A smart tyre gamble for Greg Murphy Racing almost produced a stunning result for Geoff Emery and Tony Bates in the final Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series race for 2011 at Homebush yesterday.

On a very damp track, the majority of the field elected to start the race on wet tyres, but Emery and Bates opted for slicks. The two drivers slipped and slid their way down the order in the early laps of the race, with Bates actually spinning on the greasy track and dropping to last, but as the circuit dried out, the slick tyres came into play and Emery and Bates charged through the field.

Emery eventually finished sixth in the AC Delco / Simworx / NDD Commodore after overtaking multiple cars in the final few laps of the race. The five-time Commodore Cup champion set the fastest lap of the race and was over six seconds a lap quicker than the race leaders in the closing laps, and only missed out on an even better result due to the surprising absence of safety car interventions.

“I was flying at the end of the race and overtaking about three cars a lap,” Emery said. “If only there had been a safety car, I reckon I could have won that race, because I had a huge pace advantage over everyone on wet tyres at the end. They were all sliding around and struggling to get traction out of corners, and I was driving past them like they were standing still.”

Tony Bates also staged an exceptional recovery after his first lap spin, setting the second-fastest race lap and working his way into 10^th place in the very last corner of the race in the Favourit.com / Alternative Freight Services entry.

“I was kicking myself after I spun on the first lap,” Bates said. “For the first few laps it was extremely slippery and I thought we had made the wrong call on tyres for sure. But as the race progressed and the track dried out, it started to come to me and I was able to overtake really easily towards the end.”

The driver Bates overtook in the last corner was Daniel Jilesen. Starting at the rear of the field after his Race 1 DNF, Jilesen chose wet tyres and was electric in the opening laps of the race, setting times among the quickest for the drivers who had chosen wets as he clawed his way up the order in his R & J Batteries / Earthex / King Gee-supported car.

“It was a good race, and good to be one of the fastest cars on wets,” Jilesen said. “I worked my way into the top-10 but the tyres were dead at the end and I couldn’t quite hold Tony out in the last corner.

“Overall, it’s been an up-and-down season, but it was good to score enough points to finish in the top-10 in the championship.”

Nick Cassidy was unfortunately forced into retirement after his third shock absorber failure of the weekend. Cassidy had worked his way up into 10^th position before the breakage, and was showing good pace in the Fuchs / Drillpro / Tricor Commodore.

“It was a disappointing end to the weekend, but in that race at least I was making good progress through the field,” Cassidy said.

The Greg Murphy Racing team now moves into an off-season period, with the team’s 2012 driver lineup to be confirmed in the new year.

Round Results Summary, Fujitsu Series Round 7, Homebush

Qualifying: Jilesen 4^th, Emery 13^th, Bates 17^th, Cassidy 22^nd

Race 1: Emery 13^th, Bates 15^th, Cassidy 17^th, Jilesen DNF

Race 2: Emery 6^th, Bates 10^th, Jilesen 11^th, Cassidy DNF

Overall: Emery 7^th (168 points), Bates 12^th (138 points), Jilesen 20^th (72 points), Cassidy 22^nd (54 points)

Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series – Top 10 Pointscore (Final)

1. Andrew Thompson – 1896

2. Jack Perkins – 1601

3. David Russell – 1594

4. Scott McLaughlin – 1461

5. Tim Blanchard – 1262

6. Chaz Mostert – 1253

7. Nick Percat – 1207

8. Paul Morris – 944

9. Rodney Jane – 827

10. Daniel Jilesen – 816

(14. Geoff Emery – 732)

(18. Tony Bates – 598)

(31. Nick Cassidy – 153)

Greg Murphy Racing driver Daniel Jilesen missed out on a strong race result after a stunning qualifying performance today at Homebush for the final round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

Jilesen qualified an outstanding fourth in this morning’s qualifying session. After comfortably maintaining his fourth place in the opening laps of the race, Jilesen was unfortunately forced to retire the R & J Batteries / Earthex / King Gee Commodore after it developed a brake problem with just five laps remaining in the 17 lap race.

