MURRAY IMPRESSES THE MASSES ON SUPERCARS DEBUT

Cooper Murray stepped up to the Supercars Championship this weekend at the Darwin TripleCrown in the Supercheap Auto Camaro with Triple Eight Race Engineering.

With only a single test day at Queensland Raceway in the Gen3 Camaro under his belt, Murray finished his first Supercars session in 24th, just seven tenths away from P1 and having battled radio and brake dramas. 

Murray found those seven tenths in qualifying and the 1:06.4834 he posted put him 23rd on the grid, but lamented a mistake on his hot lap which cost him a start position closer to the front of the field.

In his first Supercars Race on Saturday, Murray was turned in the early stages of the race at Turn 1, but pushed on to become the first driver to set the fastest lap in his maiden race since Greg Murphy 27 years ago and finished P22.

“It was a lot of mixed emotions after my first race. We got off to a good start but then it was followed by a bit of biff-and-barge and unfortunately I got turned around early in the race which turned our race into a 40-lap qualifying and practice session. I learnt a lot and managed to come away with the fastest lap of the race and a very competitive car which is a huge positive. We made a lot of gains from yesterday and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I’m stoked to get the fastest lap, I can’t thank the guys and girls at Triple Eight enough for giving me a super-fast car – it was a rocket out there and I felt very comfortable in the car. I’m keen as for tomorrow, I’ve had two days of learning and a big race under my belt, so I’m looking forward to putting my best foot forward in qualifying tomorrow morning.”

Refreshed for Sunday at Hidden Valley Raceway, Murray came back on track to impress the field with the fifth-fastest qualifying time in only his second qualifying session in Supercars, which he converted to 10th on the grid in his first Top Ten Shootout on old tyres.

Taking off from the 5th row, Murray was buried in a tight pack of cars when Heimgartner locked wheels with the #888 as they came into the braking zone, sending the front of Heimgartner's car high into the air before it came to a rest on top of Murray's car.

Unfortunately, Murray's car required long repairs and headed into the garage. 

Murray went 5 laps down while in the lane, but the Triple Eight Team were able to get the #888 back on track and salvage a P25 finish.

Despite the race results, Murray’s debut in Supercars showed what the 22-year old is capable of heading into the Endurance Season with Craig Lowndes at Sandown & Bathurst.

“To make the top ten shootout on my debut weekend in Supercars is pretty special, and to get the track to myself for that lap was really cool. The first lap of the race definitely wasn’t ideal after being taken out on the fifth corner. I was lucky enough that the awesome crew at Triple Eight managed to get the car fixed and get me back out there to circulate and learn as much as possible. We ended up coming away with the fourth fastest lap of the race with a bent car which is pretty cool and shows that the pace was there – I wish we could have shown it off up the front. I’m now really looking forward to the enduro campaign with Lowndesy. Our expectations have risen after this weekend, so there’s no doubt we can go there as a duo and have a shot at a podium, even a win.”