Murphy keeps V8 Supercar Championship Alive with Tassie Podium
29/11/2004 18:53 (Press Release) -
Kmart Racing duo Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly have emerged from the penultimate round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in Tasmania with advances in the overall championship and strong race results respectively.
Murphy has moved to second place in the championship after finishing yesterday’s round in second spot, highlighted by a race victory in the third race.
Championship leader Marcos Ambrose had a major engine failure in his Falcon in the final race. His retirement leaves the championship still mathematically achievable, with Murphy 151 points behind.
Kelly hit back at his recent critics, taking victory in race one and was on target to win the round in the final race, only for an engine problem to stop his Kmart Commodore while in a strong position.
Kiwi ace Murphy, who entered the round third in the championship, has assumed the mantle of the top Holden driver in the series, which is still alive entering the final round at Eastern Creek in three weeks time.
“There were a few other drivers who had done a good job all weekend and had problems in the final race, so that helped us get on the podium,” said Murphy.
“But we kept doing our thing all weekend. We went out there and raced hard and that last race certainly threw up some curveballs. We had a bit of luck and we were struggling on Saturday, so I’m fairly surprised to have won the last race.
“Our guys in the pits were brilliant. In every race they did a brilliant pit stop and without they great work, it makes it tough. But when they are on fire like they were this weekend, it makes life nicer.”
Team-mate Kelly was on target to possibly win the round in the final race, but an engine problem on lap 26 of 42 eliminated him from contention. He won Saturday’s opening race and finished second in race two, but felt the weekend was still a successful one.
“There’d been a lot written about me after the Indy event and some of the things that had happened up there,” said Kelly.
“But it was nice to get back into the race car and show people what I can do. We had a great run for the weekend up until the final race. Even though the championship isn’t a possibility for me anymore, we still race each and every race as hard as we can and see where we end up.”
In Saturday’s opening 42-lapper, a cracking pit stop by the Kmart Racing mechanics helped leapfrog Kelly in front of Ambrose when the two made their compulsory tyre change on lap 3.
The young gun drove off into the distance until light rain late in the race made the circuit tricky to negotiate. Kelly backed off slightly, holding the gap to cross the line and clinch the win.
Ambrose beat him off the line in the second race and Kelly had to fend off brother Todd to finish in second spot.
Kelly began his weekend with a modified championship points tally, after having 50 championship points deducted for his contact with Jason Bright at the last round on the Gold Coast in addition to a $5000 fine.
Murphy, meanwhile, generally struggled with his #51 Kmart Commodore in practice, but a solid performance by the Kiwi ace has lifted him into second place in the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
After qualifying eighth on the grid for the opening race, Murphy also had a great pit stop thanks to the Kmart Racing crew, rising to fifth spot.
That all came undone on the final lap when former team-mate Craig Lowndes attacked Murphy at the hairpin, running the Kmart car out wide onto the slippery part of the circuit and he half spun, dropping back to an 11th place finish.
“I’d been struggling with the rear brakes,” said Murphy.
“I got out onto the marbles on the exit of the corner and it half spun. It actually caught me by surprise that it did that but it was past the point of no return. It was a good move by Craig, no doubt about it.”
Fired up for the second race, the four-time Bathurst champion had a flying first few laps, moving up to eighth before leap-frogging the pack again in the pits, resuming in fourth. He withstood pressure from Russell Ingall to hold the position to the chequered flag before going on to win the final race.
The final race featured a strange scene, with a handful of drivers waved by the Safety Car that hadn’t picked up Murphy as the race leader due to pit stops being taken by a group of cars that hadn’t pitted earlier in the race.
It caused mass confusion up and down pit lane, leaving Murphy and Kelly fifth and sixth on a race restart after earlier running one-two in the race.
The final round of the series will be the BigPond Grand Finale at Eastern Creek at the beginning of December.
FINAL RESULTS – Round 12, Tasmania Triple Challenge, Symmons Plains, Tasmania, November 14 2004:
1. Russell Ingall, #9 Caltex Falcon BA, 170 pts
2. Greg Murphy, #51 Kmart Commodore VY, 166 pts
3. Steven Richards, #11 Castrol Commodore VY, 158 pts
4. Craig Lowndes, #6 CAT Falcon BA, 154 pts
5. Cameron McConville, #33 Valvoline Commodore VY, 146 pts
6. Steven Johnson, #17 Shell Helix Falcon BA, 142 pts
7. Steve Ellery, #31 SER Falcon BA, 140 pts
8. Warren Luff, #18 Shell Helix Falcon BA, 130 pts
9. Marcos Ambrose, #1 Pirtek Falcon BA, 126 pts
10. Rick Kelly, #15 Kmart Commodore VY, 126 pts
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after 12 of 13 rounds):
1. Marcos Ambrose, #1 Pirtek Falcon BA, 1982 pts
2. Greg Murphy, #51 Kmart Commodore VY, 1831 pts
3. Russell Ingall, #9 Caltex Falcon BA, 1782 pts
4. Jason Bright, #50 PWR Commodore VY, 1780 pts
5. Rick Kelly, #15 Kmart Commodore VY, 1701 pts
6. Steven Richards, #11 Castrol Commodore VY, 1667 pts
7. Todd Kelly, #22 HRT Commodore VY, 1513 pts
8. John Bowe, #12 Ozemail Falcon BA, 1406 pts
9. Jason Bargwanna, #10 Orrcon Falcon BA, 1406 pts
10. Garth Tander, #34 Valvoline Commodore VY, 1320 pts
Release Date: 15/11/2004
K-Mart Racing
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