MURPHY OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO GO FASTER THAN EVER
By Auto Action
Date posted: 7 October 2022
A lot has changed since the last time Greg Murphy raced a Supercar around Bathurst.
The year was 2014 – Jamie Whincup was cruising to a sixth championship, Volvo had just arrived on the scene, Russell Ingall was still on the grid, and Shane van Gisbergen only had seven wins next to his name.
Murphy was co-driving the #22 Holden Racing Team VF Commodore with James Courtney, and the pair could only muster a P13 finish in The Great Race.
While the four-time Bathurst 1000 winner has still been driving since, he has spent most of his time at Supercars events over the last eight years holding a microphone in pit lane.
But “Murph” is back racing around the Mountain in the famous #51 alongside fellow comeback Kiwi Richie Stanaway in a one-off Erebus Motorsport wildcard.
The pair managed to get through the first day of practice unscathed, with Murphy being blown away by a modern day Supercar.
“These cars are phenomenal,” he reflected at the Thursday press conference.
“It has just been about adjusting the brain to do things a little bit differently.
“The muscle memory is as in 2014 in some respects. A lot of it is just how efficient these cars are once you get on the brake pedal and how much brake pressure you can carry.
“The more I trust the car, the better it is.
“It was a lot of fun, I had a ball out there.
“But it has been a strange feeling this year, knowing you can turn up almost like a little bit of an imposter.”
Once Murphy shook off the “imposter” feeling and got up to speed with the Boost Mobile Commodore, he overcame a benchmark he has spent nearly two decades chasing.
In practice 2, Murphy recorded a P22 finish with a 2:05.87, which was faster than his famous “Lap of the Gods” to snatch pole in 2003.
The 2:06.8594 2003 pole lap is one of the most famous Mountain memories ever, and was so good that it not only smashed the field by more than a second in the shootout, but the record stood for another seven years until Craig Lowndes eclipsed it.
As amazing as that lap was, Murphy admitted it was a great feeling to finally beat his record time.
“I am actually pretty pumped to beat that time,” he said.
“It is the fastest I have ever been around here.”
Comeback Kiwi Greg Murphy admitted he felt “a bit like an imposter” driving around Mount Panorama again on Thursday, but did enough to beat his “Lap of the Gods” pole time from 2003. Images: Edge Photographics, Mark Horsburgh
While Murphy went the fastest he has ever been at Bathurst in a career, which started back in 1997, the 50-year-old is not sure exactly how much further he can push as he enters the business end of the weekend.
“I do not know where it can possibly go,” he said.
“Straight away I had more confidence to push harder after that lap just before the chequered. Even just starting the lap, and not being so willing to touch the brake pedal at a couple of places across the top.
“I do not know where it could get to, but I will need a lot more dry running to get to that anyway.”
The comeback Kiwis of Murphy and Stanaway will be one of the big storylines as the 2022 Bathurst 1000 field gets set for qualifying day.
Friday
Practice 3 (all drivers) 10:10-11:10am
Practice 4 (all drivers) 13:00-14:00pm
Qualifying 16:15-16:55pm
Saturday
Practice 5 (co-drivers only) 10:20-11:20am
Practice 6 (all drivers) 13:00-14:00pm
Top Ten Shootout 17:05-17:50pm
Sunday
Warm up 8:00-8:20am
Race 30 (161 laps) 11:15am
AUTO ACTION, Reporting live from The Mountain
For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.
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