New Zealand ace Ronan Murphy will tackle the mountain for the very first time this weekend in preparation for Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia round at Supercheap Auto Bathurst International in November.
In what is a great mix of previously featured Shannons SpeedSeries categories, the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge driver will compete at Mount Panorama in a MARC Ford Focus V8 in the Precision National Sports Sedans category.
Having never actually competed at the world-famous circuit before, Ronan, son of four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Greg Murphy, will look to gain a competitive edge over his Porsche rivals when he returns to the Sonic / Dayle ITM team.
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Although he was engaged in an exciting title battle with fellow New Zealander Marco Giltrap during the initial part of the season, a less than ideal performance at Queensland Raceway caused him to slip down to seventh place in the rankings.
Given the circumstances, Murphy will look to have the upper hand come time for the series finale in November.
Murphy was looking forward to competing at a circuit where his family has had so much success, and was thankful for the opportunity.
“As hard as it is to believe, I have only been to Bathurst maybe three or four times in my life, with a couple of them being too young to remember,” Murphy said.
“It will be the first time I go around the track in a road car. It’s all going to hit me pretty quickly I think when I go out for practice in the morning.
“Every track that I have gone to this year is new for me. The idea is that we are fortunate enough to do most test days before rounds, but Bathurst is a little bit harder to do so.
“Our next best thing was to figure out if there was a drive available for this weekend. I think most of the guys I am competing against in Porsche have competed there a couple of times before, so it was about getting a bum in the seat, jumping in the car, and experiencing the place first hand.
“This all came together pretty late in the piece, but it was always the plan. I am very thankful to Perry from Muscle Car Warehouse, Geoff Taunton from MARC Cars and Axels Earthmoving for allowing this to happen, as well at Pete Sturgeon and Hiab Services.
Looking ahead to the Bathurst International, Murphy has recently spent time studying previous category appearances and came to the conclusion that extra track time was the best option to prepare for the round.
“I did a lot of study, and I noticed a lot of the guys who raced in Porsche here last year for the first time really struggled, but if they had of driven a car here beforehand it would have been different,” Murphy explained.
“There were only a couple of guys who dominated, and they were the ones who had been there before.
“It’s about building that trust, learning as much as possible and understanding where the track goes a bit better in preparation for Porsche at the end of the year, fingers crossed it will all end up helping.”
While this weekend’s appearance at the Bathurst 1000 event isn’t in a Porsche, Murphy was looking forward to jumping into a car that has such a great reputation.
“The car is beautiful, it’s well put together and I only have good things to say about it,” Murphy added.
“From all indications they are a brilliant, Geoff and MARC have done a fantastic job with preparing it and providing a grouse car that I’m sure is going to perform very well.”
Before taking to the track at Bathurst International in November, Murphy and Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia will have one final hitout at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park next weekend as part of Shannons Trophy Series.
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The exciting one-make Porsche category will then make its way to Mount Panorama for Supercheap Auto Bathurst International as part of Shannons SpeedSeries on 10-12 November.