“Qualifying was good,” Jilesen said. “I didn’t get a lap in at the start because of traffic and red flags, but I managed to put in a clean lap at the end and fourth was my equal-best result of the year.

“The race as going really well until I arrived at a corner and sailed up the escape road with no brakes. It was really disappointing and we’ve just had no luck over the last few meetings.”

Geoff Emery (AC Delco / Simworx / NDD Commodore) was next best of the GMR drivers, qualifying 13^th and finishing the race in the same position position after a consistent performance, while Tony Bates (Favourit.com / Alternative Freight Services) was 15^th. Bates had qualified in 17^th position, and managed to avoid sustaining major damage in an opening lap contretemps with Rodney Jane and Marcus Zukanovic, and worked his way up to 13^th position before making an error on the final lap and dropping to 15^th.

“I survived the first lap incident, and then I was driving well and passing people, but I just braked a bit late on the last lap, nudged the tyre wall, had to reverse out and lost a couple of places,” Bates explained.

Nick Cassidy qualified his Fuchs / Drillpro / Tricor car 22^nd after suffering a broken shock absorber during the session. It was the second such failure for Cassidy in as many days – the 17-year-old also had a shock failure during yesterday’s second practice session.

Cassidy raced well, making up several places at the start before coming together with another competitor and bending a steering arm. He was also an unfortunate bystander in Bates’s last lap incident, coming to a complete stop and losing positions as a result. He ended the race in 17^th position.

“I was going OK at the start, I made up some places and I was feeling more and more comfortable in the car,” Cassidy said. “Unfortunately, I struggled after coming together with another competitor and bending the steering arm, and then I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time when Tony went off on the last lap.

“I don’t think my final finishing position was an accurate reflection of where I should have been, so I look forward to making up more positions tomorrow.”

Race 2 of the Fujitsu Series, the final race of 2011, starts at 12:55 AESDT tomorrow afternoon, and will be shown LIVE on Channel 7 of part of the Sydney Telstra 500 coverage.

Greg Murphy Racing has scored a major coup for the final round of the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Homebush, with two-time V8 Supercar Championship-winning engineer Paul Forgie coming into the team to engineer the #45 Drillpro / Fuchs / Tricor VE Commodore of Nick Cassidy.

While Forgie will be working on a Commodore V8 Supercar this weekend, most motorsport fans will remember Forgie for his success with Ford, and specifically Marcos Ambrose, who he engineered to back-to-back titles at Stone Brothers Racing in 2003 and 2004. In more recent times, Forgie has overseen New Zealand driver Shane Van Gisbergen, and guided him to race wins at Hamilton and Hidden Valley this year.

Team owner Kevin Murphy is understandably enthusiastic about securing Forgie’s services for this weekend.

“Paul Forgie will be working alongside Peter Smith, David Slater and Dean Lillie in the race engineering group,” Murphy said.

“Paul will be working to get to know the team this weekend, with the possibility of a future role with Greg Murphy Racing in 2012.

“Paul was quite keen to come and join us and work outside the main game, so the Fujitsu Series suits his plan pretty well. His experience will be a tremendous asset for the team, and a great benefit to any young driver who we would be bringing through in the future, so we’re going to build a relationship with him and see how it all goes.”

While Nick Cassidy will be visiting the Homebush street circuit for the first time this weekend, the other three GMR drivers all have experience at the circuit. Daniel Jilesen rates the circuit as one of the best he has raced on, and is heading to the track with the goal of turning around a form slump over the last three Fujitsu Series rounds, in the R & J Batteries / Earthex / King Gee entry.

Geoff Emery (AC Delco / NDD / Simworx Commodore #48) will be looking to continue his momentum after a well-deserved sixth overall in the previous round of the series at Sandown, while Tony Bates (Favourit.com / Alternative Freight Services Commodore #24) also displayed some good pace at Sandown, particularly in the first race where he finished in the top-10 on merit.

The final round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series will feature two races. The second (Sunday) race will be shown live on Channel 7 as part of the V8 Supercar television coverage.

