R1 PRACTICE - Bathurst form carries on for Murphy
11/2/2000 23:28 (Jason Whittaker) - The 1999 Bathurst winner, Greg Murphy, has picked up where he left off, topping the timesheets in the opening practice session of the 2000 Shell Championship Series at Phillip Island.
"It's early days yet but it's still nice to be at the top of the time sheet," said Murphy.
Murphy clocked a time of 1:33.28 in his Kmart Commodore, inside the existing lap record but more than a second outside Glenn Seton's 1999 qualifying mark. The times are expected to be a lot quicker in official qualifying tomorrow.
Glenn Seton added to speculation that the Ford camp would be more competitive, recording the second fastest time of the day.
"We are here to win races this year and I am keen to start this weekend," said the Ford Tickford Racing ace.
Cat Racing's John Bowe and Shell Helix Racing's Paul Radisich rounded out the top four in the opening practice session, giving more weight to the Ford argument in 2000.
Castrol Perkins' Racing's Russell Ingall was fifth fastest in his brand new VT Commodore. Reigning Shell Series champion Craig Lowndes was sixth while his HRT teammate, Mark Skaife was seventh.
New to the V8 Supercar category in 2000 are 2-litre drivers, Brad Jones and Paul Morris. Jones is under no illusions after steering his Ozemail Ford to 31st position today.
"This is the class we all want to be in and it's tough. We never figured it would be a day at the beach," said Jones.
The Phillip Island round will see a new race format. There will be two 45 minute races with compulsory pitstops, the first on Saturday and the second on Sunday.
Tomorrow's qualifying is sure to be frantic as driver's grapple for early ascendancy in the country's most competitive motorsport category.
**TOP 10**
1 GREG MURPHY Kmart Racing Holden VT
2 GLENN SETON Ford Tickford Racing Ford AU
3 JOHN BOWE CAT Racing Ford AU
4 PAUL RADISICH Shell Helix Racing Ford AU
5 RUSSELL INGALL Castrol Perkins Racing Holden VT
6 CRAIG LOWNDES Holden Racing Team Holden VT
7 MARK SKAIFE Holden Racing Team Holden VT
8 NEIL CROMPTON Ford Tickford Racing Ford AU
9 LARRY PERKINS Castrol Perkins Racing Holden VT
10 JOHN FAULKNER Ezybonds/Cummins/JFR Holden VT
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