Motorsport: Top 10 Murphy rues pit drama

Greg Murphy goes through the chicane in Hamilton yesterday. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Greg Murphy finished in the top 10 yesterday, but was far from a happy man after the action-packed race.

He was disappointed with several delays in the pit areas, said the car was far from its peak for most of the 59 laps and he was particularly aggrieved to lose three places in the last lap and a half.

The Kiwi legend also admitted it hurt that the Kelly brothers, who finished first and third respectively, were racing in essentially the same cars as Murphy but found much greater speed.

"We have two guys in our team that did a great job and won a race - we have to follow their lead," said Murphy. "The car is capable - we have to look at the set-up and compare notes. It wasn't a good result considering how well Rick and Todd went. We should have been closer to them."

Murphy was rueful about what he called "massive drama" in the pits.

"I sat stationary for a long time - I had to wait for David Reynolds' car to go and then when I finally got in there, I don't think they were ready for me. It was incredibly long and costly and it is something you just can't afford. Then, later in the race, after the safety car, the car was a handful and we got pounced on."

Fellow Kiwi Shane Van Gisbergen similarly bemoaned costly errors after a promising start. The 21-year-old had the home crowd cheering early on as he sat in second place before a series of strategic mistakes.

"We stayed out at the wrong time, took too long to get the wet tyres on and couldn't get the time back."

He also said they got the fuel strategy wrong, and at one point overshot the mark when entering the pits.

"We raced at the start well but it means nothing sitting here now. We just have to focus now on the next race [today]. We know we can do it - we just have to put it together."

The pit lane dramatics were not confined to Murphy and his team. A mechanic was sent to hospital yesterday afternoon after being hit by Toll HRT driver Garth Tander as he came in for a routine pit stop.

Later, a cameraman was struck by van Gisbergen as drivers struggled to control their cars on the wet concrete.

Tander, the 2007 V8 Supercar champion, skidded to a stop in the pit lane, overshooting the mark by over a car length.

In the process, he struck his number one mechanic James Burns, knocking him off his feet. Burns was taken to hospital with a hand injury.

Channel Seven cameraman Dave Lovell suffered a similar fate at the hands of Van Gisbergen, being hit by the number nine car as he was filming the entry to the pits, which went metres wrong.

Aside from the wet, oil on the ground at the start of the pit lane compounded the problems for the drivers and may have contributed to the incidents.

Officials were surprised, with V8 Supercars spokesman Cole Hitchcock saying he could not recall a similar episode in the past decade.