Murphy Joins Ingall - Castrol Edge Team
FOUR-TIME Bathurst 1000 race winner Greg Murphy has refreshed his career by being named driver of the new Castrol Edge car in next year's V8 Supercar Championship.
The car will be run by Queensland-based Paul Morris Motorsports as the partner to the Holden Commodore raced by Russell Ingall under the Supercheap livery.
Murphy announced along with Russell Ingall – nicknamed The Enforcer – as one of the new Castrol Edge V8 drivers for the 2010 Supercar Championship entered by Paul Morris Motorsports.
Both Commodores are being built by PMM on a design by championship-winning Triple Eight Race Engineering which completes the works on the cars before handing them back to PMM.
Although Castrol, and its Edge brand, has had some exposure on the Steven Richards' Falcon in the Ford Performance Racing team in recent years, this new deal will give it a bolder presence on the Greg Murphy No 51car.
Murphy, 37, is a veteran of the sport, having raced in V8s for more than 12 years, and that after racing in the two-litre SuperTouring category.
In his time in V8s he has won the Bathurst 1000 race four times, has been runner-up in the V8 Supercar Championship twice and holds the fastest-lap record at the Bathurst mountain circuit.
He almost won the Bathurst race again this year with Mark Skaife, but was robbed by a safety car intervention; the pair finished fourth.
At the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide Murphy has taken two second places and a third place.
He has just come out of an ordinary year with the Tasman-Sprint Gas team which has disbanded and he fits perfectly Castrol's need for a proven driver.
"I am very lucky to be in this position," Murphy said today at the unveiling in Queensland.
"To be driving a Castrol-backed, Triple Eight-built Holden Commodore for one of V8 Supercars' leading teams, Paul Morris Motorsports, in 2010 in extremely exciting for me."
PMM owner Paul Morris said Castrol had had a long and successful history in Australian motorsport.
"The key to achieving success is having a top-line driver, someone who can get the most out of a car and drag it up to the front - without doubt that's Greg Murphy."
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V8Supercars: TASMAN QUITS V8 RACING
Sprint Gas Racing may have announced its closure but it certainly hasn’t taken its foot of the accelerator taking two top 10 results from the weekend’s racing in Western Australia.
Jason Bargwanna drove a superb race to finish seventh, adding to Greg Murphy’s eighth place in yesterday’s shorter race.
It was one of its best performances this year, showing that the team might be closing its doors but it certainly hasn’t given up on good results.
“We had a good race and the team gave me a good strategy,” Bargwanna said.
“Soft tyres were definitely an advantage, but you needed to use them at the right time.
“We knew that we would get forty-odd laps out of them thanks to Murph’s good run yesterday.
“I was looking good for a top five but the tyres went off in the last few laps of the race.
“There was nothing we could do about this - they’d well and truly done their job.
“I’m just really happy for the team. When a team closes it takes everything you have to keep motivated and the boys have not missed a beat. We have a committed bunch, so thanks to everyone in the team. You’ve done a great job.”
Murphy finished 19th today. He was up with the front runners early but was unable to hold his position.
“I was happy with my qualifying position, eleventh was a good effort, but we always new the race would be tough having used our soft tyres yesterday,” said Murphy.
“We probably did as well as we could have.
“Having only one set of option tyres means you’re going to have one good result over the weekend – and ours was yesterday.
“It was good for the team to come away with a couple of top 10 places though.”
Hampton Downs Motorsport Park
Drivers took to the track at the new Hampton Downs Motorsport Park on the first day of the Dunlop Targa rally yesterday.
The seven-day event started in Auckland and will travel down the North Island to Wellington.
Labour Day saw racing at three tracks, Pukekohe Park Raceway, Hampton Downs and Taupo.
The rally was the first motorsport event at the newly completed track near Mercer.
Hampton Downs will host races as part of Rally NZ next May.
Construction of the 3.8km racing circuit began in February 2007, but was delayed by bad weather last winter.
The circuit runs clockwise and has nine corners, five right-hand and four left-hand.
The main straight is 950m long, with a kink in the middle and a 12m rise and fall.
New Zealand's newest motorsport complex, Hampton Downs is located near the existing Meremere drag strip and oval just south of Auckland.
It has three sealed circuits, pit buildings, industrial units, business park, lifestyle blocks, convention centre, restaurant and trackside apartments.
The goal has been to build an entertainment venue for the promotion of motor racing in New Zealand. The venue is proposed to be the country's premier venue and reflects a modern approach to circuit design and associated amenities.
There will be an emphasis on driver training and a testing facility.
Some privately owned trackside apartments will be available for renting.
Check out the Web site - Hampton Downs
Source: NZ Herald
The Proton Jumbuck ($24,000 NZD) available in New Zealand has being given a dismal safety ratings by independent crash test organisation Ancap (Australasian New Car Assessment Programme).
The two-door Jumbuck was awarded the lowest possible one-star rating after its performance in frontal offset and side impact crash tests.
Ancap scores vehicles from zero to five stars, depending on the safety features and protection of the driver and passengers.
The ute's cabin was severely deformed in the 64km/h offset crash test. It offered poor head protection for the driver and passenger, and poor leg protection for the driver.
It also lacked airbags, ABS, and electronic stability control - a feature that senses skidding and individually brakes the wheels, helping the driver to regain control.
Watch for yourself on You Tube
I wouldn't want to be carting my family around in one... I'd hate to see us go backwards in vehicle safety - and the Proton does that at lightning speed.
Its a cheap and nasty death trap...
Starting in 2011 keep your eyes in the rear-view mirror for this new Australian built GM Caprice police car.
In Denver, Colorado today at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police, General Motors removed the wraps from the 2011 Chevy Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV).
GM displayed the prototype while at the same time confirming plans to build the V-8 and V-6 Caprice that will only be available to police departments and not the general public.
The Caprice is a rebadged Holden Commodore (Statesman) produced in Australia.
The Holden (Chev Caprice) has been part of the New Zealand and Australian Police fleet since about 2007.
Which American Dream machine do you rate as the dream car?
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Mini Coupe ConceptCelebrating Mini’s 50th birthday, two people at a time.
Fifty years ago, the original Mini was shown to the public for the first time, thus beginning the long history of a little car that continues to strike joy in the hearts of many to this day. To celebrate, Mini has built a chopped, two-seat super-Cooper called the Mini Coupe Concept for the Frankfurt auto show.
Full story at
FOUR-TIME Bathurst 1000 race winner Greg Murphy has refreshed his career by being named driver of the new Castrol Edge car in next year's V8 Supercar Championship.
