R12S RACE 2 & 3 - Murphy King of Pukekohe
11/11/2001 18:57 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Greg Murphy could do no wrong at Pukekohe Park Raceway this weekend, with a resounding clean-sweep of his home Grand Prix, the Boost Mobile V8 International.
New Zealand’s newest sporting superstar ignited the inaugural event with a three-from-three performance that sent today’s parochial 40,000-strong crowd into wild celebrations.
Newly-crowned Shell Series champion, Mark Skaife was a worthy challenger for Murphy throughout the event and finished second overall, ahead of Ford’s Marcos Ambrose.
Murphy was overcome as he accepted the accolades, declaring the win as special as his 1996 Bathurst triumph.
"I am in shock, I really didn't expect it could turn out this good," said Murphy, who replicated his achievements at Pukekohe in an exhibition race in 1996.
"The car was unbelievable, I can't thank the team enough for giving me such a good car for this round, and the crowd, well, it felt like they were picking me up and carrying me that little bit quicker each lap. The support was just fantastic.”
Murphy was still quietly seething over the controversial finish to yesterday’s race, which saw the race incorrectly awarded to Mark Larkham after an embarrassing blunder by race officials.
Murphy said the stewards’ room fight last night took some of the gloss off the weekend, but nothing could wipe the smile from his face today.
“It would have been more disappointing for all the fans that paid their money and left without knowing the right result,” he said. “People need to be more careful with these things, it is very important to us.”
Murphy was the King of Pukekohe today, but Mark Skaife walks away the ultimate winner.
His third-place finish yesterday sealed a second consecutive Shell Series crown, affording him the opportunity to back off in the final race today and allow his teammate, Jason Bright, currently in a fight with Russell Ingall for second in the championship, to gain maximum points.
“It would be nice for the team to record a 1-2 finish in the championship,” Skaife said. “He had done a great job to come through from the rear of the field and the team radioed me to ask if I would let him go and of course I said no problems.”
Murphy won the second race (today’s first) virtually unopposed, outpacing stablemate Skaife’s Holden Racing Team Commodore.
Skaife gambled with a different pit strategy, waiting until lap 11 (of 36) to make his mandatory tyre stop. But Murphy and Ambrose swept by Skaife on his return to racing, pushing him back to third.
Ambrose was eventually run down by Skaife to finish behind the factory Commodore.
In race two, Skaife followed Murphy into pitlane early in the race, but again lost out to the K-Mart Racing crew. The massive crowd along pit straight went wild as Murphy won a drag race down pitlane to rejoin ahead of Skaife.
A heavy shunt from Cameron McConville brought out the safety car on lap 18, bunching the field up and destroying Murphy’s healthy lead.
But Skaife was again no match for the K-Mart Holden at the restart; Murphy pulling away to record another comfortable, and incredibly popular, race win.
"We just didn't have the pace to match it with the K-mart cars today,” Skaife conceded, “and Murphy drove faultlessly, it is the best drive I have ever seen from him.”
Jason Bright’s fight-back from yesterday’s dramas (including a 50-point deduction for a race one clash) saw him snatch second, with a little help from his teammate, ahead of Ambrose.
The Pirtek rookie was again impressive this weekend, but is yet to record his first V8 Supercar race win. It’s a void he’s desperate to fill.
"Being the first Ford home is an accolade of sorts but it is not what I want,” he said. “I am a race car driver and I want to win races outright. My rookie year has been a platform to build on and 2002 will be our year.”
Impressive, too, was veteran Tony Longhurst, who ran strongly throughout the weekend in his under-funded Rod Nash Commodore to finish fourth overall.
With a crowd total of more than 86,000 across the weekend, the V8 International has fast become New Zealand’s biggest annual sporting event.
AVESCO has committed itself to the Kiwi experiment for another five years, but will look for alternative venues, possibly a city street race, for the future.
The Supercar circus will be shipped back to Australia this week before the final round of the Shell Series, Sandown’s V8 Ultimate, in three weeks time.
>> RACE TWO - TOP TEN >>
1st GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore
2nd MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore
3rd MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon
4th JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore
5th TONY LONGHURST (Rod Nash Racing) - VX Commodore
6th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
7th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline Cummins Repco Team) - VX Commodore
8th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
9th STEVEN ELLERY (Super Cheap Auto Racing) - AU Falcon
10th CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon
>> RACE THREE - TOP TEN >>
1st GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore
2nd JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore
3rd MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore
4th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon
5th TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore
6th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon
7th LARRY PERKINS (Perkins Motorsport) - VX Commodore
8th CRAIG LOWNDES (Gibson Motorsport) - AU Falcon
9th TONY LONGHURST (Rod Nash Racing) - VX Commodore
10th MARK LARKHAM (Larkham Motorsport) - AU Falcon
>> CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE >>
1st MARK SKAIFE (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [3290]
2nd RUSSELL INGALL (Castrol Perkins Racing) - VX Commodore [2720]
3rd JASON BRIGHT (Holden Racing Team) - VX Commodore [2635]
4th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [2562]
5th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [2440]
6th TODD KELLY (K-Mart Racing Team) - VX Commodore [2231]
7th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [2005]
8th GARTH TANDER (Valvoline Cummins Repco Team) - VX Commodore [1977]
9th STEVEN ELLERY (Super Cheap Auto Racing) - AU Falcon [1936]
10th MARCOS AMBROSE (Pirtek Racing) - AU Falcon [1873]
For complete race results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?11/11/2001.PUK
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