Last year's champion Greg Murphy is ahead of the field again going into the third round of the V8 SuperTourers series.
Last year's champion Greg Murphy is ahead of the field again going into the third round of the V8 SuperTourers series.
Defending champ will be pushed hard at Pukekohe
As round three of the 2014 V8 SuperTourers series fires into action this weekend at Pukekohe, everyone in the field will have their eyes set on defending champion and man to beat Greg Murphy.
It's not going to be easy to get one over the former V8 Supercars full-time driver, as the field will be on Murph's turf.
At Manfeild in February the four-time Bathurst winner swept all three races at the second round of the series, but Simon Evans pushed him hard and established himself as the new star of the series.
Aucklander Evans missed the overall round victory by just one point - Murphy won the races but Evans scored extra points for his qualifying performance and for taking fastest lap in all three races.
"Simon just drove beautifully," said Murphy. "He just pushed and pushed, he didn't give up. It's not easy - I was pushing eleven-tenths all the way. If I relaxed a bit he was right on me again."
Evans has been racing for a number of years now and while he's tasted success over the years, the step up into the big V8s has come with a few hiccups. However, he has been steadily developing as a driver in the category and has been the big improver this year, now able to push the frontrunners hard.
"I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Obviously Manfeild was really good and we probably had the quickest car that weekend but we couldn't quite get there [beat Murphy]," said Evans.
"Obviously Pukekohe is Murph's patch and he's going to be hard to beat there. He's going to raise the bar even more at Pukekohe and I'm looking forward to the challenge.
"As a team we've slowly grown and it's been a matter of slowly, slowly catchee monkey."
Greg Murphy on the podium at the V8 SuperTourers 2013 round in Taupo. Photo / Supplied
Evans and his one-car team have made good progress this season and now have the car pretty much sorted and he feels a lot more comfortable behind the wheel now, which allows him to get the most out of the car and setup.
It's been a little hard being a one-car team as there is no one to share data with so it's all been a bit of trial and error. Now, though, everything has come together and Evans is looking to make that last push to dominate the rest of the field on a regular basis.
"I think we've definitely made a breakthrough. We've been chipping away and the results are starting to come and we feel like we're really on top of the car now.
"It feels like a little car now and when I put my foot down I want more power. I'm really comfortable inside the car now and I've got my head around the dynamics of the car. Last season I struggled in qualifying but I've got my head around that now and with the help of Stephen Giles and the extra seat time since last year has all helped," said Evans.
Last season Ant Pedersen pushed Murphy hard for the title and while the International Motorsport driver is in third place after two rounds, he's due a bit of luck this weekend.
Meanwhile, Andre Heimgartner has calmed down a bit from last year. He has for the main stayed out of trouble and found discretion can sometimes be the better part of valour, and has steadily collected points to sit in second place.
Qualifying is on Saturday and the three races take place on Sunday.
Points after two rounds 1. Greg Murphy - 553 2. Andre Heimgartner - 425 3. Ant Pedersen - 418 4. Richard Moore - 409 5. Simon Evans - 392
