Greg Murphy

Greg Murphy
Greg Murphy Pukekohe 2014
Nationality	New Zealander
Born	(1972-08-23) 23 August 1972 Hastings, New Zealand
V8SuperTourer
Years active	2012-14
Teams	M3 Racing
Car no.	1
Starts	57
Wins	22
Poles	4
Fastest laps	11
Best finish	1st in 2013 & 2014
Supercars Record
Car number	51
Current team	Holden Racing Team
Series championships	0
Races	448
Race wins	28
Podium finishes	81
Pole positions	13
2014 Championship position	35th (450 pts)

Greg Murphy (born 23 August 1972 in Hastings, New Zealand) is a racing driver, best known as a four-time winner^[1] of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first international Live show at ASB Showgrounds in Auckland from 12–15 February 2009, and again when the show returned in 2010 with James May replacing Hammond.

History

1994 Ralt Formula Brabham

Murphy became involved in motorsports by the age of eight, progressing through karts to saloons and single-seaters before moving to Australia. He first competed at the Bathurst circuit in 1994. The following two years he drove for Brad Jones Racing in the Australian Super Touring Championship and the Holden Racing Team (HRT) in endurance events, winning the Bathurst 1000 with Craig Lowndes in 1996. He drove for the HRT full-time in 1997 and almost won the championship. Due to Craig Lowndes' return from overseas, Murphy only drove for the team in the endurance races in 1998.

In 1999, he joined Gibson Motorsport and paired with Steven Richards to win the Bathurst 1000. In the 2001 V8 Supercar season, Murphy joined the newly formed Kmart Racing team and had two Bathurst 1000 wins with teammate Rick Kelly, in 2003 and 2004. Murphy had two championship runners-up while at Kmart Racing, in 2002 and 2003. In 2001 and 2004 he finished fourth in the championship.

He is one of the best known V8 Supercar drivers (car No. 51 since 2001) and has won four rounds at his home circuit at Pukekohe, near Auckland (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005). At the Mount Panorama Circuit at Bathurst, Murphy has the second best record for a Kiwi with four wins, compared to Jim Richards' seven.

Murphy's 2003 pole position of 2:06.8594 at Bathurst stood as the fastest lap ever recorded at Mount Panorama Circuit until eclipsed seven years later. It is known colloquially as "The Lap of the Gods" and widely regarded as one of the finest moments in Bathurst folklore.^[2][3]

In November of 2003, Murphy won the Bathurst 24 Hour race in the Garry Rogers Motorsport built, 7.0 litre V8 Holden Monaro 427C alongside Peter Brock, Jason Bright and Todd Kelly.^[4] Murphy qualified the #05 Monaro in second place behind the 2002 race winning Monaro of team mate Garth Tander. The two Monaro's led the race throughout with Murphy in the car finishing only 0.3505 in front of Tander after 527 laps of racing.^[5]

During 2005 and 2006 Murph moved to Paul Weel Racing (PWR) where he initially had good results until changing to the Perkins engines. Since then Murphy has never really had any outstanding performances. Murphy joined Tasman Motorsport in 2007 where his lack of results continued.^[6]

Murphy joined Paul Morris Motorsport in 2010 to drive Castrol supported Commodore.^[7] While the partnership looked like it was to reignite the "old murph" his performances and a poor car failed to produce results thus the announcement came in November 2010 that the partnership would split.

Murphy joined Kelly Racing for 2011 in a late deal with major sponsor Pepsi Max. Throughout the year the Pepsi Max Crew car has undergone four different paint schemes all with a graffiti theme. Murphy has had varying success throughout the year and as he has become more comfortable with his car and the team he has had some good performances, including pole position at the Bathurst 1000.^[8]

2013 saw Murphy return to Holden Racing Team on a part-time basis, co-driving with Car #22 driver James Courtney in the endurance events. However, Bathurst saw Murphy involved in a heavy crash at Reid Park, therefore ending his chances of finishing the race. The bad luck didn't end there, with yet another serious incident bringing Car #22 down (this time involving Paul Dumbrell from Triple Eight Race Engineering) in Race 1 at Gold Coast.

Notable career events

2008 Holden VE Commodore V8 Supercar

• 1994 – Won the New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild driving a Reynard 90D
• 1996 – Second in the GT2 Class at Le Mans
• 1996 – Won Bathurst 1000 and Sandown 500 with Craig Lowndes and the Holden Racing Team
• 1999 – Won the Bathurst 1000 with Steven Richards
• 2000 – Third at Bathurst with Steven Richards
• 2001 – Helped to create Kmart Racing after Gibson Motorsport turned to Ford and Craig Lowndes. Finished third at Bathurst with Todd Kelly
• 2002 – Was given the biggest penalty (five minutes) in V8 racing history because of a pitlane infringement by his team. His car was released early, rupturing a refuelling hose and spilling fuel in the pit box
• 2003 – Set the fastest lap ever on the 6.213 km (later eclipsed in 2010 by Craig Lowndes) Mount Panorama Circuit during the Top 10 Shootout, with a time of 2:06.8594. Won Bathurst 1000 with Rick Kelly. Won Bathurst 24 Hour with Peter Brock, Todd Kelly and Jason Bright
• 2004 – Won Bathurst 1000 again with Rick Kelly
• 2008 – Finished second at Bathurst 1000
• 2011 – Got pole position for the second time at Bathurst and finished 3rd in the 2011 Bathurst 1000
• 2012 – Won the first ever V8SuperTourer race at Hampton Downs, then eventually finished Runner-up for the Season.
• 2013 - Greg Murphy Won the V8SuperTourer Sprint Series and Overall Championship, his first Championship Win in 17 years.
• 2014 - Murphy Won the V8SuperTourer Sprint Series and Overall Championship for the second year in a row. Greg also finished second in the Sandown 500 with James Courtney.

The Holden VE Commodore of Greg Murphy at the 2011 Clipsal 500 Adelaide

Greg Murphy at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix

Greg Murphy at the 2014 ITM Auckland 500

Complete V8 Supercar results

1996-2008 Round Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

2009-2013 Race Results

Bathurst 1000 results

New Zealand V8 Supercar results

2013 V8SuperTourer Holden VE Commodore

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1996	New Hardware Racing Parr Motorsport	Bill Farmer Robert Nearn	Porsche 911 GT2	GT2	313	14th	2nd

Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2003	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Peter Brock Jason Bright Todd Kelly	Holden Monaro 427C	A	527	1st	1st

V8SuperTourer

In 2011 it was released that in New Zealand they were making a new touring car series, Murphy was instantly interested and after talks with Paul Manuell they decided to make M3 Racing which Richard Moore, Paul Manuell and Greg Murphy would drive their three cars. As soon as Murphy confirmed he would be racing in the 2012 season, New Zealand Businessman Mike Pero signed up to be his major sponsor for the season.

In the 2012 season Murphy had a successful year claiming a pole, 5 race wins and 2 round wins and also the Endurance Championship but because he had to miss two rounds because of back problems he missed out on the overall championship but managed to finish 2nd overall.

The 2013 season Murphy redeemed himself after missing out on the title due to back problems, Murphy managed to win 6 races and finished on the podium 14 times out of 21 races, and after a thrilling final race battle with Ant Pedersen, Murphy won his first SuperTourer title.

Complete V8 SuperTourer results

* Season still in progress

References

External links

• Official website
• Profile at V8 Supercars
• Video of Greg Murphy's "Lap of the Gods" at Bathurst
• Greg Murphy at Pepsi Max Crew, Kelly Racing