Is Murphy past his used by date ?

[greenracer]

What was Murphy thinking?????? Plenty of time to sight J.Webb . Webb even moved over for him to make it easier for to pass. Maybe CAMS needs to do random eyesight tests like their drug tests . Just a thought nothing like a bit of controversy to start the season off.

[peckstar]

well im not sure about the incident being a sign of his being past his used by date, I think he has been past his best before date for a few years now.

That being said, he is popular and gives sponsors good value for money.

He is also great in enduros as many older drivers are

[Jerico]

Originally Posted by greenracer

What was Murphy thinking?????? Plenty of time to sight J.Webb . Webb even moved over for him to make it easier for to pass. Maybe CAMS needs to do random eyesight tests like their drug tests . Just a thought nothing like a bit of controversy to start the season off.

Maybe he should have moved the other way off the racing line. Murphy must not have picked up Webb had slowed. Murphy could have been having a look at his dash, then the next thing you have a car sitting on your bonnet. What was Webb doing anyway? having a chat to his pit by any chance???

[anthony81901]

Originally Posted by Jerico

What was Webb doing anyway?

Putting some distance between himself and the car in front which was probably doing the same. As Murphy said not Webb's fault but the problem with having 28 cars all trying to qualify in 1 short session.

[Jerico]

Originally Posted by anthony81901

Putting some distance between himself and the car in front which was probably doing the same. As Murphy said not Webb's fault but the problem with having 28 cars all trying to qualify in 1 short session.

Oh ok. Would help then if they did get off the racing line would it not? It all gets a little messy sometimes.

[Jerico]

I'm not making excuses for Murphy he is over the hill. But it must be hard doing qualifying with cars traveling at different speeds all round the track.

[one five five]

Is it time to bring back the top 50% and bottom 50% qualifying?

[Armco Bender]

Murphs no further over the hill than Ricky Ponting.

[rich07]

If you were curious to know Murph's use by date, do what you would do with a can of Pepsi Max and check the bottom of the can (well in the case of Murph, the soles of his feet-good luck with that )

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by rich07

If you were curious to know Murph's use by date, do what you would do with a can of Pepsi Max and check the bottom of the can (well in the case of Murph, the soles of his feet-good luck with that )

Having checked this date, let me confirm it was 9 October 2005.

that being said, would happily have him as my co-driver in the enduros

[alfacors]

FWIW, Murf was the only car I saw who was actually going for a hot lap. The first outlap he was on it hard, and so this was his first flying lap when he collided with Webb. Webb was not just dilly dallying about, nor were all the other cars around at the time, they were ALL going slowly. Murf misjudged it. It all happened about 30m away from me whilst trackside.

[b195]

No fan of Murph's, but I don't see what he did wrong by expecting that during qualifying people would either be going fast or keeping well out the way.

Having said that, Webb did try to get out of Murph's way and pulled to his left towards the edge of the track but unfortunately contact was still made. In front of Webb was a similarly slow Winterbottom which didn't help matters.

All in all it was not particularly anyone's fault but I personally think Murph had the least blame in this case. I was quite impressed by his comments back in the pits - I'm not sure I would've been quite so calm/philosophical in the circumstances!

Whether I'd have him driving one of my cars is another matter, though he did show more pace last year than I expected (based on his performances over the previous year ot two).

Having said that, if I was Kelly Racing, I would be considering whether there was someone available out there better for next season when they become Nissan - though I would also apply this to Todd and Karl Reindler. Of course, financial considerations also play a part and that could mean there's no change at all regardless of how well any of them perform on track...

[Stram_man]

While it is easy for us race drivers driving for the Keyboard Team to make a judgement as to what happended what he did was quite silly. Given his experience and the fact he acknowledged the risk of accident from the collapsing of the grid during qualifying makes his accident inexcusable. The fact he caused a lot of serious damage to a struggling team even worse. As mentioned however he does attract media and sponsorship so I suppose that counts these days

[b195]

Originally Posted by Stram_man

and the fact he acknowledged the risk of accident from the collapsing of the grid during qualifying makes his accident inexcusable.

Not sure what you mean by "acknowledged the risk of accident from the collapsing of the grid during qualifying"?

[Alco]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8dv0VDT6cs

He says "I caused it".

[b195]

If that was in response to my post, I was asking for a clarification of what the other poster had said.

I had heard him say "I caused it", though from the first replay I personally didn't agree with his statement, and he didn't seem as committal about who caused it or who was to blame when interviewed later.

Sometimes one's immediate thoughts aren't the most considered or correct, though the reverse can also be true.

There have also been other times when Murphy hasn't taken the blame or blamed someone else and I have not always agreed then either...

[Senna05]

One word - Yes.

[Woolley]

Hmm, this has been discussed a bit on the Clipsal thread, but to judge a driver's career on this incident is harsh. He probably is heading towards the end of his time, and it's arguable whether he has a consistent challenge left in him, but let's take a look at what acutally happened. I can only go from YouTube as it hasn't been aired up here yet and I have no access to data, but the observation suggests this:

1 car is doing tyre heating. Accelerate, brake, accelerate brake. On the exit of the fastest (blind) corner on a street circuit. On the racing line.

