Greg Murphy has finally shaken off a 20-year-hoodoo during practice for the Bathurst 1000.
In the day’s second practice session, Murphy clocked a 2:05.87 to go a fraction under a second quicker than his Lap of the Gods time set during the 2003 top-ten shootout.
After the session, Murphy said he was “actually pretty pumped”.
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“Thank the Gods for that,” he said.
“That’s the fastest I’ve ever been around here … I did a (2:06.2) the run before and that was the fastest I’d ever been around here, so to get down to the fives … wow,” he said.
Murphy returns to the drivers seat this weekend a year later than planned after the pandemic stymied Boost Mobile boss Peter Adderton’s attempts to get them on the grid for last year’s Great Race.
It’s Murphy’s first Bathurst since 2014.
“A lot of the guys these guys have been telling me about how these cars are here … the cars are phenomenal,” he added.
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“I’ve been adjusting the brain to do things a little bit different – the muscle memory is in 2014 in some respects.”
Murphy said more speed would come the more confident he gets in the car. He said he was losing time under brakes and mid-corner as he gets used to the new car.
His teammate Richie Stanaway grew up watching Murphy race during his heyday.
Himself an accomplished driver – he won races in GP2 – a step below Formula 1, Stanaway told Wide World of Sports driving with Murphy was a “pinch yourself moment”.
“If I could go back and tell myself as a 10-year-old kid I’d be here now, racing with Greg, I wouldn’t have believed you,” he said.
After not racing since the end of the 2019 season, Stanaway had just a handful of test days – the last one at Winton a week ago – to get his head back around a Supercar.
While that was all he needed to feel confident, being competitive against drivers who do it full-time is another thing.
“I’m excited – it’s been a while so I don’t really know what to expect,” he said.
“The hardest thing is always just performing when it matters, which will be obviously over the next few days.
“Testing is one thing but it’s especially hard racing guys that do this full time.”
Stanaway and Murphy have two more practice sessions on Friday before qualifying on Friday evening.
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