New Zealander · Hastings, New Zealand · Born 23 August 1972Greg Murphy, nicknamed 'Murph', is a New Zealand racing driver and four-time Bathurst 1000 winner, famed for setting the legendary 'Lap of the Gods' qualifying lap at Mount Panorama in 2003.
Gregory David Murphy, nicknamed 'Murph', was born on August 23, 1972, in Hastings, New Zealand, and began karting at age eight before racing professionally as a teenager. He moved to Australia to contest the Australian Super Touring Championship, and received his breakthrough call-up from the Holden Racing Team in 1996, pairing with Craig Lowndes to win both the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000 in his first major endurance campaign. Murphy became the benchmark for New Zealand drivers in Australian V8 Supercars racing, dominating the series' events at his home circuit of Pukekohe for over a decade, and won three more Bathurst 1000 titles: with Steven Richards in 1999, and with rising star Rick Kelly in both 2003 and 2004, placing him fifth on the race's all-time winners' list. Murphy's most iconic moment came in the Top Ten Shootout for the 2003 Bathurst 1000, when he set a qualifying lap of 2:06.8594 in his Kmart-sponsored Holden Commodore, becoming the first driver ever to dip under 2:07 around Mount Panorama. Dubbed the 'Lap of the Gods' by commentators, the lap stood as the circuit's fastest ever touring car lap for seven years. Murphy won 27 V8 Supercars races across his career, finishing runner-up in the championship in both 2002 and 2003, before stepping back from full-time racing in 2015 after winning back-to-back New Zealand V8 SuperTourer titles. He has since become a leading Supercars broadcaster, road safety campaigner, and motorsport administrator in New Zealand.
Winning the Bathurst 1000 four times and setting the legendary 'Lap of the Gods' at Mount Panorama in 2003
How They Played
Exceptionally fast qualifier and endurance racer renowned for peak single-lap speed under pressure
Lasting Impact
One of New Zealand's greatest-ever motorsport figures and one of the benchmark drivers of the Australian V8 Supercars golden era
Career Honours
- 4x Bathurst 1000 winner (1996, 1999, 2003, 2004)
- 'Lap of the Gods' qualifying record at Mount Panorama (2003), unbeaten for seven years
- 27 V8 Supercars/Supercars Championship race wins
- 2x New Zealand V8 SuperTourer champion (2013, 2014)
New Zealander Athletes