Murphy/Stanaway Bathurst wildcard revived
Erebus Motorsport has revived the Boost Mobile wildcard entry for Greg Murphy and Richie Stanaway.
Four-time Great Race winner Murphy and countryman Stanaway will race a third Erebus Commodore at October’s Repco Bathurst 1000.
Travel restrictions prevented the wildcard from making an appearance at last December’s race.
However, with the re-opening of the Australian and New Zealand border, the Kiwi duo will prepare for a renewed Bathurst bid.
Erebus also confirmed the duo will test their #51 Boost Mobile Commodore at Winton Motor Raceway on June 7.
The car will again be rolled out for test days on August 16 and September 27.
Murphy has already cast his gaze to the Winton test as he eyes a first Bathurst start in eight years.
"I don’t think I can put into words how important these test days will be for Richie and I, they’re so critical for us," Murphy said.
"Parts of the puzzle have been underway for a while and now with COVID sort of out of the way, we can absolutely be set on some goals and plans which will make a big difference.
"A lack of testing was the biggest thing for me last year that really had me questioning whether we were going to be able to do the event and do it justice.
"For me, this initial test day is really just about finding my feet again and getting some of the basics back into my brain, going away and thinking about it to prepare myself for the next test.
"I’d love to be able to turn up and be really comfortable straight away and feel really positive moving forward but I’m also trying to be realistic.”
Stanaway, who last raced in 2019, explained he had kept his fitness up despite missing out last year.
The 2021 wildcard livery
"Being two drivers who have been out of the car for a while, Murph and I are definitely going to utilise all three of our test days to make sure we’re as prepared as we can be,” Stanaway said.
"Going to Bathurst is tough at the best of times, even when racing full-time, so we’ll be focusing pretty hard on those test days to extract everything we can.
"For the first test day, it’s really going to be about getting comfortable in the car and getting to know the team.
"It’s always very important when you work with a new team to get to know everyone and figure out how everything works as every team does things slightly differently.
"Getting all of those teething problems out of the way means by the time we get to the second and the third day, we can hit the ground running with some more advanced work.
"Having the additional preparation time after last year’s delay has given me more time to train and I’ve also spent more time on my simulator to get the feel back.”
This year’s Repco Bathurst 1000 will be held on October 6-9.
