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Greg Murphy believes his Repco Bathurst 1000 comeback won’t feel real until he hops in the #51 Erebus Motorsport Supercar for the first time.
The Boost Mobile-backed wildcard, also featuring Richie Stanaway, has today been confirmed for the 2022 Great Race on October 6-9.
While Murphy has kept his eye in with sporadic racing outings back in New Zealand, he has not steered a Supercar since 2019 at The Bend, where he made a cameo appearance in an additional driver session for the Shell V-Power Racing Team.
Stanaway likewise last appeared in the championship in 2019, retiring immediately after the Newcastle season finale following troubled single-season stints at Tickford Racing and Garry Rogers Motorsport.
The pair will have three test days at Winton Motor Raceway to help refamiliarise themselves, on June 7, August 16, and September 27.
“I just want to get in the car. Until I actually get in the car and get a vibe and a feel and sort of see where it’s at and see what the car is like, it still sort of feels like it’s not quite real,” Murphy told Speedcafe.com.
“So that will be a big part of it, and hopefully it will be able to take the weight off a little bit because I’m still a bit anxious about getting behind the wheel of the car and making sure it’s not too foreign or too far away.
“I just really don’t know where that’s at.
“Without doubt, we need to get all three of them in. It’s just critical to spend as much time as possible in the car.”
Stanaway has been making full use of his simulator to get his head around driving a Supercar, but can’t wait for the real deal.
“I’m looking forward to driving the Erebus car more than anything, just seeing how they operate,” said the 30-year-old.
“It’s always exciting, the prospect of driving with a new team, just getting a feel for it, and obviously driving with Greg is going to be great as well.
“It’s exciting to get back in a car and of all places at the biggest race of the year.
“It’s a massive privilege really to come back and do that race, so I’m going to make sure I’m well prepared and doing a lot of training and spending a lot of time on the simulator to make sure I can make up for the fact that I haven’t obviously been around for a few years.”
Murphy and Stanaway are the first wildcard to be announced for the 2022 Bathurst 1000, although Triple Eight Race Engineering is expected to field a third car again.
Erebus has retained unchanged line-ups for its regular two ZB Commodores, with Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki to be partnered by Jack Perkins and David Russell, respectively.
