‘Lap Of The Gods’ Car For Sale - 8th September, 2017

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One of the greatest ever Bathurst moments was Greg Murphy’s top 10 shootout lap at the great race in 2003. Dubbed the ‘Lap of the Gods’, it was a record breaking lap, a record that would stand for years. The car is being offered for sale in Australia and it’s likely to also break the record for most expensive Commodore of all time. 

It was one of those weekends that racing drivers’ strive for and rarely achieve - that feeling of being at one with your car, when the car does exactly what you want. At the Bathurst 1000 race of 2003 Greg Murphy was in that zone. He was fastest in practice, fastest in qualifying and when it came to the top 10 shootout the stage was set. John Bowe was holding provisional pole with a very quick lap, a time similar to Murphy’s earlier top qualifying time. Could Murphy hold it together and squeeze just a little bit more from the Commodore? Could he ever.

At the first timing split Murphy was up on Bowe’s time by .4 of a second, an eternity at this level. Neil Crompton, the voice of V8 Supercar commentary, was beside himself. This was incredible. By the next split Murphy was up .7 of a second and Crompton’s voice goes up a couple of octaves with excitement. By the finish line Murphy had eclipsed Bowe’s time by a crazy 1.1 seconds posting the fastest ever lap by a touring car at the mountain and becoming the first to break the 2m 07s barrier with a blistering 2:06.859.  

What followed was one of the coolest scenes ever witnessed in the sport. Pit lane was lined with all his fellow competitors giving the Hastings lad a standing ovation. Murphy went on to easily win the race the next day with Rick Kelly but, oddly, that result takes a bit of a back seat to the incredible ‘lap of the gods’ the day before.

So now the famous #51 Commodore is up for sale in Australia. The car was fully restored to its 2003 K-Mart livery in 2011 and the current owner is looking for expressions of interest. What’s it worth? Around $1m doesn’t seem out of the question. More details here and watch the lap of the gods here.