Greg Murphy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Greg Murphy | |
|---|---|
 Murphy at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix. |
|
| V8 Supercar Record | |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Car # | 51 |
| Current team | Supercheap Auto Racing |
| Series Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 11 |
| Podium finishes | 33 |
| Pole positions | 12 |
| 2006 Championship position | |
| edit | |
Greg Murphy (23 August 1972) is a New Zealand racing driver. Born in Hastings he become involved in motor sports by the age of eight. He progressed through karts to saloons and single-seaters before moving to Australia.
Murphy first competed at the famous Bathurst circuit in 1994 and impressed many team owners. The following two years he drove for the Holden Racing Team (HRT) in the endurance events, winning the Bathurst 1000 with Craig Lowndes in 1996. He drove for the HRT full time in 1997 and almost won the championship, but due to Craig Lowndes' return from overseas, only drove for the team in the endurance races in 1998.
In 1999, he joined Wynns Racing and paired with Steven Richards to win the Bathurst 1000. In the 2001 V8 Supercar season, Murphy joined the newly-formed Kmart Racing team and had two Bathurst 1000 wins with team mate Rick Kelly, in 2003 and 2004. Murphy had two championship runner-ups while at Kmart Racing, in 2002 and 2003. In 2001 and 2004 he finished fourth in the championship.
He is one of the best known V8 Supercar drivers (car No 51 since 2001) and has proved almost unbeatable at his home circuit at Pukekohe, Auckland winning four rounds (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005). At the Mt Panorama circuit at Bathurst, Murphy has the second best record for a Kiwi with four wins, compared to Jim Richards' seven. Murphy was involved in a collision with Marcos Ambrose in the 2005 event, ending his chance of recording three successive Bathurst wins. Murphy drives for Supercheap Auto Racing as of the 2006 season but is believed to be moving to a new team next year due to Supercheap Auto Racing's performance being quite low.
[edit] Notable career events
- 1994 - 2nd place in the Australian Formula Brabham Championship
- 1995 - New Zealand Formula Holden series
- 1996 - Won Bathurst 1000 and Sandown 500 with Craig Lowndes
- 1997 - First full season in the Australian Touring Car Championship (now known as V8 Supercar Championship) - 4th overall in championship
- 1998 - Sat out most of the V8 Championship while testing for Tasman Indy Lights team
- 1999 - Won Bathurst 1000 with Steven Richards, 6th overall in championship
- 2000 - Finished 3rd at Bathurst with Steven Richards, 6th overall in championship
- 2001 - Finished 3rd at Bathurst with Todd Kelly
- 2002 - Was given the biggest penalty (5 minutes) in V8 racing history because of a pitlane infringement by his team
- 2002-03 - Finished second overall in V8 Supercars series
- 2003 - Set the quickest lap ever on the 6.213 km Mount Panorama Circuit, with a time of 2:06.8594
- 2003 - Won Bathurst 1000 with Rick Kelly
- 2003 - Won Bathurst 24 Hour With Peter Brock,Todd Kelly and Jason Bright
- 2004 - Won Bathurst 1000 again with Rick Kelly
- 2005 - Fought with Marcos Ambrose at Bathurst after a large crash. Both failed to finish
- 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 - Wins his home race at Pukekohe
[edit] Teams
Murphy has been in several teams while competing in the V8 Supercar series.
- 1995 - Holden Racing Team (endurance races only)
- 1996 - Holden Racing Team (endurance races only)
- 1997 - Holden Racing Team
- 1998 - Holden Racing Team (endurance races only)
- 1999 - Gibson Motorsport
- 2000 - Gibson Motorsport
- 2001 - Kmart Racing
- 2002 - Kmart Racing
- 2003 - Kmart Racing
- 2004 - Kmart Racing
- 2005 - Supercheap Auto Racing
- 2006 - Supercheap Auto Racing
[edit] External links
| Teams contesting the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series | |||||||||
| Stone Brothers Racing | Holden Racing Team | Tasman Motorsport | Ford Performance Racing | Jack Daniel's Racing | WPS Racing | ||||
| 1 Russell Ingall 4 James Courtney |
2 Mark Skaife 22 Todd Kelly |
3 Jason Richards 23 Andrew Jones |
5 Mark Winterbottom 6 Jason Bright |
7 Steven Richards 11 Paul Dumbrell |
8 Max Wilson 10 Jason Bargwanna |
||||
| Team BOC | Toll HSV Dealer Team | Dick Johnson Racing | Paul Cruickshank Racing | Fujitsu Racing | Garry Rogers Motorsport | ||||
| 12 John Bowe 14 Brad Jones |
15 Rick Kelly 16 Garth Tander |
17 Steven Johnson 18 Will Davison |
20 Marcus Marshall | 25 Warren Luff 26 Jose Fernandez |
33 Lee Holdsworth 34 Dean Canto |
||||
| Team Sirromet Wines | Supercheap Auto Racing | Autobarn Racing | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Team Kiwi Racing | |||||
| 39 Alan Gurr 39 Fabian Coulthard 67 Paul Morris |
50 Cameron McConville 51 Greg Murphy |
55 Steve Owen | 88 Jamie Whincup 888 Craig Lowndes |
021 Paul Radisich | |||||
