History

Four Bathurst victories - 1996, '99, '03 and ‘04 - coupled with Greg Murphy's often outspoken, but easy-going, approachable nature, have also made him a firm favourite with both the media and race fans.

A sporting ‘God' in his native New Zealand, Murphy has won the Pukekohe round ‘across the Tasman' an amazing four out of six times.

After initially coming to Australia to race Formula Holden open-wheelers, Murphy caught the eye of the Audi Sport Australia team run by Brad Jones Racing. He spent 1995 and 1996 driving works Audi Quattro A4s for the team in addition to driving with Craig Lowndes for the Holden Racing Team in the Sandown and Bathurst endurance events.

Murphy teamed with Lowndes to win the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 in 1996 before taking over the Mobil Commodore to win a two-round series at Pukekohe and Wellington in New Zealand.

He made the move to V8s full-time in 1997, replacing Lowndes at HRT. A fast car gave Murphy a few round wins but mechanical unreliability stopped his championship charge. That said he won three rounds and was only outside the top 10 on one occasion.

Lowndes' return to V8's in 1998 forced Murphy to drive solely in the enduros, although he was entrusted to make the VT Commodore's debut at Calder that season where he placed 11th.

Moving to Gibson Motorsport for 1999 and 2000, Murphy teamed with Steven Richards to win Bathurst in 1999 and was third at the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000 in 2000.

In 2001 Kmart moved to back its own team and Murphy became its foundation driver. Competing for the squad until the end of 2004, Murph won Bathurst twice, in 2003 and 2004.

It is his 2003 win that stands out the most for media and race fans alike. Murph drove the fastest qualifying lap time ever when his 2.06.8594 put him on pole. The entire pit lane applauded the achievement that has goes down as one of the sports most memorable moments.

During the Kmart years Murphy was on the podium 24 times, winning six rounds, was in the top five on 37 occasions, and was inside the top 10 in 48 of the 65 rounds staged. An impressive record.

With the demise of the Kmart team, Murphy moved to Super Cheap Auto Racing. After several successful years with Kmart many wondered if the success would continue. Murphy qualified in the top five in his first race and then won his native NZ round at Pukekohe for an unprecedented fifth time.

In the five years that V8 racing had returned to Pukekohe he'd won it four times and was never off the podium. Combined with his first and second place at Pukekohe and Wellington in 1996, it is easy to see why he is so loved in New Zealand.

With a strong VZ Holden to steer, Murphy finished the 2005 season with four podium visits, another top five result and seven top 10 appearances. Had other results gone his way many suggested that he could have won the ‘elusive' V8 championship that year.

The 2006 season started with much hype for Murphy. Eager to make up for the disappointment of the previous year Murphy went to Clipsal full of confidence. History will show that he left Adelaide with a wrecked Holden, which prevented him from driving at the AGP, and then suffered another accident at Pukekohe. For the first time in his career he would not be on the Pukekohe podium. From there the team never recovered. While Murph had six top 10 race results he was only in the top 10 for the round twice with a best result of seventh at Bahrain.

At the end of the 2006 season, Murphy decided to move across to Tasman Motorsport. As a stakeholder in the team, he decided to invest his time developing the team that will perhaps one day become his own.

For a small team Tasman worked tirelessly to have two new VE Commodores on the starting grid at Clipsal in 2007. Outside of HRT it was the only Holden team to achieve this.

With little testing time available Murphy went to Adelaide unsure of what to expect. He exceeded all expectation when he finished the first leg in seventh position. Impressively, of the 11 races he's finished at Clipsal, Murphy has only finished outside the top 10 once.

Looking back at the 2007 season, Murphy would describe it as "unspectacularly consistent." Rather than consistently in the top 10, Murphy hovered in and around the top 15. For a driver so ‘driven' to succeed, this was difficult to accept.

The highlight last year was fourth place and the first Holden home at Bathurst. Driving the last stint in treacherous conditions the #51 Holden was only 1.3 seconds behind the race winner as the chequred flag was waved. He followed this up with sixth at Indy, missing out on his 35th career V8 podium when he didn't see his pit bay during a busy safety car period in the third race. This forced him to pit again for his compulsory stop, dropping him down the grid.

The 2008 season will be a defining one for Greg Murphy. Some say he might be past his best, but the feisty Kiwi still has a lot to prove. With a new VE Holden on its way Murphy hopes to push a few of the front runners, with the pointy end of the top 10 firmly within his sight.