The Holden Racing Team’s Greg Murphy edged out Red Bull’s Steven Richards to the quickest time in the co-driver only second practice session at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

The Holden rivals traded blows in the dying seconds of the 45 minute hit-out after moving to their second set of practice tyres.

A 2:08.9s effort put Murphy atop the order seconds before the chequered flag flew, but was quickly eclipsed by a 2:08.8s from Richards.

The HRT star responded by lowering the benchmark by a further 0.3s to end up a full two seconds clear of the best time from the corresponding session last year.

Murphy said post-session that all teams are having to chase the track’s increasing grip level as more rubber goes down.

“It was hairy to start this morning for James (Courtney) and I think for everyone because the track is very green,” said Murphy.

“It hasn’t got the grip yet that I think it’s going to get, but we’ve worked away at the car, stuck to our plan and improved it.

“The track has probably made the front work a bit better, which has hurt the rear,” he added of the oversteer-trend noted by many drivers today.

“I think that the track will come in by the feel of it. It just feels green with the shudder feeling it has on the road.”

The performance marked a mixed outing for the HRT as its other co-driver, Warren Luff, was garage-bound for much of the session due to a mechanical problem.

“We had a driveline issue so we had to stop and diagnose what it was,” said Luff.

“The guys fixed what they thought it was but something else wasn’t right so we missed out on a lot of miles, but that’s Bathurst.”

Brad Jones Racing’s Luke Youlden completed a Holden top three sweep ahead of Dean Canto, Tim Blanchard and Steve Owen.

The David Wall/Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing and Jack Perkins/Cameron Waters Falcons both missed Practice 2 after their accidents during the morning.

The Robert Dahlgren/Greg Ritter Volvo meanwhile did not appear until the final two minutes as it underwent an unscheduled engine change.

Practice 2 featured just one red flag, called when Andre Heimgartner spun the Super Black Falcon at McPhillamy with five minutes remaining.

The 19-year-old managed to return the wildcard entry to the pitlane undamaged.

The day’s third and final practice session will get underway from 1510 local time.

Result: V8 Supercars Practice 2, Bathurst

1

Holden Racing Team

Greg Murphy

Holden Commodore VF

02:08.54

2

Red Bull Racing Australia

Steven Richards

Holden Commodore VF

02:08.84

00:00.31

3

Lockwood Racing

Luke Youlden

Holden Commodore VF

02:09.12

00:00.58

4

The Bottle-O Racing Team

Dean Canto

Ford Falcon FG

02:09.15

00:00.62

5

Repair Management Aust Racing

Tim Blanchard

Holden Commodore VF

02:09.20

00:00.67

6

Ford Pepsi Max Crew

Steve Owen

Ford Falcon FG

02:09.24

00:00.70

7

Team Advam/GB

Chris Pither

Holden Commodore VF

02:09.30

00:00.76

8

Valvoline Racing GRM

Alexandre Premat

Volvo S60

02:09.34

00:00.80

9

Norton Hornets

Taz Douglas

Nissan Altima

02:09.43

00:00.90

10

Red Bull Racing Australia

Paul Dumbrell

Holden Commodore VF

02:09.63

00:01.10

11

Jack Daniel's Racing

David Russell

Nissan Altima

02:09.66

00:01.12

12

Wilson Security Racing

Ashley Walsh

Ford Falcon FG

02:09.85

00:01.31

13

Erebus Motorsport V8

Craig Baird

Mercedes E63 AMG

02:10.14

00:01.60

14

Supercheap Auto Racing

Tony D'Alberto

Holden Commodore VF

02:10.15

00:01.61

15

Team Tekno VIP Petfoods

Jonathon Webb

Holden Commodore VF

02:10.49

00:01.96

16

Norton Hornets

Dean Fiore

Nissan Altima

02:10.66

00:02.13

17

Walkinshaw Racing

Oliver Gavin

Holden Commodore VF

02:10.84

00:02.31

18

Jack Daniel's Racing

Alex Buncombe

Nissan Altima

02:10.93

00:02.40

19

Valvoline Racing GRM

Greg Ritter

Volvo S60

02:11.17

00:02.64

20

Erebus Team Beko

Alex Davison

Mercedes E63 AMG

02:11.31

00:02.77

21

Team BOC

Andrew Jones

Holden Commodore VF

02:11.42

00:02.88

22

Ford Pepsi Max Crew

Paul Morris

Ford Falcon FG

02:11.77

00:03.23

23

Super Black Racing

Andre Heimgartner

Ford Falcon FG

02:12.28

00:03.75

24

Holden Racing Team

Warren Luff

Holden Commodore VF

02:12.76

00:04.22