A fighting fifth for Murphy and Kelly in slippery Sandown 500
18/9/2004 17:54 (Press Release) -
A tough day of racing has resulted in a fifth place finish for Kmart Racing’s Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly in yesterday’s Betta Electrical Sandown 500 in Melbourne. The duo, which started from pole position after Kelly’s superb Top 10 Shootout lap on Saturday, was in the fight all day for a podium position and narrowly missed out, as Murphy closed on Cameron McConville in the race’s closing stages.
“I was totally driving the wheels off the car,” said Murphy.
“We pushed it hard all day and it was driven absolutely to the limit of what the car was capable of.”
Murphy had a lucky escape on lap 103 when Jason Bright nearly t-boned him after slipping off on mud at the final turn. The Kiwi was able to sail on and keep the car on the track.
“I saw him in my peripheral vision and it was unbelievably close.”
Kelly started the #51 car and sat in a solid second place behind eventual race winner Marcos Ambrose in his opening stint, handing over to Murphy to take to the end of the 160-lap race on lap 58.
Murphy couldn’t quite match the Stone Brothers Falcons of Ambrose and Russell Ingall and then ran wide on mud, dropping from third to fifth with less than 30 laps to go when Warren Luff and McConville skipped past.
“There was something on the circuit and I had the car fully crossed up and sideways. In the race to get going again I accidentally bumped the pitlane speed limiter, so that delayed us a bit.”
Kelly remains fourth in the V8 Supercar Championship Series by virtue of today’s fifth-place finish.
“Every lap was like a qualifying lap in the early stages,” he said.
“Lap after lap I was pushing harder and harder to keep up. Murph did exactly the same thing and that was how we had to run the race.”
The team’s second #15 Kmart Commodore was an unfortunate early retirement. After qualifying a strong 13th in the hands of Steve Owen, the car suffered an engine problem halfway through Tim Leahey’s opening stint and was out of the race immediately.
“It’s a real disappointment,” said Leahey.
“It just went ‘boom’ and that was that. I had settled into a good rhythm and was just finding my feet and knuckling down when it happened.”
The team now has four weeks to prepare to defend its Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 crown at Mount Panorama in Bathurst.
FINAL RESULTS – Round 9, Betta Electrical Sandown 500, Melbourne, Victoria, September 12 2004:
1. Marcos Ambrose/Greg Ritter, Pirtek Falcon BA, 160 laps
2. Russell Ingall/Cameron McLean, Caltex Falcon BA, 160 laps
3. Steven Johnson/Warren Luff, Shell Helix Falcon BA, 160 laps
4. Garth Tander/Cameron McConville, Valvoline Commodore VY, 160 laps
5. Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly, Kmart Commodore VY, 160 laps
6. Jason Bargwanna/Mark Winterbottom, Orrcon Falcon BA, 160 laps
7. John Bowe/Brad Jones, OzEmail Falcon BA, 160 laps
8. Paul Dumbrell/Tony Longhurst, Castrol Commodore VY, 159 laps
9. Jason Richards/Fabian Coulthard, Tasman Commodore VY, 159 laps
10. Jason Bright/Paul Weel, PWR Commodore VY, 159 laps.
DNF. Steve Owen/Tim Leahey, Kmart Commodore VY, 28 laps.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after nine of 13 rounds): 1. Ambrose 1487, 2. Bright 1464, 3. S. Richards 1397, 4. R. Kelly 1373, 5. Ingall 1347, 6. Murphy 1163.
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