Murphy wins Sunday feature Race

Greg Murphy thrilled the crowds with a lights-to-flag victory to show his mastery of wet-dry conditions in the Feature race of the third Round of the V8 SuperTourer championship at Manfeild Autocourse this afternoon.

Murphy made an early break on the wet track, but the rain had already eased and the SuperTourers quickly established a dry line, and making the most of the tyres in these conditions proved to be key to the race.

The M3 racing team seemed to have the set up for the conditions completely sussed, and with Murphy out front the men on the move through the field were his team mates Paul Manuell and Richard Moore - in Orix and Skinny Holden Commodores respectively.

Reid's set up and that of team mate Ant Pedersen, did not seem suited to the track and the winner of race 1 and race 2 faded quickly, dropping down behind John McIntyre, Steve Richards, Manuell and Moore. As the tyres struggled with temperatures on the drying track, surprise package Moore looked like the man on the move, sliding the car in great style as he chased down and passed car after car. Manuell pulled a pass on him but soon afterwards fell back s he had asked too much of the tyres. Moore was soon through and chasing McIntyre.

"I started quite low down, so had to put on a charge right from the first lap," said the Canterbury University student. "I just got my head down and went for it, my tyres held on and I was able to come through."

There was no stopping Murphy though, the crowd favourite timing his run to perfection - just holding off McIntyre for the win by two tenths of a second. Star of the race Moore was less than two seconds behind but delighted to take his first podium.

Reid's troubled final race ended with fifth, good enough to take the championship lead after a great weekend in the International Motorsport car. Steve Richards was sixth, Kayne Scott seventh and the top ten completed by Craig Baird, a disappointed Ant Pedersen and Andy Knight.

Race 3 Result - V8 SuperTourers Round 3, Manfeild

1. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore V8ST

2. John McIntyre Ford Falcon V8ST

3. Richard Moore Holden Commodore V8ST

4. Paul Manuell Holden Commodore V8ST

5. Jonny Reid Ford Falcon V8ST

6. Steven Richards Ford Falcon V8ST

7. Kayne Scott Holden Commodore V8ST

8. Craig Baird Ford Falcon V8ST

9. Ant Pedersen Ford Falcon V8ST

10. Andy Knight Ford Falcon V8ST

Round Results

Pos Points

1 Jonny Reid 661

2 Greg Murphy 621

3 John McIntyre 554

4 Andy Knight 426

5 Steven Richards 408

6 Ant Pedersen 363

7 Richard Moore 345

8 Craig Baird 341

9 Kayne Scott 322

10 Paul Manuell 317

11 Eddie Bell 311

12 Andre Heimgartner 224

13 Andy Booth 223

14 Colin Corkery 70

15. Scott McLaughlin 0

16. Geoff Emery 0

Championship Overall

1. Jonny Reid 1626

2. John McIntyre 1538

3. Greg Murphy 1264

4. Kayne Scott 1252

5. Ant Pedersen 1240

6. Craig Baird 1153

7. Andy Booth 1038

9. Eddie Bell 883

10. Andy Knight 860

11. Andre Heimgartner 768

12. Fabian Coulthard 757

13. Richard Moore 717

14. Paul Manuell 676

15. Scott McLaughlin 585

16. Geoff Emery 434

17. Colin Corkery 293