Gregory Murphy (born 23 August 1972) is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recen ...

. Greg Murphy joined

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...

and

James May James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from ...

presenting

Top Gear Live ''Top Gear'' Live (previously known as the MPH Show) was a supercar motor show. It was held annually at Earls Court beginning in 2003, later expanding to be also held at the Birmingham NEC from 2005 with the two shows being around one week apart. ...

, when it had its first international Live show at ASB Showgrounds in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

from 12 to 15 February 2009, and again when the show returned in 2010.

History

Murphy became involved in

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

s by the age of eight, progressing through

karts Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

saloon cars Saloon may refer to: Buildings and businesses * One of the bars in a traditional British pub * An alternative name for a bar (establishment) * Western saloon, a historical style of American bar * The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...

and

single-seaters An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

before moving to Australia. He first competed at the Bathurst circuit in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. The following two years he drove for

Brad Jones Racing Brad Jones Racing is an Australian motor racing team owned by Brad Jones based in Albury. The team competes in the Supercars Championship and the Super2 Series. Recently they have also returned to Australian Formula Ford where Brad and Kim be ...

in the

Australian Super Touring Championship The Australian Super Touring Championship (formerly known as the Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship) was a CAMS-sanctioned national motor racing title for Super Touring Cars. History Super Touring was introduced into Australia in 1993 ...

and the

Holden Racing Team Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team currently fields two Holden ZB Commodores in the Supercars Championship for Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert, along with a Porsche 91 ...

(HRT) in endurance events, winning the Bathurst 1000 with

Craig Lowndes Craig Andrew Lowndes (born 21 June 1974) is an Australian racing driver in the Repco Supercars Championship competing in the Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is also a TV commentator. Lowndes is a three-time V8 Sup ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. He drove for the HRT full-time in the

1997 Australian Touring Car Championship The 1997 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to 5.0 Litre Touring Cars''Australian Title Conditions'', 1997 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 7–9 to 7–10 complying with Group 3A''Rac ...

and placed fourth. Due to Craig Lowndes' return from overseas, Murphy only drove for the team in the endurance races in 1998. In 1999 and 2000, he finished 6th in points driving for

Gibson Motorsport Gibson Motorsport was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1981 until 2003, though the team had its roots in Gibson's "Road & Track" team which ran a series of Ford Falcon GTHOs in Serie ...

. He paired with Steven Richards to win the

. In the 2001

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

season, Murphy joined the newly formed K-Mart Racing team and had two Bathurst 1000 wins with teammate Rick Kelly, in 2003 and 2004. Murphy had two championship runners-up while at K-Mart Racing, in 2002 and 2003. In 2001 and 2004 he finished fourth in the championship. He is one of the best known V8 Supercar drivers (car No. 51 since 2001) and has won four rounds at his home circuit at

Pukekohe Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is in South Auckland, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. Th ...

, near

(2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005). At the Mount Panorama Circuit at Bathurst, Murphy has the third best record for a

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible berry * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...

with four wins, compared to Jim Richards' seven, and his son Steven Richards' five. Murphy's 2003 pole position of 2:06.8594 at Bathurst stood as the fastest lap ever recorded at

Mount Panorama Circuit Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama (Wahluu) and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race held each October, and the Bathurst 12 Hour ...

until eclipsed seven years later. It is known colloquially as "The Lap of the Gods" and widely regarded as one of the finest moments in Bathurst folklore. In November of

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, Murphy won the

Bathurst 24 Hour The Bathurst 24 Hour was an endurance race for GT and production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales in 2002 and 2003. Only two races were held before the collapse of the management organisation PROCAR. Both ...

race in the

Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the te ...

built, 7.0 litre V8

Holden Monaro 427C The Holden Monaro 427C was an Australian built and designed GT style race car based on the Holden Monaro CV8 road car. The car ran in the Procar Australia-run Australian Nations Cup Championship and at the short-lived Bathurst 24 Hour race a ...

alongside

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, a ...

, Jason Bright and

Todd Kelly Todd Kelly (born 9 October 1979) is a retired Australian professional racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He is the older brother of fellow Supercars driver and former Bathurst 1000 winner, Rick Kelly. H ...

.Mount Panorama – Bathurst 23/11/2003 Bathurst 24hr 2003
National Software. Retrieved 4 April 2008 Murphy qualified the #05 Monaro in second place behind the 2002 race winning Monaro of teammate

Garth Tander Garth Tander (born 31 March 1977) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving the No. 97 Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineer ...

