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.
