Murphy and Mike Pero Racing Clean Sweep Opening NZ SuperTourer Encounter

Although he struggled with car setup throughout Friday and Saturday practice, Murphy was immediately on the pace in qualifying, thanks to some overnight adjustments based on feedback from his team mates, Richard Moore and Paul Manuell.
 
“It was really a full-on team effort to improve the car,” Murphy said. “We tried a combination of changes on all the cars and applied settings that worked.”
 
Murphy qualified second, just 0.126 of a second slower than Ant Pedersen.
 
“Pedersen did an amazing lap, but after our practice struggles I was shocked to be on the front row,” Murphy said.
 
Race 1 was marred by a nasty start line crash, which caused a red flag interruption and eliminated several cars on the spot. While Murphy was ahead of the mayhem, he was still sorry to see his rivals suffering damage.
 
“Fortunately I stayed out of trouble, but it was still very disappointing to see people damaging their cars at the start of the season,” Murphy said.
 
“At the restart, I had a good dice with Pedersen, managed to pass him and then drove away at the end.”
 
Race 2 was more challenging for the four-time Bathurst 1000 leader. He was overtaken in the early stages by Pedersen, and then had to contend with a mechanical problem.
 
“We were battling hard, but then the right-front hub started coming apart and it affected my braking performance,” Murphy said.
 
“Ant established a margin and I thought it was going to be difficult to catch him, but he made a couple of mistakes and I caught up. Fortunately, I took the lead with three laps to go and scored another win.”
 
Murphy started on pole for the 30 lap feature race. After an early Safety Car, he came under pressure from a hard-charging Shane Van Gisbergen.
 
“Van Gisbergen caught me, and I had to defend,” Murphy said. “His tyres went off and I pulled away, but I had to concentrate towards the end because there was oil on the track.
 
“Even though we won all three races this weekend, it wasn’t as easy as it looked and the team put in a fine effort to transform the Mike Pero Racing Commodore into such a competitive package.
 
“I was pleased to put on a show for my new and existing sponsors who were trackside.”
 
The next round of the BNT V8 SuperTourers is at Christchurch’s Powerbuilt Raceway, 9-10 March.
 
Round Results Summary
 
Race 1 – 15 laps
1. Greg Murphy – Holden Commodore VE Series II
2. Ant Pedersen – Ford Falcon FG
3. Richard Moore – Holden Commodore VE Series II
4. Paul Manuell – Holden Commodore VE Series II
5. Tim Edgell – Holden Commodore VE Series II
6. Simon Evans – Holden Commodore VE Series II
7. Andre Heimgartner – Holden Commodore VE Series II
8. Simon McLennan – Holden Commodore VE Series II
9. Shane van Gisbergen – Ford Falcon FG
10. Mitchell Cunningham – Ford Falcon FG
 
Race 2 – 20 laps
1. Greg Murphy – Holden Commodore VE Series II
2. Ant Pedersen – Ford Falcon FG
3. Richard Moore – Holden Commodore VE Series II
4. Shane van Gisbergen                Ford Falcon FG
5. John McIntyre – Ford Falcon FG
6. Paul Manuell – Holden Commodore VE Series II
7. Dan Gaunt – Ford Falcon FG
8. Ash Walsh – Holden Commodore VE Series II
9. Andy Booth – Holden Commodore VE Series II
10. Dominic Storey – Ford Falcon FG
 
Race 3 – 30 laps
1. Greg Murphy – Holden Commodore VE Series II
2. Shane van Gisbergen – Ford Falcon FG
3. John McIntyre – Ford Falcon FG
4. Craig Baird – Ford Falcon FG
5. Ashley Walsh – Holden Commodore VE Series II
6. Ant Pedersen – Ford Falcon FG
7. Richard Moore – Holden Commodore VE Series II
8. Eddie Bell – Ford Falcon FG
9. Andy Booth – Holden Commodore VE Series II
10. Paul Manuell – Holden Commodore VE Series II
 
BNT V8 SuperTourers Series Points – After Round 1 of 7
1. Greg Murphy – 763
2. Ant Pedersen – 566
3. Richard Moore – 493
4. Shane Van Gisbergen – 466
5. John McIntyre – 417
6. Paul Manuell – 386
7. Daniel Gaunt – 305
8. Ashley Walsh – 298
9. Tim Edgell – 279
10. Andre Heimgartner – 264

Photo credit: Euan Cameron Photography