. The two Monaro's led the race throughout with Murphy in the car finishing only 0.3505 in front of Tander after 527 laps of racing. During 2005 and 2006 Murph competed for

Paul Weel Racing Paul Weel Racing was an Australian motor racing team which competed in the V8 Supercars Championship Series between 1998 and 2008. Ford Years After some brief appearances in 1997 in minor events, Paul Weel Racing debuted in the 1998 Australi ...

(PWR) where he initially had good results until changing to the Perkins engines. Since then Murphy has never really had any outstanding performances. Murphy joined Tasman Motorsport in 2007 where his lack of results continued. Murphy joined

Paul Morris Motorsport Paul Morris Motorsport, also known as its business name of Nemo Racing, is an Australian motor racing team that competed in V8 Supercars between 2000 and 2012. The team also won the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 and four Australian Super Touring Cha ...

in 2010 to drive Castrol supported Commodore. While the partnership looked like it was to reignite the "old murph" his performances and a poor car failed to produce results thus the announcement came in November 2010 that the partnership would split. Murphy joined

Kelly Racing Kelly Grove Racing (formerly known as Kelly Racing and Nissan Motorsport) was an Australian motor racing team which competes in the Supercars Championship. The team made its debut in 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series, 2009, and raced Holden ...

for 2011 in a late deal with major sponsor Pepsi Max. Throughout the year the Pepsi Max Crew car has undergone four different paint schemes all with a graffiti theme. Murphy has had varying success throughout the year and as he has become more comfortable with his car and the team he has had some good performances, including pole position at the

. 2013 saw Murphy return to

on a part-time basis, co-driving with Car #22 driver

James Courtney James Anthony Courtney (born 29 June 1980) is an Australian racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 5 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GT for Tickford Racing. ...

in the endurance events. However, Bathurst saw Murphy involved in a heavy crash at Reid Park, therefore ending his chances of finishing the race. The bad luck didn't end there, with yet another serious incident bringing Car #22 down (this time involving Paul Dumbrell from

Triple Eight Race Engineering Triple Eight Race Engineering, (branded as Red Bull Ampol Racing) is an Australian motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team has been the only Brisbane based V8 Supercar team since its formation, originally operating ...

) in Race 1 at

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. In 2021 Peter Adderton from Boost Mobile floated the idea of running a Wildcard entry for Murphy and fellow retired Kiwi racer

Richie Stanaway Richie Stanaway (born 24 November 1991) is a racing car driver from New Zealand. Career New Zealand Born in Tauranga, Stanaway was originally from a motocross background, before making the switch to speedway at the age of twelve. Following tha ...

in the upcoming

. The idea gained massive fan support, helping to convince Murphy and Stanaway to return for the first time since 2014 & 2019 respectively. On 8 June 2021 it was confirmed that the two would return in an

Erebus Motorsport Erebus Motorsport, (formerly known as Erebus Racing,) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Holden ZB Commodores. The team's current drivers are Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki. The team i ...

run Boost Mobile supported entry. On 12 November 2021 the wildcard was postponed due to travel restrictions between Australia & New Zealand. In late April 2022

confirmed that the Wildcard would be revived for the upcoming

. There were plans to run Murphy & Stanaway in solo events prior to Bathurst but those plans fell through, the two will get three test days prior to the 1000 with the first set to be run at

Winton Motor Raceway Winton Motor Raceway is a motor racing track in Winton, near Benalla, Victoria, Australia. History The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958, as a replacement for their existing track at Barjarg. In 1960 i ...

on 7 June.

Notable career events

*1994 – Won the

New Zealand Grand Prix The New Zealand Grand Prix, sometimes known as the New Zealand International Grand Prix, is an annual motor racing event held in New Zealand. First held in 1950, it is best known for hosting rounds of the Tasman Series in the 1960s and 1970s. It ...

Manfeild Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon (formerly Manfeild Autocourse) is a motor sport circuit located in Feilding, New Zealand. It was built by thManawatu Car Clubin 1973 as a purpose-built course. In 1990 extra land was acquired and the circuit extensio ...

driving a

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...

