Murph Gives Hamilton Changes the Thumbs Up

“Steve Vuleta and his team staged a world class event last year,” Greg Murphy said.

“It’s a massive undertaking building a street racing circuit, I am proud of the event and of what they achieved.

"They’ve not held back in making changes to improve the event for the drivers and the fans.

“Maybe it helped that Steve did a hot lap with us last year so he knows first hand what the drivers had to contend with.

“They’ve removed the bump on turn three, the walls have been moved on turns four, six and eight and the High Street and the King Street Chicanes have been adjusted. This has created a very fast flowing circuit that will look after the cars better.”

The biggest change to the weekend is the addition of a separate qualifier to determine the grid of the Sunday race.

“It was ridiculous to have one qualifying session determine the starting position for both races,” Murphy said.

“If each race has its own podium then each race needed its own qualifying session, or you start the second race from where you finished the first race. Fortunately sanity prevailed and we have a Sunday qualifier. 

“They (V8 Supercars) needed to make this change.

“It’ll be the most action packed session of the weekend. Thirty cars on track at the same time for twenty minutes is going to be big. You’ll have to bring your A game that’s for sure. You’re not going to get many laps done in twenty minutes; time is against you.

“It’ll be great for the fans though, won’t it?”

There is no bigger round than the Hamilton 400 for Greg Murphy.

“Sometimes it feels like I still live in New Zealand, I spend so much time over here, but it’s always special when I get the opportunity to race in front of a home crowd,” Murphy said.

“For me the week leading into the event is full on. I do a lot of media and a lot more sponsor appearances. 

“Although I’m based in Australia it means a lot to me to promote New Zealand Motorsport and the Hamilton 400. 

“It’s always great to see how much interest there is in the V8’s in New Zealand.”

Murphy believes he’ll be competitive this weekend. 

“I obviously had a bit of success at Pukekohe but that was a few years ago now. I desperately want to have a good run at Hamilton,” Murphy said.

“Last year we didn’t go so well so I’m hoping to do a lot better this weekend.

“In ’08 we had the pace out of the truck, but the Chicane did its damage to the car and ruined what could have been a good result for us.

“We’ve developed the cars a lot since even the start of the season so we think we’ll be up there.”

The V8 Supercars hit the track on Friday at 12.25pm (NZ time).