Sprint Gas Racing drivers Greg Murphy and Jason Richards might have claimed an unexpected second place in the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, but remained far from completely happy after feeling that they had been robbed of victory in the early stages of the race..
Murphy was hit by Craig Lowndes' Triple Eight Ford approaching turn two on the opening lap, sustaining steering arm damage that would plague the #3 Holden for the rest of the 161-lap event. Having got so close to the Lowndes/Whincup car by the end - albeit aided by several safety car periods - the Tasman team believes that the impact ultimately cost it a win.
“We were so competitive all weekend and we knew we could win it, so to be hit before the second corner cost us the race,” Murphy fumed, “Second is good, but first place was taken away from us by Triple Eight. They forced us to make an unscheduled stop early on, and then there was a very real fear that we'd have to strop again to fix the damage. We were lucky we could drive through it. I can't believe he didn't get a penalty.”
Despite the steering problem, and struggling with an over-heating engine in the closing stages, Murphy and Richards never gave up, pushing and passing FPR's Steven Richards before attempting to hunt down Lowndes on the final sprint to the flag.
“Watching those last 15 laps was breathtaking,” Richards admitted, “We were in third, and I would have been happy with that, but 'Murph' fought so hard to get past Steven. When he did it, a big cheer went up in the garage, but then he tried to mow down Lowndes. If we didn't have engine problems and we had a few more laps, he might have done it. Who knows?
