Kiwi driver Greg Murphy rewarded the crowd by total dominating the event in his Kmart Commodore. Murph was fastest in qualifying, took top spot in the top ten shootout and then proceeded to win all three races. It was a special moment when Murph parked his car on the main straight and climbed onto the bonnet and gave a victory salute to the crowd in the grandstands; they responded with a huge roar.
It was no easy win for Murphy after Mark Skaife wrapped up the Shell Championship in race one and, with nothing to lose, was in all out attack mode for Sunday's two races.
Murphy said after the last race, "The crowd, well, it felt like they were picking me up and carrying me that little bit quicker each lap. The support was just fantastic."
There was a small scare for Murph when Mark Larkham was announced as the official race one winner. The race ended prematurely under the red flag when rain drenched the circuit. Some drivers tried to make it to the end on their hot slicks and failed, usually ending up in dangerous positions. Mark Larkham inherited the lead when the other front runners pitted for wets and gambled on making it, ultimately without success. Murphy passed the stricken Larkham Falcon and crossed the line as leader to complete the lap before the red flag came out; a point initially missed by the stewards. They went back to the previous lap and declared the leader of that lap, Larkham the winner. The Kmart team lodged a successful protest, restoring Murph's perfect record.
I don't know if they had a chook raffle or something similar but Murph would have won
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