Murphy Tops First Practice Session

Four time Bathurst champion and former New Zealand Grand Prix winner Greg Murphy got his GP weekend at Hampton Downs off to a solid start with the fastest time in his practice session this morning.

Two groups comprising eight cars in each undertook shakedown sessions with another practice session scheduled for Friday afternoon. Murphy headed Shan van Gisbergen and Chris van der Drift in his session.

His time - a 1 minute 31 second lap, was eclipsed in the second session for the other group of cars by experienced junior formula racer Brendon Leitch.

It was the first time for many on the international 4km Hampton Downs circuit. The second session included 79 year old Kenny Smith, who’s 50th start in the FIA sanctioned New Zealand Grand Prix is a key focal point of the weekend. There were no incidents during the sessions with all drivers opting to run old tyres during the shakedown runs.

Group A Practice 1 results

1. Greg Murphy

2. Shane van Gisbergen

3. Chris van der Drift

4. Billy Frazer

5. Peter Vodanovich

6. Andre Heimgartner

7. Chris Vlock

8. Ken Smith

Group B Practice 1 results

1. Brendon Leitch

2. Joshua Bethune

3. Matthew Payne

4. Daniel Gaunt

5. Conrad Clark

6. Damon Leitch

7. Tom Alexander

8. Kaleb Ngatoa

© Scoop Media