Another car behind seems to be doing something similar, although that's not clear on the coverage, and may have been on a different sequence, appearing to be caught out and changing line to the outside - even more on the line.

Murph is on a hot lap, trying to eke out every last tenth - which is what you should be doing in qualifying and comes out of a fast, blind bend to find the above. Not quite sure what everyone thinks he should have done in the split second he had to make the decision.

He said he 'caused it', which is technically accurate as he collided with the other car, but to say it is his fault is to ignore the sizeable contributions of two cars who probably shouldn't have been doing what they were doing where they were doing it. If you're not at competitive speed, get off the line. A similar incident in F1, for instance, would probably have seen the two cars sent to the back for the next meeting for interfering with a faster driver.

You could argue that marshals should have been showing white flags for slow cars, but that's just shifting the blame away from professional drivers who really ought to know better. If flags are required on the first lap of quali, then there's something else going wrong.

[Southern Man]

Originally Posted by Woolley

If flags are required on the first lap of quali, then there's something else going wrong.

I agree with you thoughts on this incident and your final words sum it up very well indeed

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by Woolley

Hmm, this has been discussed a bit on the Clipsal thread, but to judge a driver's career on this incident is harsh. He probably is heading towards the end of his time, and it's arguable whether he has a consistent challenge left in him, but let's take a look at what acutally happened. I can only go from YouTube as it hasn't been aired up here yet and I have no access to data, but the observation suggests this:

1 car is doing tyre heating. Accelerate, brake, accelerate brake. On the exit of the fastest (blind) corner on a street circuit. On the racing line.

Another car behind seems to be doing something similar, although that's not clear on the coverage, and may have been on a different sequence, appearing to be caught out and changing line to the outside - even more on the line.

Murph is on a hot lap, trying to eke out every last tenth - which is what you should be doing in qualifying and comes out of a fast, blind bend to find the above. Not quite sure what everyone thinks he should have done in the split second he had to make the decision.

He said he 'caused it', which is technically accurate as he collided with the other car, but to say it is his fault is to ignore the sizeable contributions of two cars who probably shouldn't have been doing what they were doing where they were doing it. If you're not at competitive speed, get off the line. A similar incident in F1, for instance, would probably have seen the two cars sent to the back for the next meeting for interfering with a faster driver.

You could argue that marshals should have been showing white flags for slow cars, but that's just shifting the blame away from professional drivers who really ought to know better. If flags are required on the first lap of quali, then there's something else going wrong.

Woolley. i think you have the wrong corner.

these cars were abouty to accelerate into the last corner on a hot lap, the same thing murphy has done many times over the years and most likely did just one lap earlier.

Ive been watching clipsal for as long as it has been going and cars being slow in that exact spot is not something newand neither is fast cars coming up on slow cars there. Its common to many tracks. It is also not the first time it has happened at Clipsal

Murphy admitted it was his fault because he knows about this issue and he knows he should have been prepared for it, but he didnt. (I dont think it means he is past his used by day though, as he is already well past it)

What murphy said afterwards. and he is right. is that they need to fix the issue.

Me i say in qualyfying move the timing point to the end of section 2, reckon that will help fix that problem, combined with a minumim lap speed

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by peckstar

Woolley. i think you have the wrong corner.

Only seen it on YouTube so far, but it was the very fast right hander in the racecourse section just before the right hand hairpin? I realise I wrote 'the fastest corner', when I meant 'one of the fastest corners'.

[NZSTfan]

I think Murph may be at the end of his time for V8SC, as he hasn't really shone too much over the last few years (but then again 2011 was one of his better years), and there are a swag of younger drivers wanting to get in the main game. On the flipside though, here in NZ Murph still has it and has shown that at the recent V8 SuperTourers at Hampton Downs by winning the round. He is well liked in NZ and Aus, and usually has the most people around his pit garage getting autographs etc, and a damn nice bloke too

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that accident reminded me too much of Barbagello last year with Steve Owen and Karl Reindler. I'm just glad that they were on qualifying fuel loads otherwise it could have been quite nasty and a fireball could have easily followed.

[PVDA]

I believe if a driver is travelling at less than race pace they should be off line at all times to keep out of the way of everyone else.

This aint just Murf's fault.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by PVDA

I believe if a driver is travelling at less than race pace they should be off line at all times to keep out of the way of everyone else.

This aint just Murf's fault.

you do realsie its impossible to be off line at all times (without driving on the grass)

[rich07]

Originally Posted by peckstar

Having checked this date, let me confirm it was 9 October 2005.

You sure you have the right can?

In all seriousness though (and leaving Clipsal out of it), I think Murph is past his peak but certainly still worthy of a seat. Its a shame he's still not at his prime because when he was, it was fantastic to watch. Gotta agree, he'd make a great enduro driver (name your price) and this is where I see him heading in the next few years.