Geoff Emery has finished as the best of Greg Murphy Racing’s four Fujitsu V8 Supercar drivers in Round 6 of the series at Sandown on the weekend.

The Narre Warren driver started on pole position for Race 2 as a result of his 10^th-place finish in Race 1, and converted the strong starting position to a top-5 finish despite a mid-race spin. He then finished the final race in seventh to score an overall result of sixth for the weekend in the AC Delco / Simworx / NDD VE Commodore.

Team owner Kevin Murphy was happy with Emery’s final result.

“It wasn’t a bad outcome at all,” Murphy said. “Overall, he had a pretty good weekend and he came back without some of the damage and incidents he has experienced in recent times. He was probably a bit disappointed that he couldn’t convert his pole position for Race 2 into a win or podium finish, but he still circulated with some pretty reasonable lap times.

“He did the second-fastest lap-time of the race in Race 2, which was a commendable effort considering the calibre of the competition.”

Murphy was also impressed with the efforts of Fujitsu Series debutant Nick Cassidy, who capped off the weekend with a top-10 finish in Race 3, moving forward from 13^th in Race 2 and 20^th in Race 1 in his VE Commodore, supported by Drillpro, Fuchs and Tricor.

“In Race 2, Nick was using older tyres from Race 1, but still did a reasonable job and moved up to 13^th,” Murphy said.

“He moved back up to 10^th in Race 3, which was a very good result, really. He passed quite a few cars on his own merit. The changes made to the car seemed to work well and he made clean, well-committed passes.

“He came away from the weekend a bit hard on himself because he expected better, but the car came home practically unmarked. As a team owner, I was extremely happy with his debut performance. He didn’t get out in the first practice session due to a clutch master cylinder problem and qualifying was wet, so he had very limited track time in his first visit to Sandown. He showed great maturity for his young tender age.”

The other two GMR drivers experienced tougher weekends, with Tony Bates unfortunately failing to finish both Sunday races.

Starting from second in Race 2 after his ninth-place in Race 1, Bates actually beat his team mate Emery off the line and took the lead briefly, before running wide at Turn 1 and dropping to third.

A battle ensued between Bates, Emery, Tim Blanchard and Andrew Thompson. Bates tried to take advantage of a minor incident between Blanchard and Thompson at Turn 1, but was just a little enthusiastic in his throttle application and rotated the Favourit.com / Alternative Freight Services Commodore into the Armco.

The GMR team repaired the damage and Bates took the start of Race 3. It soon became apparent that there was a power-steering problem, possibly as a result of the Race 2 incident, and Bates retired from the race rather than risking further damage.

The team mechanics would not have been able to diagnose the problem without removing the steering rack, a task that would have been impossible with the limited time between races.

After crashing in qualifying and failing to start Race 1, Daniel Jilesen battled to move through the field from his rear-of-grid starting position in Race 2. He worked his way up to 12^th, but was turned around by another competitor and was forced to pit due to a guard rubbing on a tyre. He lost a lap to the race leaders and soldiered on to finish 18^th.

In Race 3, Jilesen brought the R & J Batteries / Earthex / King Gee Commodore home in 13^th position after a conservative drive. Importantly, the points he scored allowed him to maintain his top-10 position in the series standings.

“It was a disappointing weekend for Daniel,” Kevin Murphy said. “His results did not reflect the effort he put in. He would have expected to be a bit further up the track, especially in the last race, but after all the damage he sustained earlier in the weekend, it looked like he went into the last race with the sole objective of finishing.”

Round 6 of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series will be telecast this Saturday, November 26, on Channel 7 at 2:30pm AESDT.

