Things are looking good for the veteran Kiwi V8 racer this year with the pair notching up a fine second place at the opening round of the Pirtek Enduro Cup at Sandown last month.
"I'm absolutely looking forward to the race but it won't be me breaking my record," said Murphy. "It's not my job as a co-driver. The main driver [Courtney] qualifies the car, not me.
"I think based on the facts the track has been resurfaced and the cars are faster than they have ever been, the records should fall. By how much I don't know, but the numbers stack up saying the times will drop.
"I'm sure the car will work pretty good up there [Bathurst] because it was going really well at Sandown and should be better here and we should be in a good space."
Now that FPR's Mark Winterbottom (co-driving with Steve Owen this year) has got his Bathurst monkey off his back after winning last year, he'll be very keen to halt his slide down the point's table. Winterbottom got off to a flyer at the start of season leading the championship at one stage but now sits third.
Defending V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup will be aiming for his fifth Bathurst 1000 title and wants the points to help him grab a record-breaking sixth series title. Having Paul Dumbrell as his co-pilot adds to the pair being favourites to take the win.
Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards, on paper at least, will be their biggest threat. Between them they have eight wins but Lowndes last stood on the top spot back in 2010 and is keen to reassert his authority at Bathurst
However, you can't rule any of the three New Zealanders with full-time seats in the main game. Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin sit inside the top 10 in the championship and all could easily be on the podium Sunday afternoon.
Van Gisbergen is the best-placed of the Kiwis and with the Tekno Autosports' managing director and former full-time driver Jonathan Webb sharing duties will be in with a solid chance of at least finishing inside the top three.
"I raced a GT car in the 12 Hour in February and the track was faster, but I don't know what it'll be like in a V8," said van Gisbergen.
"I reckon the records will go but not as much as some people are predicting [two seconds]. I think this year is probably my best chance so far. I've had some good cars and been close and it could happen [win] this year.
"I'm pretty excited that we'll have a good go at it for sure. Jonathan has been really fast here in the past, and if he can be within a couple of tenths of me we'll be extra strong."
The Mt Panorama circuit is not Coulthard's favourite racetrack, it has to be said. Over the past 10 years the Kiwi has had more than his fair share of bad luck. The most impressive was his spectacular rollover on the opening lap of the 2010 race that saw his car disintegrate at The Chase. He reckons 2014 could be his and Luke Youldon's time and needs the points to stay in the championship hunt.
"The only thing that's changed this year is the surface and the lap times should drop if the weather is dry," said Coulthard. "It's going to interesting this year because whenever you give a driver more grip they'll welcome it with open arms.
"Anything can happen here and I've certainly had them all happen to me except a good result. I love Bathurst as a track but I've never had any luck here. I just hope we have a good car, good speed and we're not undone by some 50-cent item on the car failing.
"To get a result here you have to cross the finishing line after 161 laps."
The Volvo pairing of Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat may only have four main race Bathurst starts between them, but rest assured if the car can hang in there, they'll be in the hunt over the closing stages.
A number of teams up and down the grid have mumbled this year about the speed of the Volvo and are worried about it at Bathurst.
"Every car has different strengths in different places. We might have a fast car but the others might be better in different parts of the track and we certainly 'destroyed' the field as some thought," said McLaughlin. "I haven't been up here much and I think this is my best chance so far to do really well.
"I'm really looking forward to having a decent crack. Alex [co-driver] has been pretty good around here and he was in the top 10 shoot-out last year. We're both much fitter this year so we'll be strong and I'm pumped for the race.
"We've done enough kilometres now in the series that reliability shouldn't be a problem. It is Bathurst though and if the car doesn't beak there's always the wildlife that can cause grief."
V8 Supercars points after 10 rounds
1. Jamie Whincup 2325
2. Craig Lowndes 2052
3. Mark Winterbottom 2046
4. Shane van Gisbergen 1982
5. James Courtney 1964
6. Fabian Coulthard 1856
7. Chaz Mostert 1694
8. Scott McLaughlin 1677
5 things that make Bathurst special
Rural bliss
Who would have ever thought a rural public road built as a tourist loop up Mt Panorama to look over Bathurst in New South Wales would become one of the most recognised street circuits in the world.
Track to the stars
In its time the race has attracted Formula One drivers the likes of Sterling Moss, Jack Brabham, Jacky Ickx and New Zealand champion Denny Hulme. Championship winning motorcycle racers have also attacked the mountain including Greg Hansford, who won with Jack Perkins in 1993, Wayne Gardner who set pole in 2000, Troy Bayliss and Kiwi Graeme Crosby.
Hard to beat
You won't beat the 1977 Ford one-two where Allan Moffat and Colin Bond crossed the line mere centimetres apart. For an absolute drubbing of the rest of the field, Peter Brock's six-lap demolition of all comers in 1979 rates as the best, considering he broke the lap record on the last lap just for the hell of it.
Kiwi-speak
In the 51 years of the Bathurst 1000 race, the best podium speech goes, typically, to a Kiwi. The all-conquering Nissan GT-3s arrived in the early 1990s and were virtually unbeatable. In 1992 when Kiwi Jim Richards and Mark Skaife won. The crowd booed as Richards was handed the winner's trophy and his now famous riposte was to call them all "a pack of arseholes".
Great advert
In the early days the cars were production vehicles made, or assembled, in Australia. Any manufacturer who won was sure to make a killing on the forecourt.
