Legendary Australian motorsport commentator Mike Raymond dies
Legendary motor racing commentator Mike Raymond, who was the voice of Bathurst for more than 20 years, has died aged 76.
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Mike Raymond, the man who coined the phrase “be there” for his motorsport promotions signature call to arms, has died aged 76.
Raymond passed away on Thursday afternoon in a Sydney hospital of pneumonia after contracting a lung infection.
In a highly distinguished motorsport media career which started in the early 60s as PR manager at the Sydney Showground speedway, Raymond instigated the Seven network’s TV coverage of Saturday night speedway racing at the venue in the mid-60s.
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In 1958 Raymond entered the media for the first time aged 15 when he played a role in Australia’s first live domestic motorsport TV broadcast featuring Saturday afternoon stockcar racing from Westmead Speedway.
In later years he became senior sports executive at the network. Raymond also was speedway correspondent for the Daily Mirror newspaper during the 60s.
He promoted speedway at Liverpool City Raceway for two decades and brought international car and bike stars to the circuit, including the legendary four times Indianapolis 500 winner AJ Foyt for the prestigious Australian Speedcar GP in 1975 and ‘76.
He also won for Australia the rights to host the FIM 1982 World Pairs Motorcycle Championship at the Liverpool circuit in a first for Australian speedway.
One of his most significant TV accomplishments was the in-car camera race coverage that was first introduced to the Bathurst 1000 broadcast in 1979. He was the voice of Australian touring car racing and headed up the commentary team at Bathurst for over 20 years.
Raymond’s influence in motorsport is best demonstrated when he played a significant part in the transformation of the Australian Touring Car Championship into a V8 only Holden versus Ford category as a prelude to the current Supercar era.
He was inducted into the Australian Speedway Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame in 2018. His son Andy is a TV presenter at Fox Sports.
We are all deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mike Raymond. A wonderful man who championed our sport to make it what it is today. He invented the Top Ten Shootout and his chats with Dick on Racecam were legendary. Vale, Mike. #VASC pic.twitter.com/QwUrYMJ4Lx
— Shell V-Power Racing (@DJRTeamPenske) November 8, 2019
So many memories of Mike Raymond, my favorite is the start of 1993 Bathurst:
— Jack Perkins (@jack_perkins) November 8, 2019
“And it’s Perkins by a country mileâ€
RIP Mike Raymond