That’s according to Speedcafe readers who voted in a recent poll looking at the biggest rivalries of the modern era that began in 1997.
Ambrose versus Murphy narrowly defeated the Mark Skaife versus Russell Ingall feud by just a handful of the total 3000 votes cast.
Scott McLaughlin versus Shane van Gisbergen, Mark Skaife versus Ambrose and Jamie Whincup versus Mark Winterbottom completed the top five.
The two most popular rivalries won a combined 60 percent of the vote.
They peaked at the height of the championship in the early to mid-2000s and featured standout on-track flashpoints.
For Ambrose and Murphy that was a clash and subsequent confrontation at The Cutting in the closing stages of the 2005 Bathurst 1000.
Their rivalry was fiery but brief as Ambrose only raced in the championship for five seasons before departing for the United States.
Ambrose won the championship in 2003 and ’04 while Murphy took the Bathurst 1000 honours on both occasions alongside Rick Kelly.
Their 2005 Bathurst beef occurred almost 12 months after a memorable confrontation in a press conference at the Gold Coast Indy event.
Ambrose had been incensed by Murphy’s teammate Rick Kelly driving right up behind him in the Saturday race despite being a lap down after a penalty.
The Ford star lamented that drivers were “getting in my way” while he was fighting for the title, to which Murphy tersely countered: “We’re not just going to pull over for you.”
It’s an encounter that lives on via YouTube, below, and sums up the intensity of the animosity between the pair at the time.
The duo mused on their rivalry during a promotion for Repco ahead of last year’s Bathurst 1000 that marked the 20 year anniversary of the 2005 race.
“It was purely born because of competition and the want to win and the want to be the best,” said Murphy.
“I know Marcos was just the same as me in that respect. We’re different personalities and so we came across, we reacted, we did things differently.
“But the desire was the same. The want was the same.”
Both see their rivalry as a product of an era in which the Ford versus Holden rivalry – and the category in general – was at its biggest.
“All sports need heroes and villains,” said Ambrose.
“I think I was probably both. To some, I was a hero, to some I was certainly a villain.
“The rivalry we had back in the day, I think people look back at Supercars and that period from sort of 2000 to 2006-7-ish, it was really the height of the rivalries in the sport.
“There was a lot on the line at the time, the crowds were massive and Ford and Holden were really going at it, there was a lot of money being spent to try to win on race day.
“You look back at your career and you’re just proud that you actually were part of that scene.”
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