Round Results Summary, Fujitsu Series Round 6, Sandown

Qualifying: Emery 13^th, Jilesen 14^th, Bates 16^th, Cassidy 20^th

Race 1: Bates 9^th, Emery 10^th, Cassidy 20^th, Jilesen DNS

Race 2: Emery 5^th, Cassidy 13^th, Jilesen 18^th, Bates DNF

Race 3: Emery 7^th, Cassidy 10^th, Jilesen 13^th, Bates DNF

Overall: Emery 6^th (183 points), Cassidy 14^th (124 points), Jilesen 21^st (73 points), Bates 23^rd (67 points)

Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series – Top 10 Pointscore (after Round 6 of 7)

1. Andrew Thompson – 1617

2. David Russell – 1384

3. Jack Perkins – 1340

4. Scott McLaughlin – 1263

5. Tim Blanchard – 1112

6. Chaz Mostert – 1013

7. Nick Percat – 956

8. Paul Morris – 873

9. Rodney Jane – 820

10. Daniel Jilesen – 744

(15. Geoff Emery – 564)

(19. Tony Bates – 460)

(33. Nick Cassidy – 124)

Greg Murphy Racing has endured an up and down day in variable weather conditions at Sandown for Round 6 of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

On the positive side, Tony Bates (Favourit.com / Alternative Freight Services) and Geoff Emery (AC Delco / Simworx / National Directory Distribution) worked their way into the top-10 in today’s opening race after mid-field qualifying performances (Emery was 13^th on the grid and Bates was 16^th). Bates actually passed Emery for ninth on the very last lap of the race, and Emery and Bates will start tomorrow morning’s top-10 reverse-grid race from the front row of the grid.

Nick Cassidy (Drillpro / Fuchs VE Commodore) was 20^th on the grid, a commendable performance considering it was his first time driving a V8 Supercar in wet weather conditions. In the race, he worked his way up to 16^th before spinning off after contact from Cameron Waters on the last lap, and dropping back to 20^th at the finish.

Daniel Jilesen unfortunately came to grief in the qualifying session while running 12^th in the order, spinning his R & J Batteries / Earthex / King Gee Commodore into the tyre barrier.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Greg Murphy Racing Managing Director Kevin Murphy said. “Daniel was struggling for rear grip and once he lost the rear and hit the wet grass, he was a passenger.

“The team worked really hard to try and repair the car, and almost had it ready for Race 1, but just missed out. It will be ready for tomorrow and we look forward to seeing Daniel charge through the field.

“Nick Cassidy acquitted himself better than the final results show. We’re going to make some changes to his car to help it put the power down better out of corners, and hopefully he can move up a few places as well.

“It will be good seeing Geoff and Tony starting on the front of the grid for an all-GMR front row, and hopefully they can finish up near the pointy end,” Murphy concluded.

Click here for the full results from qualifying.

Click here for the full results from Race 1.

Races 2 and 3 will be held tomorrow, with Race 2 starting at 10:15 and Race 3 at 1:00.

2006 Fujitsu V8 Supercar champion Adam Macrow is contemplating a return to the series in 2012, and tested with Greg Murphy Racing at Winton last Monday.

As well as his 2006 Fujitsu Series success, Macrow earned a reputation as a solid endurance co-driver, finishing third at Bathurst in 2005 with Steven Ellery.

Despite spending several years out of a race car, Macrow impressed the Greg Murphy Racing team at Winton last week.

“Adam did a very good job, considering his lack of recent seat time in a V8 Supercar,” Greg Murphy Racing Managing Director Kevin Murphy said. “We think he would be a great front-runner for us in the Fujitsu Series, so it’s a case of finding the funding for him to run with us next season.”

The test day was also Nick Cassidy’s first opportunity to drive a V8 Supercar, ahead of his Fujitsu Series debut at Sandown. Cassidy spent most of the day behind the wheel of the #45 Drillpro / Fuchs / Earthex VE Commodore, and acquitted himself well.

“We thought Nick did a very good job of adapting to the V8 Supercar, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he goes at Sandown,” Murphy said.

Geoff Emery and Tony Bates also participated in the test day in their VE Commodores, while Australian Formula Ford Championship front-runner Tom Williamson completed a handful of laps in Cassidy’s car.

Talented New Zealand driver Nick Cassidy will drive with Greg Murphy Racing in the final two rounds of the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Sandown and Homebush.

