Murphy takes historic victory

Kiwi racing legend Greg Murphy has ushered a new era in motorsport in his native homeland with a thrilling victory as the V8SuperTourers started their engines for the first time at Hampton Downs.

The 39-year-old V8 Supercar driver was the first confirmed signing for the new racing category after originally signing on to be the categories ambassador, as well as confirming his participation throughout all seven rounds that make up the inaugural V8SuperTourers season.

V8SuperTourers CEO Paul Radisich said he was impressed with the level of support shown to the new category with crowd numbers, and pre-sold tickets for Saturday’s event, something that has been impressive and shows how much New Zealanders have been waiting for a new racing category.

“Presales have been higher than Hampton Downs has even had before,” category CEO told motorsport news website Speedcafe.com.

“We’ve pre-sold more than half of the grandstand tickets so we’re very pleased with the outcome so far.

“We think we’ll get about 10,000 today, which could mean we’ll be near the 20,000 mark tomorrow. For our first meeting, that is an enormous achievement for us.”

The all-new class saw 16 identically specific cars hit the track for their first competitive hit out which saw Kayne Scott claim the first ever V8 SuperTourers pole position with a time of 1:04.472 to secure a front row start beside local Kiwi legend Greg Murphy who posted the qualifying time of 1:04.607 (+0.135) with Andy Booth putting his best foot forward to qualify third with a time of 1:04.684 (+0.212).

“We were late in the build, and too be honest, we’ve only just finished building it. We’re pretty pleased with this.” Scott said upon claiming the inaugural pole position of the V8SuperTourers.

A sluggish start by Kiwi legend Greg Murphy saw him drop to third as Kayne Scott and Andy Booth both led the full time V8 Supercar driver in the early part of the race as the surprise leader became the Woodstock Holden of Andy Booth who led the first thirteen laps of the race before his early pace looked to cost him when rear tyre issues saw his three-second lead cut away before Murphy was able to pass to take the lead, much to the roar of almost ten thousand fans.

Once in the lead Greg Murphy was never challenged as Booth was forced to fend off aggressive challenges from Kayne Scott and Jonny Reid. While Scott made his move on the first lap of turn 15, Reid was unable to follow despite his best efforts as Booth held on to a third place finish.

Craig Baird, Andy Knight, Eddie Bell, Ant Pederson, John McIntyre, and Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top ten.

“To have the first race out of the way is a huge relief and obviously standing on the top step of the podium is very special – and it will remain with me for a very long time,” said Murphy.

“It’s awesome to be a part of this and really the result is fantastic for the whole team. It was a great start to the series and a great start for our car and team.”