1-0 to murph
Kiwi ace Greg Murphy closed in on the series lead when he took out the first race at the PlaceMakers V8 International in the rain at Pukekohe this afternoon.
Murphy, chasing his hat-trick of round victories in New Zealand following wins at Pukekohe in 2001 and 2002, took out the 36-lap (100km) first race this afternoon in superb fashion.
The win sees Murphy (KMart Racing Team Holden) close 62 points of leader Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing Ford), who struggled in the conditions, finishing sixth.
Murphy finished eight seconds clear of Todd Kelly (Holden Racing Team) and Garth Tander (Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden), some of their best results of the season.
The New Zealander struggled in the wet conditions off pole position, after officials ruled out the earlier Top-10 Shootout when rain started to fall during the flying lap.
Defending series champion Mark Skaife (Holden Racing Team) and Max Wilson (Shell Helix Racing Ford) forced through on the inside, making contact on the second corner, with both spinning off the track in the slippery conditions. This let Murphy quickly through in to the lead.
Most of the field pitted after a first corner incident involving five cars which forced a safety car period, with some slick work from the Stone Brothers Racing Team giving Ambrose the advantage over Murphy.
However the series leader struggled under braking in the wet conditions, as Murphy sped past. Ambrose, knowing that sixth place or better for the remaining two races at Pukekohe and the final round in Sydney will earn him the overall title, decided that caution was the best option.
While disappointed his car did not handle the conditions better, he was content with his sixth place finish.
Craig Lowndes (Ford Performance Racing) and Steven Richards (Castrol Perkins Holden), who chose not to stop after the early crash, fighting out the lead until they were forced to stop for their compulsory pit before the window closed after lap 25.
Murphy had a trouble-free run to the finish ahead of Kelly and Tander, with Kiwi Paul Radisich (Betta Electrical Ford) claiming fifth ahead of Ambrose.
Skaife recovered from his second corner clash to produce the fastest lap of the race as he pushed through the field from last to seventh in a superb drive.
Australian-domiciled Kiwi Jim Richards led the Australian team as he won the first race of the Porsche GT3 Trans-Tasman series ahead of highly promising young New Zealand driver Matt Halliday.
And Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker edged out his boss Grant Dalton to win the Hallensteins Mini Celebrity Challenge, as the pair showed a natural enjoyment for the watery conditions. Comedian Mike King finished third.
There are two further races to complete the PlaceMakers V8 International tomorrow, both over the longer 150km distance.
