Motorsport: Murph's gear up for grabs

Greg Murphy will donate proceeds from the charity auction to help cure Type 1 diabetes. Picture / Jason Dorday

V8s legend raising cash for a cause, writes Eric Thompson

One of New Zealand's best exponents of V8 driving, and four-time Bathurst winner to boot, Greg Murphy is "lightening his load" tomorrow, by auctioning off hundreds of pieces of memorabilia he's collected over his long and illustrious career.

Folk who would love to own anything from a race suit to a model car with just about everything in between had better make plans to get themselves down to Hampton Downs Motorsport Park by 10am.

Murphy's two sons suffer from Type 1 diabetes and a fair chunk of the proceeds will be going to the Spinal Cord Society of NZ (SCSNZ) to advance vital cord blood stem cell research aimed at the reversal of this condition.

In fact, the proceeds of the 20 V8 Supercar hot laps, already at nearly $13,000, have been earmarked for the charity.

Murphy and the family are now back living in New Zealand and he and his dad decided they didn't need everything they'd collected over the years, so hence the auctioning off of race overalls, limited edition prints, caps, die cast collectable cars and team apparel.

"Supporting the trial benefits all sufferers of Type 1 diabetes," Murphy said. "I know the regional diabetes support groups around New Zealand do amazing work, but I really wanted to focus on the big picture rather than one or two areas. The SCSNZ trial addresses diabetes at the source; a cure is always the ultimate goal," said Murphy.

"I've been a bit of a hoarder for a long time and when we moved back to New Zealand we had boxes of stuff that have been in boxes for ages. I started thinking it was unlikely any of it was going to come out of the boxes and I don't need to see stuff to remind me what I've achieved in my career. And I certainly don't want it hanging on the walls in the house.

"There are a few things that have value and memories for me, which I'll keep, but there's tonnes of stuff that will have value to other people who like to collect this stuff. It's an opportunity for people who like this kind of thing to be able to have a piece of it.

"It's a great opportunity to raise, through motor racing, awareness of the Spinal Cord Society and raise some money and there's enough stuff there to suit everyone."

There's a lot of history and heritage on offer including his 1997 HRT race suit from his first fulltime V8 Supercars season where he won his second Sandown 500 victory with Craig Lowndes. There is also the 2002 Kmart Racing suit from his infamous five-minute penalty at Bathurst, the race gear from the 2003 Bathurst pole-setting 2:06.8594 "lap of the gods" and Bathurst win. Plus the 2004 Bathurst-winning race suit and those worn during the Bathurst 24-hour win with Peter Brock.

Along with the auction, there will also be a drifting display, a Formula 5000 car and a McLaren on display. If you can't make the live auction, go to www.murphhotlaps.com and register for items.