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Greg Murphy to drive Castrol Edge Commodore
17/12/2009 2:02:55 PM
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The all-new Castrol EDGE V8 Supercar team was unveiled on the Gold Coast today, with four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Greg Murphy confirmed as its driver.

Murphy will drive the #51 Castrol EDGE Holden Commodore in the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series entered by leading Paul Morris Motorsports.

The car will be built in conjunction with V8 Supercar Championship-winning Triple Eight Race Engineering, which recently entered a full technical alliance with PMM.

“I am very lucky to be in this position – to be driving a Castrol-backed, Triple Eight-built Holden Commodore for one of V8 Supercar’s leading teams, Paul Morris Motorsports, in 2010 is extremely exciting for me,” Murphy said

“With the closure of Tasman Motorsport, this is a case of me being in the right place at the right time and I am very thankful to everyone who has helped put this deal together.”

The new arrangements see Murphy renew his association with Castrol, having driven Castrol-backed cars at Kmart Racing and Supercheap Auto Racing, claiming back-to-back Bathurst 1000 titles in 2003/04.

“I am thrilled to be joining up with Castrol again, I like the way the company goes about its business and how it leverages its motorsport involvement. We have had great success together in the past and I am looking forward to a lot more success with Castrol in the future.”

Castrol Lubricants Marketing Director, Andrew Johnson said he was excited about the new partnership with PMM and Murphy, and said there would be no mistaking the Castrol EDGE Commodore’s heritage and identity.

“This is the best total V8 package we've signed up for in many years – the look of the Castrol EDGE Commodore, the engineering arrangements, the first class team facilities here at the Holden Driving Centre, then you add in a top class driver like four-time Bathurst winner in Greg Murphy. We couldn't ask for more," Mr Johnson said.

The brilliant new Castrol EDGE livery is a balance of consistent Castrol branding mixed with a new approach and application, using the company’s traditional colours along with introducing dramatic white and gold ribbons that exude a fresh contemporary image.

PMM team owner Paul Morris said he was honoured to have secured Castrol’s support, joining Supercheap Auto as major sponsor of his two car Holden team, and to have signed Murphy.

“Castrol has a long and successful history in Australian motor sport, especially in V8 Supercars with Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall, and we have an exciting challenge ahead of us in moving the company back to its rightful place at the front of the grid,” Morris said.

“The key to achieving success is having a top line driver, someone who can get the most out of the car and drag it up to the front, and without a doubt that’s Greg Murphy.

“Some of the best races I had in my career as a driver were against Murph and when the stars align he’s capable of anything.”

To achieve its goals, Morris said PMM had now stopped performing customer work to concentrate solely on its V8 Supercar Championship campaign.

“We now have two strong corporate supporters in Castrol and Supercheap Auto and with Greg Murphy and Russell Ingall as drivers they expect both cars to fire – I know we’re capable of rising to the challenge.”

For over a decade Murphy has been one of V8 Supercar’s leading drivers, driving for the Holden Racing Team, Gibson Motorsport, Kmart Racing, PWR/Supercheap Auto Racing and Tasman Motorsport (Sprint Gas Racing).

He has twice finished second in the V8 Supercar Championship (2002, 03), won Australia’s Great Race, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, four times – 1996, 99, 2003, 04 – and four times won the annual V8 Supercar round in his native New Zealand, at Pukekohe, including three straight years (2001, 02, 03).

Murphy also continues to hold the record for the fastest ever lap around Mount Panorama – a 2min 06.8594sec time set in claiming pole for the 2003 race.

Murphy will also be joined at PMM by long-time personal supporters, Powerbuilt Tools, MTA and Big Ben Pies.

“Powerbuilt Tools, MTA and Big Ben have been supporters of mine for many years and I’m thrilled we’ve been able to offer them this wonderful opportunity to come along for the ride on the Castrol Edge Commodore,” Murphy said.

Testing for the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series will begin in early February with the first two rounds, a double-header in the Middle East – Abu Dhabi (18-20 February) and Bahrain (25-22 February) – scheduled for later that month.

 
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