Four-time Bathurst champion Greg Murphy admits he is feeling more anxious about this year’s Bathurst 1000 than any of his previous 23 attempts around Mount Panorama, as the long-retired returns to the track for the first time in eight years.
The 50-year-old legend will pair fellow New Zealander Richie Stanaway (who retired in 2019) in a wildcard entry backed by Boost Mobile, a comeback bid that was first planned for 2021 but delayed due to Covid-19.
Murphy retired from full-time driving in 2012, and has not raced in Supercars since 2014, when he featured as a co-driver.
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And he admits there’s plenty of nerves over the prospect of taking on the Mountain once again.
Asked if he felt the same nerves as his previous battles at Bathurst, he told Fox Sports: “Yeah but just heightened in a big way. The familiarity of it is a lot less than when you were doing it ever year and driving a car frequently … When you’re not spending that time driving a car as often as we used to it doesn’t come so easily.
“There’s definitely a fair bit more anxiousness at the moment than what I had.”
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But Murphy said the cancellation of his 2021 attempt was a blessing in disguise, as he now is much better prepared.
“It’s definitely helped, having that extra time. When we did announce it and I started to get my act together and get back to the gym and try to actually think about getting into a race car again, the timeline was actually very short on what the original plan was.
“It got thrown out pretty early. I was pretty confident it wasn’t going to happen.
“I was sort of not sure I wanted it to be resurrected for 2022. Then once we had a chat about it and it was (resurrected) I actually started to fall into line with believing this was actually better than it would have been (in 2021). Without doubt.”
The owner of the iconic ‘Lap of the Gods’ around Bathurst says three testing outings in the ZB Commodore, most recently at Winton last week, helped him to understand the new generation of Supercars that are ‘so different’ to his era.
“We’ve managed to get the testing done that we needed to. That’s been so important. Once I got into the car for the first time and had it become reality, that was such a significant part of it.
“Before that, I just didn’t know what to think. Trying to understand and get used to the new car and then actually put it into action, what everyone’s been telling me about what these cars are like to drive. They’re so different!
“I’ve got a massive gap of not understanding and not seeing the development and evolution of a Supercar. It’s a big change for me to get used to. But it’s making progress and I’m now really looking forward to doing some laps around the mountain.”
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He’s not the only veteran to watch out for this year. 48-year-old Craig Lowndes will line up for his record-extending 300th Supercars round this weekend, chasing an eighth Bathurst 1000 win.
It will be his 29th start in the Great Race, with youngster Declan Fraser the other half of their Triple Eight wildcard pairing. After three years as a co-driver for Jamie Whincup, Lowndes is back as lead driver.
He told Fox Sports: “Declan‘s actually just been working really well, and I’ve been a part of his test days in Super2 as well. Our fit in the car, the ergonomics, is working really well and that’s something that is really important.
“To share a garage with Murph again after so many years, it’s going to be almost Kiwis against Aussies from one side of the garage to another. It’s going to be fun!”
Murphy chimed in, saying: “Absolutely!”
Lowndes added: “It’s a place, I heard Garth (Tander) talk about trying to get that magic lap, it’s one of those places that keeps attracting drivers back. It’s so hard to win but so easy to lose. It really is a circuit I’ve always loved and been part of.”
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