90D *1996 – Second in the GT2 Class at Le Mans *1996 – Won

and

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (formally known as the Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The event's name, distance – and the category of cars co ...

with

and the

*1999 – Won the

with Steven Richards *2000 – Third at Bathurst with Steven Richards *2001 – Helped to create Kmart Racing after Gibson Motorsport turned to Ford and Craig Lowndes. Finished third at Bathurst with

*2002 – Was given the biggest penalty (five minutes) in V8 racing history because of a pitlane infringement by his team. His car was released early, rupturing a refuelling hose and spilling fuel in the pit box *2003 – Set the fastest lap ever on the 6.213 km (later eclipsed in 2010 by Craig Lowndes and then again in 2017 by Scott McLaughlin)

during the Top 10 Shootout, with a time of 2:06.8594 dubbed 'The Lap of Gods'. Won Bathurst 1000 with

Rick Kelly Rick Kelly (born 17 January 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver who previously competed in the Supercars Championship. He last drove the No. 15 Ford Mustang GT for Kelly Racing. Previously, he drove for the HSV Dealer Team with w ...

. Won Bathurst 24 Hour with

and Jason Bright *2004 – Won Bathurst 1000 again with Rick Kelly *2008 – Finished second at Bathurst 1000 *2011 – Got pole position for the second time at Bathurst and finished 3rd in the 2011 Bathurst 1000 *2012 – Won the first ever

V8SuperTourer The V8SuperTourers Championship was a motor racing series in New Zealand which started in 2012 and folded in 2015. The cars were then absorbed into the NZ Touring Cars championship. The car was based on a "Car-of-the-Future" prototype built by ...

race at Hampton Downs, then eventually finished Runner-up for the Season. *2013 – Greg Murphy Won the

Sprint Series and Overall Championship, his first Championship Win in 17 years. *2014 – Murphy Won the

Sprint Series and Overall Championship for the second year in a row. Greg also finished second in the

with

. *2016 – Murphy returned to circuit racing for the first time since the

Gold Coast 600 The Gold Coast 500 (formally known as the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The event has been a regular part o ...

in 2014. He joined Tony Quinn in an Aston Martin for the Highlands 101 race where they finished second place. Holden VE Commdore of Greg Murphy

Greg murphy 2006 australian grand prix melbourne

Personal life

Greg was born and raised in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, where he attended

Havelock North High School Havelock North High School is a state co-education secondary school located in Havelock North, New Zealand. HNHS has a head boy and head girl chosen by the Form 7 (Year 13) students at the start of the year as well as the secretary. HNHS is spl ...

. After being based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

for most of his racing career he now lives in

with frequent trips to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Career results

Career Highlights

Complete V8 Supercar results

Bathurst 1000 results

Super Touring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...

race

Complete American Le Mans Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results

V8SuperTourer

In 2011 it was released that in New Zealand they were making a new touring car series, Murphy was instantly interested and after talks with Paul Manuell they decided to make M3 Racing which Richard Moore, Paul Manuell and Greg Murphy would drive their three cars. As soon as Murphy confirmed he would be racing in the 2012 season, New Zealand Businessman Mike Pero signed up to be his major sponsor for the season. In the 2012 season Murphy had a successful year claiming a pole, 5 race wins and 2 round wins and also the Endurance Championship but because he had to miss two rounds because of back problems he missed out on the overall championship but managed to finish 2nd overall. The 2013 season Murphy redeemed himself after missing out on the title due to back problems, Murphy managed to win 6 races and finished on the podium 14 times out of 21 races, and after a thrilling final race battle with

Ant Pedersen Anthony Pedersen (born 5 May 1988) is a racing driver from New Zealand. Career V8 SuperTourers In 2012, Pedersen was given the opportunity to run in the brand-new V8SuperTourer category in New Zealand and on the first ever race weekend, he was a ...

, Murphy won his first SuperTourer title.

Complete V8 SuperTourer results

TCR New Zealand

References

External links

*
Profile at V8 SupercarsVideo of Greg Murphy's "Lap of the Gods" at BathurstGreg Murphy at Pepsi Max Crew, Kelly Racing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Greg New Zealand racing drivers Supercars Championship drivers 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Hastings, New Zealand Bathurst 1000 winners 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Formula Holden drivers V8SuperTourer drivers Toyota Racing Series drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Australian Endurance Championship drivers Kelly Racing drivers Audi Sport drivers Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers