If Holden was to take the trophy at this weekend’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, it would clinch the 30th win for Holden at Mount Panorama.
Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney and Greg Murphy are ready to hit the ground running, aiming to go one better than at the Wilson Security Sandown 500 and turn around last year’s horrid enduro run.
Four-time Bathurst winner Murphy is excited to reprise his partnership with Courtney and believes victory is on the table this year.
“We’ve got a fair bit of redemption to find from last year,” Murphy – who had a heavy accident in the #22 Commodore at the top of the Mountain last year – said.
“It wasn’t a great endurance series last year at all for multiple reasons, so to get the chance again to have another crack is fantastic.
“James and I are very compatible in the HRT Commodore. There are a lot of enduro driver pairings out there that have to compromise in the seating or something like that, whereas we don’t which is nice.
“That doesn’t mean that we’ve got an advantage but it just makes it a bit easier – and that will make a difference, no doubt.”
Murphy, who first drove for HRT from ’95, winning Sandown, and his first victory at Bathurst with Craig Lowndes the following year, has witnessed Holden’s official factory team blossom this year into a front-running force.
“James and Garth Tander have been having really good results this year – with wins in Adelaide, Townsville and Ipswich, and plenty of podiums as well.
“You can see and feel the changes in the HRT Commodore, and the team has a great vibe about it which bodes well for a strong enduro campaign.”
Courtney is equally confident, and ready to share the Bathurst podium with the driver he once followed on TV.
“I’ve known Greg a long time, and he’s one of the first people that I met when I watched the series in the 1990s,” Courtney said.
“Bathurst is a race that I’ve followed my whole life, and I would love to win it. I’ve been close a few times but haven’t stood on the top step yet.
“It would be great to win Australia’s Great Race with Murph. He really lifts to another level at Bathurst.”
Courtney and Murphy will have push hard to stay ahead of three-time Bathurst winner Tander, who is newly paired with reigning Pirtek Enduro Cup champion Warren Luff.
Tander, who has raced in the main game at Bathurst since 1998, knows that 1000km demands everything from a driver.
“Gone are the days of cruising around for the first 800km, and then picking up the pace for the last 200km. It is now a full-on sprint race from the green light through to the chequered flag,” Tander said.
“The Mount Panorama circuit is the ultimate challenge.
“This will be my 17th year going there, and I still treat it with a huge amount of respect. You have to creep up on it – and that’s what makes it so special.
“I clearly remember sitting on the grid for the start of my first-ever Bathurst in 1998. I was 14th on the grid and in the time between when the red light went on and off – and thinking ‘this is unreal. Usually I’m sitting at home watching this race, and here I am about to start’.”
Luff, who has been on the last two Bathurst podiums, is just as keen to taste the victory champagne.
“To win the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with Garth and the Holden Racing team would be a dream come true in so many ways,” Luff said.
“As a kid, I was always an HRT and Peter Brock fan – and Bathurst was always a massive weekend of motorsport on TV.
“To now be part of the HRT family, Brocky’s team, is a huge honour. Holden and Bathurst wins go hand in hand, so to be able to achieve that milestone driving for the factory Holden team would be incredible – nothing better.”
