by Matthew Agius

Super Cheap Auto Racing's Greg Murphy has continued his brilliant form at the Surfers Paradise street circuit by winning the opening race for the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge on the Gold Coast.

The defending victor from the corresponding round from 2004, Murphy cruised to an almost effortless victory on the daunting concrete clad street circuit. After being heavily criticised for his part in a late-race altercation with Ford rival Marcos Ambrose at Bathurst, Murphy answered his knockers by leading the first of three V8 Supercar sprints this weekend, from start to finish.

However the race was perhaps the most pivotal leading up to the conclusion of the 2005 championship, with Russell Ingall being the only driver in the top four to secure a credible finish. Starting from seventh on the grid, the Caltex Racing driver steadily moved his way to fourth over the course of the race, and avoided the traditional opening lap carnage to bag a solid sixty points to add to his championship total. In addition to the solid run from Ingall, the championship leader benefited from title rivals – team-mate Marcos Ambrose and Holden's Todd Kelly – both failing to finish the race. Kelly bailed out early with an oil line issue, as did Ambrose with a clutch problem.

Team Betta Electrical's Craig Lowndes finished second in the opening race – grabbing the second step on the podium from former team-mate and sparring partner Mark Skaife, when the latter overshot the first chicane and conceded second place.

For the recently crowned Bathurst champion, Skaife continued his consistent run throughout the recent rounds of the championship by comfortably finishing third, ahead of Ingall.

Cameron McConville was blistering in the Repco Valvoline Cummins Team Commodore. Ultra-fit McConville was unlucky to not finish fourth – his pace onboard the Garry Rogers Motorsport prepared Holden was unquestionable – setting the fastest lap of the race, yet was unable to pass Russell Ingall's Caltex Falcon.

Jason Richards was sixth in the Dodo Racing Commodore. After setting quick and competitive times in qualifying, Richards was unlucky in the shootout to not qualify higher. He set a number of hotlaps during the race which saw him elevate himself further up the order for a better starting position for Sunday.

Steven Ellery finished seventh in the second Team Betta Electrical Falcon. Ellery will depart the Queensland based team at season's end, so will take any opportunity to prove his talent and worth in competitive equipment this weekend. He led home big mover Jason Bright. The Caterpillar Falcon driver rose from twelfth to eighth after thirty-one laps and stabilised his top ten position in the championship.

Both the HSV Dealer Team Commodores of Rick Kelly and Garth Tander rounded out the top ten finishers – ahead of the WPS Racing Falcons of Craig Baird and David Besnard, both of which secured their best solo-finishes for the 2005 championship thus far.