New Zealand's Greg Murphy is resigned to retaining the V8 Supercar circuit's bridesmaid tag for a third successive season.
Murphy admits it will take a miracle for him to steal the title from the clutches of fierce Ford rival Marcos Ambrose at western Sydney's Eastern Creek circuit this weekend.
The
Holden driver will be content to claim the silver medal, provided he can cap his career with KMart Racing with a strong finish.
Ambrose leads with 1982 points. Murphy has 1825 and is aware that third-placed Jason Bright (1816) and Russell Ingall (1776) in fourth are within striking distance.
"You've got to be realistic about it - we've got a very small chance of winning the championship," said Murphy, who replaces Bright in the PWR Holden stable next year.
"What we are more focused on is trying to maintain our second place.
"For Marcos to have three DNFs [did not finish] for the weekend is pretty much not going to happen, so we're not getting too carried away.
"He's just got to finish the first race inside the top 15 and he's home, so it's not a real hard task.
"I'm sure he'll be looking forward to just getting the first race out of the way and then he won't have to worry about it."
There is no lack of animosity leading into the final round of the season, with Ambrose, the reigning champion, and Murphy still simmering from their feud on the Gold Coast in October.
With the series virtually sealed, Murphy believes Ambrose will be gunning for victory at Eastern Creek to complete what has already been a superb season.
Despite being disappointed with his fifth-place finish at the circuit in April, Murphy still likes Eastern Creek's open track.
"We've been very average at Eastern Creek in the last two years and I can't say that fills us with confidence. But hopefully, between now and the beginning of the year, if we've made some gains that would be nice.
"As long as we can have a car that holds its own I'll be really happy."
Murphy joined KMart Racing as a foundation member in 2001.
He won six rounds, including 16 individual race wins and earned nine pole positions from 55 championship starts.
- NZPA
