A question of Grace and Dignity

[SJA]

I am so sorry to have to start this thread. I know it may not be well received by some. Others will take it as a chance to "driver bash". To those people I ask to please remove emotion and bias and see this topic for what it is; and to the others remain mature at keep this thread above board.

My interest in this championship really took hold in the days when Murphy was at HRT and Gibson Motorsport and Ingall was in a Castrol Perkins Holden. They were two of my favorite drivers and two of my favorite personalities back in the day.

1995 was the first Bathurst I can remember watching live and in full when Ingall and Larry stood on the top step!

In 2004 I watched Murph set "that" record breaking lap and I'm not ashamed to say that it was quite an emotional experience to see something that happen live, particularly after what happened in 2003.

I love these guys. They have both contributed immensely to our entertainment and enjoyment of the sport over the years. They are part of the fabric that has made it what it is today, there is no denying that, whether you bleed red or blue or say fish and chips or fush and chups!

But there comes a time when a driver has to admit they've dropped down into a different league and adjust their attitude accordingly. I am getting quite sick of seeing Ingall and Murph sulking, complaining and making excuses.

It's alright lads, you're pretty much where we all expect you to be at this stage of your careers. You don't need to keep up the blah blah blah as to why you're slow, not up the front, not winning races or crashing. It's not always the car, its not always the team and its not always other drivers. Stop trying so hard to prove to us (or maybe yourselves) that you're still in the same league that you once were.

You are twilighters gentlemen. Enjoy these last few years you might get to enjoy it. Like your parents might say, go out enjoy it, have fun and do your best. Stop walking around with the attitude of "I should still be winning and it's everyone else's fault that I'm not". It's not very becoming and very off-putting.

Its arguable to say that both of you are only still in the championship because of your profiles and the subsequent sponsorship attached to them. You are there because you are cash cows gentlemen, not potential championship winners, so Murph maybe it's time to stop saying "hopefully we get to take the 5 off the car and just keep the 1 next year" every year, it's just annoying.

Take the time to make a choice. Either drop the attitude, accept where you are in careers and enjoy it. Or announce your retirements now and give the fans the chance to say goodbye for the rest of the year so that we can all get some respite from your attitudes next year and see some more exciting young blood.

Cheers

[JC Ohope]

Originally Posted by SJA

It's not always the car, its not always the team and its not always other drivers.

<Murph Fan>

I have to admit, even as a Murph fan I've struggled to enjoy watching him race for the last few years, where really the only sign of a decent performance was at Bathurst, 2011 was a little bit more interesting with a few decent performances throughout the year....

This year though I think it's a bit unfair to attack his performance 'yet' as the KR car he's is clearly quite st and he really hasn't had a chance to have a decent race yet..... As you can imagine, if you like Murph it's pretty gutting to see repeated mechanical failures, injuries and a clumsy qualifying crash leading to him being last by about 100 points

I hope KR can get their fingers out and give him a decent car, but I really can't see it happening either.

The other thing I would ask is do you think the "Exciting young blood" would do any better in those cars? I have my doubts....

</Murph Fan>

[Mr Revhead]

How has he been running compared to the other team cars?
Have to say, Nissan are brave going with that out fit! Then again with all the $$$ and the expansion maybe they can sort it out

[scr]

I wouldnt want to be the one driving the fourth car out of KR. It could kill a career!

[SJA]

Originally Posted by JC Ohope

The other thing I would ask is do you think the "Exciting young blood" would do any better in those cars? I have my doubts....

I genuinely believe that they could not do any worse (they would be in the same position for a year or maybe two), but the difference is their careers would be on the up - so what would the teams have to lose?

[Mr Revhead]

Oh, how many teams has Murphy driven for the last 4-5 years? And was he saying about each previous team?

[peckstar]

I think we need to add Jason Bright to that list 39yo.

This year he is battling for top 15 and getting in incidents that are always "someone elses" fault

How did the new engineer work out for him, Coulthard didnt seem to mine

BOC "Bloody Old Codgers" racing has returned

[F J Nedos]

They could retire from full time driving. They'd be snapped up for the enduros you'd think.

[SJA]

If we were basing on age you could say the same of not just Bright, but Lowndes and Jnr Johnson too. But Bright and Lowndes have race wins to their credit as recent as last year, so I think it might be best to keep this convo performance-based, meaning out of those three it's really Jnr we should be grouping into this.

But then again, Jnr arguably has been the best performer this year out the 4-car DJR squad - so maybe it's all relative?

[peckstar]

actually your them was a question of grace and dignity.

Something Bright has been showing less and less off in recent years, but i will also point out he is 21st in the championship this year, while his team mate, coulthard is fighting for podiums

[SJA]

fair enough

[NZSTfan]

And anyway, when they do get passed it performance wise, there is always the V8 SuperTourers in NZ! Murph went well in his first stint, and then Fabian stepped in for round 2 where he blitzed the field in the first two races.

Still waiting to see something special from Steven Richards in our new series though.

[F J Nedos]

Originally Posted by NZSTfan

Still waiting to see something special from Steven Richards in our new series though.

You might be waiting a while. Look what's happened to FPR since he left...

[NZSTfan]

yeah true that F J