Murphy Confident of V8 Season to Come

The results did not eventuate for Murphy and the Castrol team, leaving the Clipsal 500 with two DNFs (did not finish) from the event’s two 250km legs.

But it was what happened with the #51 Castrol EDGE Commodore before the issues that has left the four time Bathurst Champion confident – after qualifying 12th, Murphy effectively running in fourth position in Saturday’s first race before a rare mechanical failure (traced to a failed fuel injector) ended his run.

The big change came from Friday’s practice through to Saturday’s first race where Murphy adjusted his driving style to suit his new car, which had only turned 20 laps prior in a shakedown at Queensland Raceway on the previous Monday.

“We had a very disappointing weekend, but I’m very, very positive about what’s ahead for us,” Murphy said.

“We struggled with the car on Friday and I was a little worried that I couldn’t get it to do what I wanted it to, but after a lot of analysing of the data and getting my head around the way the car needs to be driven, I was really pleased that we made a big step forward.

“We race to be competitive, so being able to pass a lot of cars Saturday and show good car speed was satisfying – that’s what I like to do.”

Murphy again qualified 12th for Sunday’s final 78 lap race, but a rare driving error saw the Castrol Commodore scrape the concrete wall at turn 3 on just the second lap, a broken Watts linkage ending his race.

“You can’t put a shiny spin on that, it was a driver failure and I didn’t do myjob properly and I feel pretty average about that,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of support from good people and companies, and we didn’t do the job on the weekend, but everyone was trying their best and that’s most important.

“There’s a job to do and it’s fair to say we didn’t meet our end of the bargain on the weekend, but we can do it and I’m encouraged by that.”

The Toll Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander won the event, taking out both races while extending Holden’s 2010 winning streak to six straight races.

Murphy said the team was now targeting the non-championship Australian Grand Prix event in Melbourne next week as the venue at which it will kick start its 2010 season.

“The Grand Prix is very important for us to get a result and it would be great if we could do that so when we get to Hamilton we’ve got a good run going,” Murphy said.

“The GP is very important for us to showcase our abilities, there’s no holding back.”

The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix is being held in Melbourne on 26-28 March, with the ITM 400, the fourth round of the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship in Hamilton, New Zealand, following on 16-18 April.