Pitstop: Murphy's outlook good

Greg Murphy. Photo / Hawkes Bay Today

Following from last week's Weekend Herald interview with V8 Supercar driver Greg Murphy after his back surgery, the prognosis is good and he will be taking to the grid for the first of the endurance rounds at Phillip Island, September 10-12. Murphy is confident he'll be good to go but will confirm his start after testing.

Another shot at series

There's no rest for the IndyCar driver Scott Dixon as he gets another chance to close in on series leader Will Power and teammate Dario Franchitti this weekend in Kentucky. Dixon finished eighth last weekend at Chicagoland.

Townley holds own in US

Kiwi AMA Pro Motocross rider Ben Townley continues to cement himself into the top five in the American outdoor series as he heads to the last round in Steel City Raceway outside Pittsburgh this weekend. Townley will be hot to trot after a second to series leader Ryan Dungey last weekend.

NZ Six answers demand

A restructure within the Super Six and HQ Holden race classes has led to the formation of NZ Six. The change occurs due to the growth and interest in the two classes with between 20 and 30 cars competing at each event on average last season and more expected for the 2010/11 IRC Series.

MotoGP riders off again

The MotoGP riders had barely touched down in Europe after last weekend's Indianapolis race in the US when they headed off to Misano, Italy, for round 12 of their championship. Dani Pedrosa is hot from a win on US soil while local rider Andrea Dovizioso will want to win his home event.

Under the hood

In 1955, Chrysler said it had built the Patriot Le Mans Sports car for the Le Mans 24 Hour race. It was said to have had two 500bhp gas turbines driving a 750bhp electric motor and a flywheel that stored even more power. A computer would decide when to chuck extra power in to give the car even more speed. In theory, the car was able to accelerate to 320km/h. It was bull. The car never worked and, in its demo tape, it was being towed by a vehicle that had been edited out.