shannonville, Calabogie Motorsports Park (near Ottawa) and TMP (Toronto Motorsports Park, outside Cayuga) — those have been the four tracks I’ve hit.”
But this year, “I plan to do the entire CSBK (Canadian Superbike) championship,” which will take him to Autodrome St-Eustache near Montreal and Atlantic Motorsport Park at Shubenacadie, N.S., in addition to the circuits closer to home.
Adam Murray estimates that when you take everything into consideration — entry fees, travel expenses, bike maintenance and so-on — you need $20,000 to do a season of amateur racing at the national level. He’d like to get some help, if possible.
“Studying at Seneca has helped me to develop skills needed to represent a sponsor well,” he said.
“Besides journalism, I know how to prepare video and how to effectively use social media for promoting myself or a company. I plan on utilizing these skills to keep fans, friends and sponsors engaged through blogs, updates and online video.
“The public can keep in touch with me and my progress via my racing page on Facebook, Adam Murray Racing, which will be my primary medium for broadcasting content throughout the season.”
We had a wide-ranging discussion and touched on a variety of topics.
Favourite racer? Valentino Rossi. He has so much character. You have to respect how long he’s been racing and winning at the premier level.”
Ever been scared? “It’s (fear) something that doesn’t help the mind think clearly. The older you get, the more aware of the risks you become, so it’s blocking that out. Have I been apprehensive? Yes, you get goosebumps before you go on the track every time. You see a buddy go down, a friend, and you think, ‘Man, I hope that doesn’t happen to me.’ So you do your best to block it out.”
What’s your ambition? “I would like to turn pro in Canada and if everything goes well I’d like to try the newly formed Moto America series down south. I think that would be pretty fantastic. I have a few bucket list tracks — Road America (in Wisconsin) is one. Road Atlanta’s another. New Jersey Motorsports Park would be awesome.”
Biggest thrill? “The adrenaline rush. That’s my thrill. Racing is the best of all those thrills.”
For more in formation about RACE motorcycle events, go to www.shannonville.com
To learn more about the Canadian Superbike Championship, go to www.csbk.ca
And the Dalton Timmis Group will serve as the presenting sponsor for the 2016 TSN coverage of the Mopar CSBK National Motorcycle RoadRacing Championships. Seven halfhour episodes are scheduled to be broadcast on TSN, starting in June.
Who knows? Maybe we’ll get to see Adam Murray on one of those shows.