Despite being just 17 years old, Cassidy has already established a formidable reputation in openwheelers. He has won 10 New Zealand karting titles, and finished runner-up on debut in both the New Zealand Formula First and Formula Ford Championships. Even more impressively, he qualified on pole position in his first Toyota Racing Series event, and claimed two race victories throughout the season to finish second behind international open wheel star Mitch Evans.

Cassidy has also made a couple of cameo appearances in the Australian Formula Ford Championship, including a finish of third place overall in the 2011 season opener at the Clipsal 500.

Despite Cassidy’s vast experience and success in openwheelers, the Sandown round of the Fujitsu Series marks his racing debut in a touring car. Cassidy will test the Drillpro / Fuchs / Earthex VE Commodore at Winton next Monday in preparation for his rookie appearance.

Greg Murphy Racing Managing Director Kevin Murphy is delighted to give another talented young New Zealand driver an opportunity.

“Nick’s results in all the categories he has contested have demonstrated that he is a talented driver,” Murphy said. “As well as racing in New Zealand, he has also had the opportunity to do a few invitational races overseas, so he’s really earned the respect of a lot of team owners.

“While he hasn’t raced a touring car before, many other drivers have stepped into the Fujitsu Series without any tin-top experience and have been on the pace straight away, so we’re looking forward to seeing what Nick can do with the Drillpro / Fuchs / Earthex car.”

Cassidy will compete alongside the other three Greg Murphy Racing drivers, Daniel Jilesen, Geoff Emery and Tony Bates in Round 6 of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Sandown, November 18-20.

Geoff Emery has scored his best Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series round result of 2011, finishing ninth in Race 2, Round 5 of the series today to also claim ninth for the round.

From his starting position of 14^th, Emery capitalised on some opening lap incidents to move up to 11^th in his AC Delco / Simworx / NDD VE Commodore.

Emery then benefited from further incidents which eliminated the cars of Tom Tweedie, Rodney Jane and Marcus Zukanovic, and also recorded his best time of the weekend.

“The car was really good in that race, and I just stayed out of trouble,” Emery said. “Considering all the unfortunate incidents I’ve been involved in at other rounds, I was very happy to reach the end of the weekend with the car intact, and it was very satisfying to lead home the GMR cars for the weekend. I finished in the top-10 here last year as well, so it’s good to have another strong result at the biggest event of the year.”

Coming home just one position behind Emery was Daniel Jilesen, who worked his way through from the back of the field after his unfortunate non-finish yesterday.

“The R & J Batteries / Earthex / King Gee Commodore was better than yesterday, and I focused on avoiding the shenanigans at the start of the race,” Jilesen explained. “I caught Geoff but I wasn’t able to get past him at the end. It’s a good way to bounce back after a tough few races for me.”

James Brock crossed the finish line in 13^th position in the Drillpro / Tricor entry, but was disappointed not to have been further up the order.

“The car was a lot more consistent than yesterday, and I was able to push harder without feeling like it was going to throw me off the track,” he said. “I probably should have finished a couple of places higher up, but I made a few mistakes.

“I’ve really enjoyed racing here at Mount Panorama again in a V8 Supercar, and I’ve had a lot of fun throughout the weekend.”

Tony Bates’s race came to a dramatic and disappointing end on the first lap, when his Favourit.com / Alternative Freight Services car was nailed into The Chase by Tim Blanchard.

“In the left-hander into the Chase, Blanchard was about five car-lengths behind me, and he drove across the apex and crashed into my front-left wheel,” Bates said. “The impact bent the steering, and it was too dangerous to continue racing with such severe damage.

“I would have liked to have improved based on what I learned yesterday, but obviously I didn’t have the opportunity, because my race ended prematurely.”

With two rounds remaining in the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, Daniel Jilesen has retained his top-10 position in the standings. The next round will be held at Sandown, Novemeber 18-20.

