Full-time driver pairings the key to Sandown says Kmart Racing's Murphy
6/9/2004 13:06 (Press Release) -
Pairing a team’s regular drivers together in the one car will be a critical factor in the result of this weekend’s Sandown 500 V8 Supercar endurance race, according to Kmart Racing’s Greg Murphy.
Murphy, who paired with Kelly last year to finish a delayed third at Sandown before going on to win Bathurst, has been buoyed by the team’s recent Phillip Island test and enters the first of the endurance races with a quiet level of confidence.
He and Kelly have been paired up for the endurance races once again and, like his rivals at the Holden Racing Team and Garry Rogers Motorsport, will count on having two full-time drivers in the lead car as being a plan for success, rather than driving their own cars with separate co-drivers.
“It’s no secret that we haven’t had the sort of season that we’d been planning for,” said Murphy, a former Sandown 500 winner in 1996 and 1997.
“But the endurance races add a little spring to the step and the test gave us some good direction. You never go out and make bold predictions, but with Rick and I, we have a very strong driving combination.
“Sandown is now a full-on sprint race. You can’t cruise around in the middle part of the race. You need two drivers who are at ten-tenths for the full distance and the only real way to guarantee that is to pair the two full-time drivers together in the one car.”
His partner Kelly enters the Sandown event in fourth spot in the championship and is keen to try and pull back the points advantage of title leader Jason Bright.
“Oran Park was definitely one to confine to the history books because we had a shocker there, but it’s nice to be back at Sandown,” he said.
“It’s virtually a home race for us because our workshop is only 10 minutes from the track and it’s a place we’ve performed well at in the past.”
Backing them up in the team’s #15 Commodore will be Steve Owen and Tim Leahey. Owen will ‘double-up’ and compete in the final round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship in addition to his Kmart Racing duties, while it will be Leahey’s first V8 Supercar race since Bathurst last year.
“Tim and I got some more laps in the recent test and we had the chance to run some longer stints and sort our seating position,” said Owen, who enters the Formula Ford decider in third spot and 30 points off the championship lead.
“I’m a bit of a dark horse for the Formula Ford title, but racing in two categories on the one weekend won’t be too much of a worry as there’s no clashes in the schedule over the three day meeting.”
Murphy and Kelly will pair up in the team’s #51 Commodore (#044) the same chassis that has been raced by Kelly all season, while Owen and Leahey will campaign chassis #043, Murphy’s car from 2004 that also won Bathurst last year.
Kmart Racing Team Manager Rob Crawford says that fuel consumption will be an issue in the 500-kilometre classic, with 50 percent of the 3.1-kilometre lap spent at full throttle.
“Naturally there’ll be plenty of Safety Car periods, as there always are at endurance races, and we can sway our strategy around to suit what happens as the race progresses,” he said.
“But it’s one thing to have an engine that produces plenty of power. The downside is that you’ll burn more fuel up and that could leave you vulnerable depending on how you’ve planned your pit stop strategy.”
The V8 Supercars will first take to the track on Friday for official practice at 10.35am. The 161-lap race will begin at 1.00pm on Sunday, telecast live on Network Ten.
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