Home town hero Greg Murphy says that victory at the Hamilton street circuit this weekend is a realistic proposition.
The 37-year-old Castrol Edge Racing driver has not won a V8 Supercars race since 2005 – ironically, at the New Zealand V8 round at Pukekohe, driving for PWR Racing.
At that stage of his career, it was his fourth win from five years at the old V8 NZ venue.
Since then, ‘Murph’ has been trapped in equipment that hasn’t been capable of replicating the form that has made him one of New Zealand (and Australia’s) household names.
Now, with a Triple Eight-designed chassis at his disposal, the #51 driver says that a podium, or even victory, is a big possibility.
“We’re aiming for the podium, we’re aiming for the win – it will be hard to do, but it’s realistic,” he said.
“It’s hard to believe it has been five years since I last won a V8 race, 2005 is a bloody long time ago – it’s hard to comprehend a big gap between winning races.
“Winning in front of a New Zealand crowd was one of the best things that ever happened to me in my V8 Supercar career and I couldn’t hope for any more than that again – it would just be unbelievable.”
The Castrol-backed driver is adamant that this is the best opportunity to right the wrongs that have plagued him in past years.
“This is the most competitive package I’ve had in years by a long stretch and I’m very, very happy,” he said.
“The past four years we’ve had question marks on the cars and I never managed to get them to where they needed to be to get to the front of the field.
“With my new Castrol EDGE Commodore and the support of the PMM team I don’t have to worry about the equipment, which means the focus is on me just doing my job properly and completing the task.
“I can’t blame the vehicle for not being up to scratch and I feel that I’m in a pretty good position – so I’m very comfortable and relaxed about this weekend.”
The V8 Supercars hit the Hamilton track this Friday for practice followed by qualifying and racing on both Saturday and Sunday.
