NEW Zealand legend Greg Murphy, his old Sprint Gas Racing Holden VE Commodore, and Brands Hatch?
It sounds too good to be true, but that’s the combination that clicked together on the weekend in England where the four-time Bathurst 1000 winner was reunited with one of his former V8 Supercars at the legendary British venue at the Super Touring Power event.
Similar to the Muscle Car Masters events run at Sydney Motorsport Park, Super Touring Power is a UK version held at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit.
The event attracted a significant entry from New Zealand where historic Super Touring grids are booming. Murphy and 1999 Bathurst winning co-driver Steven Richards led the Kiwi fleet that also included Paul Radisich, who reunited with his first British Touring Car Championship team boss, Andy Rouse.
Murphy raced an ex-Matt Neal, Team Dynamics Nissan Primera, while Radisich slid behind the wheel of a Ford Mondeo and Richards drove the 1997-spec Volvo S40 raced by father Jim in the 1998 BOC Gases Australian Super Touring Championship.
Also in the field were a variety of Vauxhall Vectras and Cavaliers, Peugeot 405s, Renault Lagunas and Honda Accords that made up the Super Tourer field.
Classic Touring Car Championship action also included a couple of models from down under including a Holden VH Commodore and a Monaro, while Alex Sidwell entered his ex-GRM VF Commodore Supercar.
Sidwell also owns TMS001 in which Murphy completed demonstration runs, the very same Commodore he and Mark Skaife drove to fourth place in the 2009 Bathurst 1000.
TMS001 was later owned and raced by multiple GT champion Geoff Emery in the V8 Development Series. He on-sold it to the UK where it has lived with Sidwell since 2014.
Richards was best placed of the antipodeans in fourth during the final race of the weekend, as current BTCC racer Jake Hill won all four events in an ex-factory Nissan Primera.
Richards, who returns to Australia this week to take up his role as team manager for son Clay in Townsville in the opening round of the Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia 86 Series, also sampled a V8 Supercar at Brands Hatch, slipping behind the wheel of Andy Robinson’s ex-PWR Falcon AU that appears in a ‘green eyed monster’ 00 Motorsport-inspired livery.
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