Murray out to turn season around in Perth
Dunlop Series
17 May
Murray claimed pole for the opening race in Bathurst
Two crashes left Murray scoreless, whilst Kai Allen scored maximum points
All four Eggleston Commodores finished in the top five in Practice 1 in Perth
Cooper Murray’s 2024 Dunlop Series got off to what initially seemed like a perfect start at Bathurst in February.
Murray edged out reigning Super2 champion and Eggleston teammate Kai Allen for the first Boost Mobile Pole Award of the season at Mount Panorama, before his weekend unravelled.
An unforced error on Saturday, followed by contact with Zach Bates on Sunday led to retirements from both races.
Meanwhile, Allen claimed all 300 points on offer that weekend to get his title defence off to the best possible start.
The Melburnian is in need of a big bounceback this weekend, and only has one thing on his mind in Perth.
"We're all out there to win,” Murray told Supercars.com.
"I'm going out there to race for myself. Right now, it doesn’t matter who's in front of me or who's behind me.”
With Allen having a handy 42-point buffer over Aaron Cameron in the Super2 points standings, the potential for team orders to protect the South Australian had been raised, though Murray was quick to shut down any speculation.
"It's still too early in the season to think about that sort of stuff,” Murray stated following Practice 1.
“I'll do whatever I need to to win and get back in contention."
Victories look like a real possibility for Eggleston Motorsport following the first session of the weekend, with all four Commodores among the top five.
Cameron Crick (11th in points) led Allen and Jordyn Sinni (12th in points), with Murray fifth behind Bathurst rival Bates.
“It was a good start. We all tried different things in that session, to see how the car reacts,” Murray said.
“We all got the same comments and feedback. So, going to the next session, we'll try out different things again and see what the positive is out of all our changes.”
The Dunlop Series returns to the track in Perth for Practice 2 at 1:25pm AWST/3:25pm AEST for one last hitout before qualifying tomorrow morning.
