One of Australia’s most famous modern era racecars could be finding a new home …
STORY: DYLAN GULSON
IMAGES: AN1 IMAGES (GRAEME NEANDER/COVENTRY STUDIOS)
IT turned one of the most famous laps in Bathurst history and created a record that stood for nearly a decade butnow the 2003 Bathurst-winning Kmart Racing Commodore is looking for a new home.
Queensland-based collector John Anderson is seeking expressions of interest for the #51 Kmart Commodore driven by Greg Murphy to his famous ‘Lap of the Gods’ pole position at Bathurst in 2003 that went on to win the race the next day in the hands of the Kiwi and teammate Rick Kelly.
This famous piece of V8 Supercar history was beautifully restored in 2011 back to its full 2003 Bathurst livery and technical specification (VY Commodore).
Originally built by the Holden Racing Team, chassis HRT 043 debuted as a VT in the hands of Craig Lowndes during the 2000 Shell Championship Series.
The car also won the Queensland 500 that year in the hands of Lowndes and Mark Skaife before later becoming a VY Commodore used by Todd Kelly for HRT in early 2003 and then being moved across to the sister Kmart team later that season.
Murphy’s stunning Bathurst pole lap in 2003 remains an amazing moment in Bathurst history, clocking the first sub 2m07s lap for a touring car at Mount Panorama.
The 2m06.8594s ‘Lap of the Gods’ was set in Saturday’s Top 10 shootout for the ’03 race, with the time standing until practice for the 2010 race when it was finally broken by Craig Lowndes.
Murphy and co-driver Rick Kelly went on to dominate The Great Race in 2003 and finished comfortably ahead of the field with Kelly eclipsing Lowndes’ record to become the youngest winner in the history of the race.
Four-time Bathurst winner Murphy was re-united with the car in a special parade as part of the 50 years of Bathurst celebrations at the 2012 event.
Click here if you’re a V8 Sleuth subscriber to read the history file on this chassis.