Round Results Summary, Fujitsu Series Round 5, Mount Panorama

Qualifying: Jilesen 8^th, Emery 14^th, Brock 17^th, Bates 20^th

Race 1: Emery 14^th, Brock 15^th, Bates 16^th, Jilesen DNF

Race 2: Emery 9^th, Jilesen 10^th, Brock 13^th, Bates DNF

Overall: Emery 9^th (147 points), Brock 11^th (126 points), Jilesen 18^th (78 points), Bates 22^nd (57 points)

Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series – Top 10 Pointscore (after Round 4 of 7)

1. Andrew Thompson – 1355

2. David Russell – 1177

3. Jack Perkins – 1087

4. Scott McLaughlin – 1078

5. Tim Blanchard – 938

6. Nick Percat – 878

7. Chaz Mostert – 810

8. Paul Morris – 739

9. Daniel Jilesen – 671

10. Rodney Jane – 664

(18. Tony Bates – 393)

(21. Geoff Emery – 381)

(23. James Brock – 343)

An entertaining contest between Geoff Emery and Tony Bates in Race 1, Round 5 of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series has been the highlight of the day for Greg Murphy Racing at Mount Panorama today.

After qualifying 14^th, Emery ran 13^th for the opening laps of the race, before spinning off the circuit in the chase.

“I had too much brake bias on the rear, and I locked the rear brakes into the chase and spun,” Emery said.

The driver of the AC Delco / Simworx / NDD Commodore rejoined the racetrack right near the other, Favourit.com / Alternative Freight Services-sponsored Greg Murphy Racing Commodore of Tony Bates. The two drivers started battling, running side-by-side for a number of corners as they fought to gain the ascendancy over one another.

“It was a good race,” Bates said afterwards. “I’m starting to learn how to adjust the anti-roll bars to trim the handling of the car as the race progresses, and I was able to improve the balance of the car as the fuel load burnt down.

“Geoff and I had a great race; there was some light contact at one stage, but it was all clean and good fun.”

“I’m just happy to finish a race!” Emery added. “It was a shame I spun, but it was a good battle with Tony.”

In the end, Emery finished 14^th and Bates took the chequered flag in position 16.

Finishing the race in between Emery and Bates was the Drillpro / Tricor entry of James Brock. After qualifying 17^th, Brock used his experience and race-craft to improve a couple of positions early on, but fell back at the end.

“It was a solid race, but the balance of the car changed half way through and I had some oversteer at Hell Corner,” Brock reported.

Unfortunately, the other GMR driver, Daniel Jilesen (R & J Batteries / Earthex / King Gee) failed to finish. He qualified eighth and was running just outside the top-10 with a couple of laps remaining, when he copped a hit from Chaz Mostert at Forrest Elbow, with the resultant damage forcing Jilesen into the pits. While the team repaired the damage and Jilesen rejoined the circuit, his last lap time was not within the requirement for him to be classified as a finisher.

Race 2 for the Fujitsu Series will be held at 2:10 tomorrow afternoon.

Greg Murphy Racing’s four Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series drivers have dealt with diabolically wet conditions in opening practice for Round 5 of the series at Mount Panorama today.

The conditions were completely wet for the first session, and the scheduled second session was cancelled altogether, apparently due to visibility problems.

Despite the atrocious grip levels, James Brock excelled in the session, finishing up in an impressive sixth position in the Drillpro ./ Tricor Commodore.

“That session was awesome,” Brock said. “I loved being back here at The Mountain and driving up Mountain Straight for the first time. The car was faultless and I’m absolutely stoked to be well inside the top-10.

“I’m very comfortable around this track in the wet, because it really is the kind of circuit that rewards smoothness and precision.”

Tony Bates was the next fastest GMR driver, setting the 20^th-fastest time of the session in his Favourit.com car.

“We were running a brand new set of wets, so I scrubbed the rear tyres early in the session and then came into the pits to swap them with the front tyres,” Bates said. “After that, I drove really conservatively because the conditions were terrible and I saw other people spearing off into the wall, and there’s no point damaging the car in practice.”

Geoff Emery and Daniel Jilesen were 23^rd and 24^th respectively, both drivers reporting a lack of grip in the session.

“If it stays wet tomorrow, we’re going to change the car completely,” Emery reported.

Fujitsu Series qualifying will be held at 8:35 tomorrow morning, with Race 1 at 1:20 tomorrow afternoon.