Murphy to cut laps in Additional Driver Practice

Greg Murphy will be behind the wheel of one of Brad Jones Racing’s ZB Commodores in this morning’s Additional Drivers Practice at Symmons Plains.

Murphy is a late addition to the field in the #21 CoolDrive car primarily driven by Macauley Jones, with the owner of the REC for that entry, Tim Blanchard, to drive Nick Percat’s #8 car.

Ash Walsh, who is expected to again line up for BJR in the Pirtek Enduro Cup, will be in the seat in Tim Slade’s #14 car.

Murphy’s drive evokes memories of the mid-nineties when he drove for BJR in its guise as the factory-backed Audi team in Super Tourers.

“It’s quite ironic, really, but funny and I just said to Brad, the last time I drove for him was 1996 and we probably didn’t have the best relationship,” quipped the Kiwi to Speedcafe.com.

“I was the young bloke on a charge and supposed to be playing number two and doing what I was told and probably didn’t do a very good job of that, to be honest.

“We just had a bit of a laugh about that, I asked where the contract was, and how thick it was as well.”

Despite Murphy’s long career and status as a four-time Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winner, his role will be solely to provide information to television viewers in conjunction with his position as a pit reporter.

“My role in this session today is very different to everybody else’s role,” Murphy, who has driven for various teams in past Additional Drivers sessions, explained.

“We were just looking at the list and it’s a hell of a list of co-drivers. There are a bunch of these guys who are just fresh out of the car, they’re just going to fall straight back into it very quickly and contribute at a high level.

“I think I’m a bit too far away (to help rookie Macauley Jones), I already think I’m a bit too removed from it to be too helpful, to be honest.

“They’ve got a couple of changes planned but they’re realistic about it, as am I, and my role is for TV, not for any other purpose.”

The session is the first Virgin Australia Supercars Championship on-track action at the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint, starting at 1030 local time/AEDT.

CLICK HERE for the rest of the entry list.