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Motorsport
Motorsport
Sport
Andrew van Leeuwen

Murphy wants Brands Hatch Supercars race

Murphy was part of an antipodean contingent that travelled to the UK for the Super Touring Power event at Brands Hatch last weekend.

While he was there in a competitive sense, racing a Nissan Primera Super Touring car, he was also reacquainted with his former Tasman Motorsport VE Commodore Supercar, which is now owned by Alex Sidwell and lives in the UK.

Murphy cut demonstration laps off the iconic circuit in the big V8, the reaction to which left him wanting Supercars to bring its full field of modern cars to the UK.

"It was awesome. Straight away it was like, if you're going to take Supercars somewhere, this is where you take them," the four-time Bathurst champion told Motorsport.com.

"I mean, can you imagine the crowd here? You'd have as big a crowd as you'd have anywhere in the world if you brought the cars here.

"On the GP circuit, it would be some of the best motorsport you had ever seen. In a Supercar you can hit kerbs, they are so good over the small kerbs. They would just be spectacular.

"I never even got close to experimenting or seeing what the potential [through Paddock Hill Bend] was. The session was just way too short, unfortunately. But the speed a modern Supercar would go through there would just be spectacular on the limit."

Given Supercars has never raced in the UK or Europe, Murphy was blown away by the level of support the series has.

"What has been staggering is the amount of Supercars fans that are here," he said. "And they're not just fans, they're wearing the merchandise, they've got stories, they've travelled to Australia, they've been to Bathurst. It's phenomenal.

"I don't think Supercars actually realises how popular Supercars is in the UK. That's been quite an eye-opener."

According to Murphy, the Brands layout in a Supercar has hints of both Phillip Island and Mount Panorama.

"There's a little bit of Phillip Island. But Philip Island doesn't undulate anywhere near as much as this does," he said.

"And there's definitely a bit of Bathurst, without doubt. The shapes of the corners, the amount of rise and fall, again, it's one of those things you have to see with your eyes to actually believe it.

"It is a lovely, natural terrain, old school-style circuit. When people build tracks these days, I don't know why we don't try and emulate this."

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