Bathurst legends to race at Pukekohe
A host of Bathurst legends will race at the upcoming Pukekohe Supercars round.
John Bowe, Greg Murphy, Steven Richards and Paul Radisich will all race historic touring cars.
The Archibalds Historic Touring Cars category will support Supercars at the ITM Auckland SuperSprint.
The 33-car grid will be headlined by 13 Group A cars and 13 Super Tourers.
The legends’ turnout coincides with the final Supercars event at Pukekohe Park Raceway.
It was announced last month that the venue will cease motorsport activities in April 2023.
The raceway, which was opened in 1963, first hosted Supercars in 2001.
Murphy will also commentate Supercars action at Pukekohe
Murphy, Bowe, Richards and Radisich combine for 26 Bathurst podiums, 11 of them wins.
Murphy and Bowe will race famous Ford Sierras in the September 9-11 event.
Bowe will step into a locally owned ex-Dick Johnson Racing Ford Sierra RS500.
He raced the car in the first part of the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship.
Bowe later raced the Ford with Johnson at that year’s Bathurst 1000.
Murphy will be reacquainted with a former racer of his own, the Peanut Slab Sierra Group A car.
The 28-time Supercars race winner raced the car in Wellington and Pukekohe in 1992.
The Peanut Slab Sierra Pic: AN1 Images
The Peanut Slab Sierra was recently been purchased by Peter Sturgeon.
The Pukekohe laps come a month out from Murphy’s highly-anticipated Bathurst comeback.
Murphy, who won a Pukekohe record nine races, will share an Erebus Motorsport wildcard with Richie Stanaway.
Countymen Richards and Radisich have also been confirmed for the weekend.
Radisich, who raced for DJR in the late 1990s and early 2000s, will steer a Wolf Ford Mondeo.
The Kiwi won eight races for DJR across the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
Radisich also scored Bathurst 1000 runner-up results in 1990 and 2000.
The Nissan Richards will drive next month
He won the 1993 and 1994 Touring Car World Cup events, and twice finished third in the British Touring Car Championship.
Five-time Bathurst winner Richards will race a Murray Sinclair-owned Nissan Primera Super Tourer.
Richards raced the car for Garry Rogers Motorsport in the 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship.
"The Historic Touring cars represent the great memories we all have of fantastic on track battles in iconic cars from various eras gone by," Richards said.
"Racing at Pukekohe for a final time is special. It’s where [father Jim] cut his teeth as a teenager, while Nanna and Pop watched under the big Oak trees on the hill and where Pops ashes were spread after his passing.
"I’ve had great memories driving here in Supercars, NZ V8 Super Tourers and I rate it in the top four exhilarating race tracks that I had the pleasure of driving at."
Tickets for the ITM Auckland SuperSprint are on sale now.
The 2022 Supercars season will resume at Sandown on August 19-21. Purchase your tickets now.
